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Source: The Eagle, Bryan, TexasNov.自存倉 10--Editor's Note: This is one in an occasional series examining the finances of the Texas A & M University System and Chancellor John Sharp's efforts to find potential budgetary savings that can be devoted to the classroom.By unloading its dining services operations to a private company, Texas A&M gained millions of dollars to invest in academics.But the consumers -- the students -- are having trouble choking down their end of the deal.The recent changes to meal plans at Texas A&M, which began a year ago this fall, are complex and not all tied to the estimated $270 million outsourcing contract. The largest portion of A&M's outsourcing to Compass Group USA was dining, which is now managed by subsidiary North Carolina-based Chartwells.Nearly 3,500 people have signed petitions protesting the changes, and the A&M student senate in late October passed legislation demanding students get reimbursed for the two days on-campus eateries were shut down because of cockroaches and rats -- the first time the health department has shut down A&M dining facilities.Students said they are paying more for meals and have less flexibility in where to dine. The university has also mandated that freshmen and sophomores living on campus must buy a meal trade, a plan that will be eventually phased-in to include on-campus juniors and seniors. The cheapest plan costs $1,200 a semester, and the meal trades introduced this semester are starkly different than the dining dollars used last year, which were similar to gift cards.Still, the company changed management mid-semester and has started providing more flexibility to its plans in response to student concerns, and more changes could be on the way. The changes have helped soothe some concerns, but student leaders said more are needed.A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, who championed the outsourcing effort as a way to invest more money into education, and A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin both declined interview requests. Chartwells representatives also declined an interview request and instead provided emailed statements to submitted questions.Much of the student ire has been directed at the mandatory meal plans that were introduced the same semester as the outsourced services in fall 2012, but university administrators stress that those two changes are independent. The on-campus plans range from $1,200 plus tax a semester to the most expensive at $2,000 plus tax.B.J. Crain, vice president for finance and chief financial officer, said top university administrators in 2010 made the decision to require students living on campus to purchase meal plans starting in 2012 largely because of the poor financial shape dining services was in. Officials said previously that dining was losing $1 million per year.One of the top opponents of the mandatory plans has been the Texas Aggie Conservatives, an outspoken student organization of about 125."We can spend our money on food better than the university," said Chairman Marc Pitts, a biochemistry senior. "It's outrageous the university is forcing students to buy meal plans that they might not need and that may not fit their needs."The group in early October started collecting signatures, emailing administrators and placing signs around campus encouraging students to oppose the meal plan changes. Pitts pointed to the Oct. 4 and 5 shutdown of food services in the MSC as an example of declining service. He said the group had collected 1,700 signatures as of Friday."I think it's overpriced and confusing and there should be competition and the freedom to choose," Pitts said of the changes. "I think when thousands of students are forced to buy into the dining program there's no incentive to provide good food and service."University administrators say the health department shutdown was ill-timed, but not Chartwells' fault. They said a pest control company the university had used for years treated and inspected the eateries two days before the shutdown. A&M officials said they will not use the same pest control contractor again.Ultimately, the Aggie Conservatives want A&M to break its contract with Chartwells, which would result in more flexibility for students, but also force the university to pay back tens of millions of dollars of a $46.5 million signing bonus and potentially cutting up to 40 faculty positions paid for by the contract.Since the mandatory meal plans are not a part of the Chartwells contract, the university could theoretically roll back the rule.Still, Crain indicated that the university would proceed with requiring juniors and seniors living on campus to purchase meal plans and that ending the mandate was not currently being discussed. She said Chartwells was addressing those concerns by making the mandatory plans more flexible."Being in a business environment, in order to have an effective dining service you have to have a consistent base of customers and here you are on a college campus, and if you want to maintain a dining facility, you have to have some reassurance that it's going to be a situation that will be maintained into the future," Crain said.Changes at A&MSince outsourcing to Chartwells, meal prices have risen and the times students can use their plans has been restricted, but at the same time, new restaurants have been introduced and Chartwells has pledged to pump $25.5 million into dining infrastructure.Most students were blindsided by the changes this semester."I haven't found one student that's happy with the