Around 10:50 a.m. in the Charles E. Young Research Library, the line for Cafe 451 steadily grew as students waited for the clock to hit 11 a.m. so they could use meal swipes on campus.
On Aug. 30, UCLA Housing announced that ASUCLA restaurants would only accept meal swipes during weekday lunch periods from 11 a.m. to 3:59 p.m. effective Sept. 26, a change from the previous precedent of accepting meal swipes all day. By 11 a.m. at the Young Research Library, when students are allowed to use meal swipes to purchase food, the line extended past the cafe entrance to the entry hall of the library.
[Related: UCLA announces ASUCLA meal swipes will only be accepted at lunch hours weekdays]
Students can choose a Premier (P) or Regular (R) meal plan that are further differentiated by providing 11, 14 or 19 meals per week. Meal plans also allow students to use meal swipes at ASUCLA restaurants instead of campus dining halls but are now only doing so during weekday lunch hours.
Cam Gonzales, a third-year art student on the 19P meal plan, said he’s been trying to eat at more on-campus facilities because going to the dining halls on the Hill are less convenient for his class schedule, but he has experienced significantly longer wait times at campus eateries from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I know if I wait any later than 11 o’clock, the lines are going to be just outrageous to wait in,” Gonzales said. “Sometimes, I’m forced to wait in 30 to 40 minute lines just to get food.”
Gonzales added that he usually studies on campus on the weekends and finds it difficult to not be able to use swipes on campus during those times.
However, a UCLA Housing spokesperson said in an emailed statement that student access for on-campus dining facilities has improved this year for all meal periods and the increase in staffing levels provide more opportunities for students to eat without using meal swipes for breakfast or dinner at ASUCLA locations.
“The meal swipe option at ASUCLA was introduced during a challenging time when staffing shortages, brought on by the pandemic, limited our ability to operate all dining facilities fully,” the emailed statement said. “Today, with increased staffing and the addition of more incredible team members to our Housing and Hospitality team, we’re thrilled to expand dining options and better meet the needs of our students.”
[Related: A look inside how students interact with UCLA’s meal swipe system]
Lucas Laszlo, a third-year math student on the 11P meal plan, said he would normally get breakfast at Anderson Cafe or the Music Cafe but now cannot use swipes for breakfast due to the change in meal swipe exchange hours.
He also said he noticed that at ASUCLA restaurants in the Court of Sciences Student Center – also known as the Bomb Shelter – the lines are always longest at noon, something that has not changed a lot such the change in the meal swipe exchange period.
Jasmine Lara, a second-year biology student on the 14P meal plan, said her classes end 10 minutes before 4 p.m., so she can’t make the meal swipe lunch hours on campus.
She added that since her schedule conflicts with the on-campus meal swipe hours in the afternoon, she would use the vending machines or not eat until her classes are done to avoid paying out of pocket for a full meal.
The meal swipe cash value for on-campus ASUCLA eateries and food trucks on the Hill is currently $9, according to the UCLA Housing website. In April, UCLA Dining announced that it would decrease the campus meal swipe value from $9 to $4.33 as soon as “the system reverts to pre-pandemic staffing levels.”
However, UCLA Dining said in a written statement that there is currently no immediate plan to reduce the meal swipe value.
[Related: UCLA Dining plans to reduce meal swipe value by more than half]
Laszlo also said that the $9 cash value for a swipe with the ASUCLA restaurants is “decent” and added that he would like the campus meal period hours extended in the future.
Lara said she has mixed feelings about the swipe exchange value as it depends on the restaurant. For example, $9 at Subway would be enough for a meal, but for other restaurants, you would have to pay the difference, she said.
“I feel like that’s what you hope for from your meal plan – to not pay anything,” she said.
Gonzales said students should have expanded dining services, especially if they’re paying full tuition.
“If they’re going to keep these boundaries, they need to offer either more places to eat on campus, or they just need to make the meal plan available all day every day,” he said. “It makes no sense – if we’re paying money for it, why can’t we have access to it?”
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