University Dining Services has a lot on its plate when it comes to catering for the countless meetings and events on campus, especially because students and faculty usually aren’t permitted to get food for meetings from anywhere except the University.

Unless University Dining Services cannot accomodate a group’s needs, the person in charge of the meeting or program must purchase the food from them. If the organization is unable to use Dining Services, it must get a form that requires five signatures, University Dining Services being one of them.

The policy started last year, but some students said it was not strictly enforced.

It is no secret that some food from Dining Services is going to be more expensive than from the competitors, such as Meijer or Kroger.

“We look at price comparison, but we are going to be higher priced,” said Gail Finan, director of University Dining Services.

One reason behind the higher prices is classified employees. For those who don’t know who they are, they are simply employees who make more than minimum wage, as well as get some tuition and medical benefits.

Another reason why the prices are higher is because of tuition benefits. Just this semester alone, Dining Services gave $100,000 to the University for tuition benefits.

“We are contributing in many more ways than the student body knows. If you asked 50 students on this campus, and one knew about that, I would be happy,” Finan said. Jenny Ewing, a resident adviser, said she appreciates Dining Services, but at the same time she knows the food is more expensive.

“While Dining Services is wonderful, it nevertheless is much more expensive. With the campus-wide budget cuts, this leaves less money for programming and other such amenities,” Ewing said.

Organizations are getting upset with this new policy because they see it costs more; they are trying to spend as little money as possible, but enjoy their meetings and programs with food at the same time.

Dan O’Dell, a resident adviser in Kohl Hall, is upset with the policy, and he believes others are, too.

“The reason we are so mad is because it is a lot more expensive than getting food from outside sources. Also, our budget is a lot smaller than it was last year,” O’Dell said.

While the policy is frustrating for organizations and people who do programs on campus, it seems to be a policy that is going to be enforced more than it was in the past.

University Dining Services is the place to get food for meetings, but with everything it does that goes unknown, maybe people will now understand why prices are higher than local stores.

“This money goes into building for the future, not to waste,” Finan said.