Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Students admitted to the university who have accepted housing with Resident Life are automatically enrolled in an extended semester event called NRO (New Resident Orientation). NRO points are an addition to the dining plan to provide meals during this orientation period. The regular Resident Dining Plan does not provide food for these additional resident days. NRO points allow students to buy meals in the dining rooms until the regular dining plan begins.
Unused NRO points become Terp Bucks when the regular dining plan opens and can be spent at any time during the fall semester.
Dining plan options may be changed through the third week of classes each semester. Requests can be made in writing, through email, or in person at the Dining Plan Office in the South Campus Dining Hall. Please provide your name, student ID number, and name of dining plan you want.
You must request cancellation in writing. Once we verify the cancellation of your housing contract, we will cancel your dining plan. Please provide your name, student ID number, and reason for cancellation.
You can view your “Point,” “Buck,” and “Meal” balances for the current semester online. If you’ve purchased a plan for an upcoming academic semester, about two weeks before classes start you can verify that you have purchased a plan. As soon as your dining plan is live, your balance will appear.
Students living in traditional housing (in an on-campus room without a private kitchen) are required to have a dining plan. This requirement is based on on-campus residence type: not class standing, proximity to permanent residence, dietary preferences, or any other circumstance.
Traditional halls and suites do not have the equipment required for students to cook their own meals, remove the food waste, or maintain sanitary conditions. They do have equipment for occasional cooking but not enough for routine use. All students who reside in traditional halls or suites by the Department of Resident Life policy are required to have a resident dining plan.
The primary exemption is release from the traditional residence hall contract (either moving to a resident apartment or complete cancellation of the contract). Your key must be returned before Resident Life will cancel your housing contract. You must then bring your receipt of housing contract cancellation with you to the Dining Plan Office in the South Campus Dining Hall in order to cancel your dining plan.
On rare occasions, an exemption is made for medical or religious reasons. In either case, you meet with a Dining Services representative for evaluation. Any adjustment will be made based on their recommendation.
You meet with the Dining Services representative. Bring documentation to this meeting. Most times, we discover that the dining plans can satisfy the student’s dietary needs. A Dining Services representative will take the time to understand your situation, research, and evaluate your request. We ask that requests be reasonable and have a sound basis.
You will receive an invoice from the Bursar’s Office indicating the amount of room and board due. You can send your payment directly to the Bursar’s Office.
1109 South Campus Dining Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: 301-314-8069
Fax: 301-314-9234
Dining plans are for a fixed number of points and expire at the end of the semester. These plans cannot be expanded (except for the Apartment Plan). If you would like more points, we recommend that you open a Terrapin Express account. Terrapin Express is accepted at all of our dining locations and Terrapin Express Points roll over to the next semester.
The facilities fee is mandated by the University of Maryland. Dining Services does not receive funding from the University or State of Maryland and must pay all its own operating expenses.
Part of this fee is placed into the capital fund (long term facility and plant renewal).
The rest of this fee is used to maintain facilities and services. We are charged with being open and ready to serve all resident students. This incurs facility, labor, and other costs whether or not all students come to any particular meal.
Because a dining plan is a one semester contract, and because we spend money (staffing, facilities, and food) based on the expectation that dining plan students will spend their points and bucks, unused points and bucks cannot be returned. Unused points and bucks return to Dining Services operating fund and are used for a variety of programs: unused points allow for the addition of sustainability programming, helped defray administrative costs, and have served as an offset to expenses for the following year — last year’s unused points helped to keep prices down this year, and this year’s unused points will help keep next year’s dining plan price down.
When the program was revised, there were concerns that some students would have so many points at the end of the semester that they would feel compelled to spend them all, causing longer lines and staffing and supply issues. The cap was proposed by RHA to help curb those concerns.
Contact our dietitian at 301-314-8058, or by email at nutrition@dining.umd.edu. She can assist you in determining what food items do and do not meet your needs. If indicated, she can introduce you to the dining hall managers who will prepare special meals for you.
Vegan and vegetarian fare is available in all three dining rooms, including the vegan station, Sprouts, in The Diner. All of our cafes offer vegetarian and vegan items and the convenience shops carry vegetarian and vegan groceries.
A full kosher meal plan is offered through Hillel.
The veggie burger cooked in the grill area of both dining rooms is produced by Morningstar and is vegetarian only. The flame-grilled burger available at Sprouts in The Diner is produced by Gardenburger and is vegan.
All vegetables for the Value Meal Menu are steamed without any additional ingredients. We identify any main entrees and some side items as vegan or vegetarian if appropriate. If a menu item does have something added to it, we identify it within the name of the item, for example, “Buttered Broccoli.” When we advertise that something is “buttered,” we are using 100% vegetable margarine not dairy butter.
You can place your order for a decorated or gourmet bakery cake at one of nine campus locations: The Commons Shop, The North Campus Shop, The Union Shop, The 24 Shop, Rudy´s Café, Applause Café, E&M Deli, Footnotes Café, and The Dairy. A fax order form and menu are available online through our Pick It Up at the Shops program.
Value Meals are moderately priced daily specials available for lunch and dinner in The Diner and South Campus Dining Room. These meals are bundled to provide culinary interest, variety, and selection. Monthly menus may be viewed online or in our dining rooms.
Students planning on living in traditional on-campus housing must select one of our dining plan options when they request housing. If you prefer a kosher meal plan, contact the Hillel Center and sign up for a full kosher meal plan. Before the start of every semester, the Hillel Center sends us a list of students who have contracted for a full kosher meal plan. As soon as we receive this information, we cancel those contracts and credit the accounts of students who are using the Hillel as their full-time dining room.
The Kosher Meal plan is only good at the Hillel Center.
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Yes, at any time. If you are paying for their food using your UM ID card, you must accompany them.
Yes. An apartment dining plan purchased in the fall semester is available during winter session and the spring semester. All apartment dining plans end on May 31. In addition, we offer a summer dining plan which becomes active on June 1 and is good through mid-August. Another option would be to activate a Terrapin Express account and use that account to eat on campus during winter and summer.
No. The register system will query for payment method in the following order: Resident Points, Terp Bucks, and finally Terrapin Express. The system will always accept payment from Resident Points first if the funds are available. As long as payment is accepted through the card system, we do not generally notify customers from which account the payment was accepted.
The quickest way to freeze any account is to go online and report your card lost or stolen. If you prefer, you can call the lost card telephone line, 301-314-8064, to report the lost card and have your dining account frozen. Replace your card by going to the Mitchell Building during business hours. Once replaced, please call our dining Plan Office to reactivate your dining plan account.
Terrapin Treats are care packages assembled on campus and sent to you by someone who loves you. There are monthly packages as well as a Birthday Celebration Treat. The packages will be delivered to the convenience store nearest your residence hall, and you will be notified of its arrival.
Terrapin Express is a wonderful alternative to carrying cash. Terrapin Express is easy to open, easy to increase, and easy to use. You can use Terrapin Express at dining and non-dining locations across campus, including WAM labs for pay for print and the Library to photocopy. For a complete listing of participating locations, go to Terrapin Express locations.
You open a Terrapin Express account and add money to it by calling or stopping by the Terrapin Express Office during business hours. You can use Terrapin Express at dining and non-dining locations across campus, including WAM labs for pay for print and the Library to photocopy. For a complete listing of participating locations, go to Terrapin Express locations.
There are three ways to check your balance: ask any Dining Services cashier for a receipt, call the Terrapin Express Office, or go to Check Your Balance on our website.
Dining plan points cannot be transferred to Terrapin Express.
