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Welcome to the Fall/Spring 2009-2010 Meal Plan Website

This website is designed to give you the most current information regarding CSUN’s Meal Plan Program and it applies only to the upcoming Fall 2009/Spring 2010 academic year. In the upper left corner is a link to information if you currently attend CSUN and would like to purchase a meal plan for the Spring 2009 semester now in progress.

Our New Dining Hall
We are pleased to be starting the school year with a beautiful, completely remodeled campus dining hall. We are so excited about the changes and hope you will be too! The new Geronimo's will feature Cilantro's Tacos & Tostada Bar, Pizzazz Pizza & Pasta, Checkers Delli, Grill & Greens, Matador Entrees, Flakes Cereal Bar and Dessert Island. Plans are in the works to have themed meals and special meals. The dining hall is called Geronimo’s and it is located inside the Satellite Student Union close to the residence halls at Zelzah and Lassen.

If you have specific questions regarding meal plans, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions

The Meal Plan Contract that you submit is for the entire academic year. By signing the contract, you have agreed to participate in the meal plan program for the fall and spring semesters and are financially liable for the entire year unless you withdraw from CSUN or move off campus. In that case, the only way to cancel the meal plan is by submitting cancellation paperwork to The Meal Plan Office.

For Students Choosing Housing Units Without a Kitchen
Students who accept a housing assignment to a room without kitchen facilities are required to purchase a meal plan before arriving on campus in August. Please be aware that there is a payment requirement regardless of whether you have financial aid. This payment is to reserve a meal plan and financial aid cannot be used to cover this payment. Because financial aid is disbursed before the semester begins, meal plan applications and a payment are due in The Meal Plan Office before August 1, 2009.

For Students Choosing Housing Units With a Kitchen
Students who will be accepting a housing assignment to a room with kitchen facilities are welcome to purchase a meal plan either before they move in or after they meet their room-mates. We offer the 7 Meal Kitchen Plus Plan specially designed with you in mind if you are going to cook some of the time. However, you are free to purchase any of the available meal plans. The 7 meal plan offers fewer dining hall meals and more on campus meals. It is a good idea to meet your room-mates first, check out your schedule and meal situation because you will not be allowed to cancel the meal plan unless you move off-campus.

Students Living Off-Campus
Meal Plans are available for sale to students not living in the residence halls. You can either purchase the 7 Meal Kitchen Plus Plan or email us at mealplan@csun.edu and request information on the non-meal plan option. Include your name, CSUN ID number and where you will be living during the Fall 2009 semester (ie: off-campus, on-campus with a kitchen or on-campus without a kitchen). This request can only be done via email. Please do not call The Meal Plan Office with this particular request. The 7 meal plan offers fewer dining hall meals and more on campus meals but it does require you to eat 7 times a week at the Dining Hall which is located at Zelzah and Lassen. Please make sure your off-campus home is close enough to allow you to get to the Dining Hall 7 times a week before purchasing this meal plan.

Deadlines
If you have chosen to live on campus in one of the no-kitchen housing units, you must purchase a meal plan before you arrive on campus and move in. You will not be given your room keys by Housing or be allowed to choose your room if your meal plan requirement is still outstanding. The deadlines for purchasing a meal plan are as follows:

• If you want to be able to pick your no-kitchen room when Housing opens this option on April 23, 2009, your meal plan application and payment are due at least a week before this date. We will not clear you to pick your room without the application and payment but you will still be able to pick your room. However, you won't be able to move in without a meal plan.
  
• If you miss this deadline, you will have until June 1, 2009 to submit your meal plan application
  
• If you have financial aid to pay for your meal plan, you will need to submit your application and first payment before financial aid disburses. In order for us to get charges posted to your portal account, we will need your application and payment no later than August 1, 2009. Please bear in mind that we need time to process your paperwork, so the sooner you submit your application, the smoother things will go once you arrive on campus

How to Apply for a Meal Plan
In order to apply for a meal plan, you must download the application found on this website, fill it out and mail it or bring it to The Meal Plan Office with your payment. We do not have an on-line application process. Please do not submit any meal plan payment to Cash Services until you have submitted the meal plan application and payment to The Meal Plan Office first. We must post charges to your account before any payments can be made.

On-Campus Resident Meal Plans and Housing
Unlike other universities, on-campus meal plans are not included in the on-campus housing rate. Meal plan charges are separate from housing charges. The Meal Plan Office is not located in the Housing Office. Please refer to the end of this webpage for the location of and contact information for The Meal Plan Office. Please make sure you submit all meal plan related paperwork to The Meal Plan Office and NOT Housing. Please use the EXACT mailing address listed on the application, including the mail drop code of 8309. Mail drop codes appear after the zip code and it is very important that you always use the correct code for every department. CSUN is a very large campus and mail drop codes help our mail room staff route mail to the correct location quickly. We are not responsible for lost or misdirected mail.


