Incorporating Dining Dollars with off campus eateries is not a feasible option for Eastern.

“If you spend some of the Dining Dollars off campus that’s less dollars that would flow on campus, and if there’s less dollars that flow on campus then there’s less dollars to cover what the fixed costs are of running a dining operation like a food court,” said Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining.

The lesser flow of money to the food court would make it more difficult for the food court to break even.

This would lead to increased prices in the food court, which was an important factor in deciding if off campus Dining Dollars could be incorporated.

Zach Samples, a freshman history major and student senate member, proposed to the student government the idea to incorporate Dining Dollars in establishments around campus.

Samples got the idea from how Milikin University in Decatur incorporates Flex Dollars, which are similar to Dining Dollars, and how students can use their Flex Dollars at establishments like Dominoes, Subway, and Jimmy Johns.

“It is an interesting idea, but there is a tradeoff and there would be many costs being raised which would not be largely accepted by the students. The bottom line is, that it is not worth the tradeoff,” said Hudson.

Samples said he has done research looking into the project.

“I’ve talked to the director of dining at Milikin University along with managers of the three restaurants that serve Milikin,” Samples said.

After researching this idea, Samples concluded that Eastern has different dining conditions than Milikin and the idea would not work properly.

“It works at Milikin because they are a much smaller campus and they only have one dining center so they can afford to open it up to other options,” said Samples. “Our dining operations are much larger and more vast. Since we already have the food court, it would not be financially responsible for us to open Dining Dollars to outside restaurants.”

Eastern contains four dining halls and the food court, along with Java and the two convenience stores on campus.

It was also discussed that Jimmy Johns could not be factored into the Dining Dollar equation but that would break the contract that Eastern has with Subway.

Hudson gave advice to students who might feel weary of on campus dining.

“Dining Dollars are meant to compliment the dining experience on campus. The key to enjoying dining services over the long hall is to walk around, and go to the different dining centers,” said Hudson.

Samples is looking into an alternative to using Dining Dollars off campus with incorporating the Panther Card money chip.

This would help students who don’t like to carry a lot of cash around with them.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-7942 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.