Community Kitchen Fees

The following residence halls contain community kitchens and have traditionally charged a kitchen use fee to all residents regardless of class year or meal plan. All fees are collected at the start of the academic year.

* Breckinridge House: Mandatory $20.00 fee per student per year.
* Broadview Hall: Mandatory $20.00 fee per student per year.
* Burton-Judson:  $10 annual fee for those who join.
* Maclean House: Mandatory $45.00 fee per student per year.
* Max Palevsky Residential Commons: Mandatory $5.00 fee per student per year.
* Snell House: Snell residents may choose to join the kitchen co-op. The co-op fees include a quarterly cleaning deposit of $10 and a quarterly deposit of $5 per cabinet. The cleaning deposits are refundable upon completion of assigned cleanings.
* Hitchcock House: Members of Hitchcock House may join the kitchen co-op any time during the year (provided there is available space) for a non-refundable fee of $10. Membership obligates two cleanings per quarter, with a $15 fine at the end of each quarter for every cleaning missed.

Board Contract Policies

The policies below apply to board contracts for the 2009-2010 academic year. All board contracts are subject to the standard terms and conditions.

Taking Guests to a Meal

Multiple meal swipes are permitted, with a limit of 5 guest swipes per quarter on the Unlimited Residential Meal Plan. When a student is using a meal swipe to provide a meal for a guest, that student must be present with their guest(s) and use their card to swipe them through the line. Students may not transfer their Chicago Card to another student in order for that student to access their meal plan.

Optional Flex Dollars

Any registered student may purchase optional Flex Dollars in amounts over $25 directly from Campus Dining Services or the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing.

Guest All-You-Care-To-Eat Cash/Flex Dollar Prices

All three residential dining commons accept Flex Dollars, credit cards and cash.  Guests pay the following door price each time they enter one of the dining commons locations.
Breakfast: $5.99
Lunch: $7.99*
Dinner: $9.99*

* Please note that there is a $2.00 surcharge to cash paying customers who wish to eat at one of the Kosher dining stations in Bartlett or South Campus Dining Hall.

Food allergies

If you have questions about how to manage your food allergies, Campus Dining Services and the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing are committed to working with you to meet your needs. Please contact the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing at housesystem@uchicago.edu with questions.

Off-Campus Students

Any registered undergraduate or graduate student is eligible to purchase the Unlimited Residential Meal Plan. Off-campus students may purchase the Unlimited Residential Meal Plan in the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing anytime during business hours (Mon-Fri, 8:30A-5P). We are located in room 180 of the Parking Structure, at 5525 S. Ellis. Charges for the board contract will be placed on the student's Bursar bill.

Meal Plan Changes

First year, second year and new transfer students are assigned the Unlimited Residential Meal Plan and may not change their meal plan. Under specific circumstances, grandfathered third and fourth year residents may request upgrades, downgrades, and lateral changes between meal plans and options. All meal plan change requests by third and fourth year residents have to be made in person at the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing, 5525 S. Ellis Ave., Room 180. Changes are effective on the business day following the student's request, beginning with the dinner meal.

Foreign exchange students-at-large:

Foreign exchange students-at-large who live in the House System are assigned the Unlimited Residential Meal Plan and may not change their meal plan.

Grandfathered third and fourth year residents:

When changing rooms from one hall to another, if the House Table location is different, grandfathered third and fourth year residents are given the opportunity to change their meal plan to that of the default meal plan for their new House since they are eligible to be on a grandfathered meal plan. However, third and fourth year residents of Burton-Judson, Max Palevsky, Pierce and South Campus are required to take at least a Moderate meal plan, thus a room change to one of these buildings from a building where third and fourth year residents may have a Minimum meal plan will result in a meal plan change. Please note that switching meal plan options within the same level plan (e.g. from a Moderate A to a Moderate B) within a quarter can raise the total quarterly cost.