changes,迷你倉but I haven't talked to all students on campus," said junior Kasey Kram, president of the residence hall association.Kram, whose organization represents the more than 8,000 students who live on campus, said he found out about Chartwells' proposed changes during the summer. He said there has been resentment on the part of some students that the changes were introduced then, when students weren't around to provide input. Still, he said, Chartwells started meeting with students, like himself, during the summer to field the concerns."I told them the students wouldn't like it and the pushback would be tremendous," Kram said.The way A&M offers meal plans has changed three times in as many years. Before Chartwells took over, the university offered "meal trades," or combinations of food and drink which count as one meal. Last year, the first year of Chartwells, A&M students purchased dining dollars that could be used at any location, and this year, students could purchase a hybrid system that combines dining dollars and meal trades. Officials said they didn't have readily available information about previous years' plans.Chartwells increased their meal plan pricing by 2.88 percent in fall 2013. The company is allowed, per its contract, to increase rates by up to 3 percent each year to keep up with market prices.The students can use four meal trades a day and are restricted to one trade per time zone: breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night. Furthermore, each eatery does not accept meal trades. The late night option was added mid-semester by Chartwells after fielding student complaints.Chartwells, which is one of the largest university food providers in the world, has been able to leverage some of its corporate partnerships to bring new restaurants to campus. Chartwells brought eight new eateries to campus including Einstein Bros. Bagels, Smoothie King, Starbucks and Papa Johns. Chartwells has also spent $6.4 million renovating Duncan and the University Club, creating the Starbucks Coffee location and other improvements.Students have overwhelmingly rejected the majority of the changes, said A&M sophomore Alex Parker, who started a Change.org petition in August. The petition takes issue with price increases, some locations not accepting meal trades and now-changed policy that unused meal trades expire at the end of the month. It gained more than 1,700 signatures.Parker's petition was effectively ended weeks after it began after university administrators contacted her to tell her that A&M's contract with Chartwells legally prevents them from making several of the changes. She still encourages students to contact dining services to voice their concerns.The student senate passed the Restitution Owed After Compromising the Health and Expectations of Students Bill, or for short, the ROACHES bill, two weeks ago. It calls on Chartwells to credit students for four meal trades because of the period during the shutdown. As of Friday, Gina Capetanakis, Chartwells' marketing manager at A&M, said the company had not received the bill from the student senate.A&M Student Body President Reid Joseph said all of the feedback he received originally about the dining changes was negative. He also pointed to the health department shutdown as a turning point that ramped up student involvement."It is amazing how very passionate students are over this and a lot of it deservedly so," Joseph said. "That was kind of built up to that breaking point, which happened a couple of weeks ago."Moving forwardStudents cries have not fallen on deaf ears, but it's unclear if or how more changes will be made.There has already been a change in top management. Lee Rapport replaced David Riddle as Chartwells resident district manager mid-semester.A&M officials would not address whether the change was the result of the student pushback, but said that the company had added an extra manager position and additionally brought in a third manager from outside the state to help oversee operations this semester. Chartwells would not comment on whether the management change was related to the feedback, but said that bringing in additional management was common.Chartwells is actively soliciting feedback from students, and visitors to the A&M dining website are greeted with a giant "We're listening" banner.Crain said, starting around the first week of October, Chartwells started a campaign to solicit student feedback. She cited a survey that has been circulated online and said that Chartwells' employees have been approaching students at the dining locations to fill out the surveys."Chartwells went forward with a survey, and, in addition to that, they have been meeting with student leaders across campus. They have been meeting with student government, the residence hall association," Crain said. "The whole purpose of Chartwells going through this exercise is getting a better feel from the students... I think Chartwells has been fairly active and engaged to get feedback."Capetanakis said more than 5,200 have responded so far."The information collected is being utilized to formulate a dining plan proposal to the University for 2014-2015," Capetanakis wrote in the emailed statement. "Additionally, a survey regarding upcoming renovations is underway through which students will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the dining environment at the much-valued Sbisa Dining Center."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) Visit The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) at .theeagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage