COVID-19 Meal Plan Communication, July 28, 2020
July 28, 2020 — The College's dining program has undertaken a number of changes to campus dining services to help protect the health of our students, faculty, and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to meet the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines and New York State requirements for dining hall capacity, Marist is unable to offer the Anytime Dining Plan.
All incoming students (freshmen and transfer) will be enrolled in the 205 Meal Plan with $550 Thrifty Cash. Returning students may enroll in this plan as well as other plans offered by the College. For a complete listing of plans, CLICK HERE.
Key aspects of the 205 Dining Plan:
- The plan begins with the evening meal of Saturday, August 22 through Tuesday, November 24. There are 94 meal days in this time frame.
- With a total of 205 meals that allows two meals per day (2x94) for a total of 188 meals.
- An additional 17 meals are available in the plan to use at the student’s discretion. The additional meal swipes could be used if a new student arrives to campus prior to Sunday, August 23 as determined by their move-in schedule beginning Wednesday, August 19.
- Tax free $550 of Thrifty Cash (Dutchess County tax is at 8.025%) is included in the 205 dining plan and can be used to supplement the allotted two meals per day. This can be used at any campus retail cafe for on-the-go purchases in between meals or on your way to class in the morning for a cup of coffee or tea and a bagel.
Overall, the campus dining program offers students enrolled in a dining plan a variety of options for their meals. Students have the option to pre-order a to-go meal from the Murray Student Center Dining Hall using their dining plan. A student may choose to dine-in but there is limited space with a maximum seating time of 45 minutes. An outdoor all-weather tent adjacent to the Dining Hall offers additional seating. Meal service times have been extended to better accommodate students and dining staff will monitor use through social distancing and queuing. Students are highly encouraged to pre-order meals to-go using the Grubhub app.
Our campus retail cafes offer a wide range of selections with free campus delivery during evening hours. The services as described provide both thoughtful and practical solutions to the functional limitations placed on us by facility de-densification and physical distancing. Dining services staff clean and disinfect all service areas continuously. Only Marist students enrolled in a dining plan have access to food service at the Dining Hall.
Pre-order Meals to-go
To offset the limits of the Dining Hall capacity, we are partnering with GrubHub to allow students to use their dining plan meal swipes to pick up a to-go pre-ordered meal from the Dining Hall (please note, these orders will not be permitted to be eaten in the Dining Hall).
Pre-ordering of meals will be allowed until the Dining Hall closes at 8 pm. These meals, which are take-out only, can be stored/refrigerated to accommodate the eating habits of our students and their busy schedules.
North End Dining is available for students to utilize the Pick 3 option (included in their dining plan) in order to provide greater dining flexibility and to explore and enjoy campus. Using other dining options will reduce the number of students in the Dining Hall, in turn limiting the potential for COVID-19 spread.
Throughout campus the traditional seating areas that students have come to know have been altered in the practice of social distancing.
For more information on dining plans and the various services as described above visit https://maristdining.sodexomyway.com.
Sincerely,
Steve Sansola
Associate Dean of Student Affairs