No fault changes

During the week prior to and through 4:30 p.m. on Friday of the first week of Autumn Quarter, grandfathered third and fourth year residents may request an upgrade, downgrade, or lateral change between the A and B options of an existing board contract. These requests must be made in person at the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing. Requests received by 4:30PM on the Friday before classes begin will be effective for the dinner meal on Monday of first week of classes. Requests received by 4:30PM on the first Friday of Autumn Quarter will be effective for the dinner meal on the Monday of second week of classes.

Upgrades:

At any time prior to or during the academic year, grandfathered third and fourth year residents may upgrade to a higher plan (i.e., Minimum to Moderate) through the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing. Changes are effective on the business day following the student's request, beginning with the dinner meal. Once a meal plan has been upgraded, it cannot be reduced during the course of that quarter.

Downgrades:

Grandfathered third and fourth year residents may only request to reduce a meal plan (i.e., Moderate to Minimum), where allowed, for the entire academic year if requested by 4:30PM on the Friday of the first week of Autumn Quarter. The deadline for requesting a reduced meal plan for the Winter or Spring Quarters is 4:30PM on the Friday of Finals Week of the previous quarter. No downgrades will be allowed after this time.

Lateral Changes between A and B Options for Winter or Spring Quarters:

Grandfathered third and fourth year residents may request a change between the A and B options of their current plan, or vice versa, at any time during Autumn Quarter, up to 4:30PM on the last Friday of the quarter, by visiting the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing. Changes are effective for the first meal of Winter Quarter. Upperclass students may request a change between the A and B options of their current plan, or vice versa, at any time during Winter Quarter, up to 4:30PM on the last Friday of the quarter, by visiting the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing. Changes are effective for the first meal of Spring Quarter.

Minimum Requirements

Grandfathered third and fourth year residents are assigned to a meal plan based on their housing assignment. Grandfathered third and fourth year residents of Burton-Judson, Max Palevsky, Pierce and South Campus are required to take at least a Moderate meal plan, thus a room change to one of these buildings from a building where upperclass students may have a Minimum meal plan will result in a meal plan change. Changing a meal plan mid-quarter within the same level plan can raise the overall quarterly rate of the meal plan.

Board Requirement Exemption Requests

Participation in the Commons dining experience is one of the fundamental cornerstones of community development among House residents. For this reason, it is rare that students are excused from the Board requirement. Petitions requesting exemption from the board requirement will be considered only for medical or religious reasons and granted only when the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing has determined that a student’s needs can not be reasonably met by Campus Dining Services. There is a form for students to complete that can be picked up in the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing (5525 S. Ellis Ave., Room 180). The form requires that the student have their RH(s) review their request and sign the form to indicate that they have had the opportunity to read the request. In the rare event that a petition for release from the board requirement is considered likely, it will only be considered in those cases where the student can be assigned to a House with compatible cooking facilities (e.g. the House kitchens in Max Palevsky, Pierce and South Campus are insufficient). Students completely excused from the board requirement will not be assigned to live in, or will have their assignment changed from, Burton-Judson, Max Palevsky, Pierce and South Campus. If you are currently completely excused from the board requirement for medical or religious reasons, you have to inform the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing of your desire to extend your exemption into the next academic year by submitting a new petition.

Petitions for release based on medical reasons have to be accompanied by a doctor's statement that describes the condition and explains why it requires exemption from eating in the College dining halls. Petitions based on medical claims take approximately 3-4 weeks to process depending on how quickly your physician can supply the required documentation.

The required documentation must be on the physician’s letterhead, be dated within the past 2 months, and must address the following:

• Medical diagnosis
• Assessment of why eating in the dining halls is problematic
• If an allergy is involved, list all foods to which student is allergic, and the medical consequences of ingesting them
• Recommended diet

After this material is received in the Office of Undergraduate Student Housing, it will be reviewed with the individual making the request.

Depending on the physician’s recommendation, a consultation with the Campus Dining Services management staff to review methods of meeting dietary requirements within the options provided by the Board Plan is typically the next step.