MEAL PLAN OPTIONS

10 Meal Flex 600 Plan
With the 10 Meal Flex 600 Plan you get:

• 10 meals per week at the campus dining hall, Geronimo’s
  
• 600 Dining Dollars per year (300 per semester) to spend at all on campus dining locations except Subway
  
• With this plan you will eat 10 dining hall meals between Saturday and Friday
  
• The 10 meal swipes do not roll over from week to week and cannot be accumulated or saved and cannot be used to feed guests
  
• There is no daily limit for the Dining Dollars which can be used anytime until they are spent
  
• Dining Dollars can be used to feed guests at the retail price
  
• If you run out of Dining Dollars, you may purchase more in The Meal Plan Office
  
• If you use up all 10 of your dining hall meal swipes before the week is over, you may continue to dine at Geronimo’s using your Dining Dollars at the reduced rate of $6.00 per meal
  

12 Meal Flex 400 Plan
With the 12 Meal Flex 400 Plan you get:

• 12 meals per week at the campus dining hall, Geronimo’s
  
• 400 Dining Dollars per year (200 per semester) )to spend at all on campus dining locations except Subway
  
• With this plan you will eat 12 dining hall meals between Saturday and Friday
  
• The 12 meal swipes do not roll over from week to week and cannot be accumulated or saved and cannot be used to feed guests
  
• There is no daily limit for the Dining Dollars which can be used anytime until they are spent
  
• Dining Dollars can be used to feed guests at the retail price
  
• If you run out of Dining Dollars, you may purchase more in The Meal Plan Office
  
• If you use up all 12 of your dining hall meal swipes before the week is over, you may continue to dine at Geronimo’s using your Dining Dollars at the reduced rate of $6.00 per meal
  

14 Meal Flex 200 Plan
With the 14 Meal Flex 200 Plan you get:

• 14 meals per week at the campus dining hall, Geronimo’s
  
• 200 Dining Dollars per year (100 per semester) to spend at all on campus dining locations except Subway
  
• With this plan you will eat 14 dining hall meals between Saturday and Friday
  
• The 14 meal swipes do not roll over from week to week and cannot be accumulated or saved and cannot be used to feed guests
  
• There is no daily limit for the Dining Dollars which can be used anytime until they are spent
  
• Dining Dollars can be used to feed guests at the retail price
  
• If you run out of Dining Dollars, you may purchase more in The Meal Plan Office
  
• If you use up all 14 of your dining hall meal swipes before the week is over, you may continue to dine at Geronimo’s using your Dining Dollars at the reduced rate of $6.00 per meal
  
  

7 Meal Kitchen Plus Plan
The 7 Meal Kitchen Plus Plan is only available for students living on campus in kitchen units or off-campus. Students living in no kitchen units are not eligible for this plan.

With the 7 Meal Kitchen Plus Plan you get:

• 7 meals per week at the on campus dining hall, Geronimo’s
  
• 600 Dining Dollars per year (300 per semester) to spend at all on campus locations except Subway
  
• With this plan you will eat 7 dining hall meals between Saturday and Friday
  
• The 7 meal swipes do not roll over from week to week and cannot be accumulated or saved and cannot be used to feed guests
  
• Dining Dollars can be used to feed guests at the retail price
  
• If you run out of Dining Dollars, you may purchase more in The Meal Plan Office
  
• If you use up all 7 of your dining hall meal swipes before the week is over, you may continue to dine at Geronimo’s using your Dining Dollars at the reduced rate of $6.00 per meal

Tips for Choosing a Meal Plan
The 10, 12 and 14 meal plans provide approximately 14 meals per week for the student. The decision as to which plan you choose depends largely on where you choose to eat. The way the plans are designed, the more meal swipes you get, the lower the amount of Dining Dollars. In other words, you can eat the majority of your weekly meals at Geronimo’s with the 14 Meal Flex 200 Plan or have more flexibility to choose on campus meals with the 10 Meal Flex 600 Plan. All three plans offer a certain number of all you can eat meals at Geronimo’s plus a variable number of Dining Dollars which are usually used as on campus meals. For example, if you choose the 14 Meal Flex 200 Plan, you would be eating 14 meals per week at Geronimo’s and the 200 Dining Dollars would be used for lunch on campus during the week. Because the location of Geronimo’s might be inconvenient for students who spend the majority of their days on campus, the 10 Meal Flex 600 Plan provides the most flexibility. On all of the meal plans, if you use up all of your dining hall meal swipes before the week is over, you may continue to dine at Geronimo’s using your Dining Dollars at the reduced rate of $6.00 per meal.

PRICING INFORMATION
The Meal Plan Contract that you submit is for the entire academic year. By signing the contract, you have agreed to participate in the meal plan program for the fall and spring semesters and are financially liable for the entire year unless you withdraw from CSUN or move off campus. In that case, the only way to cancel the meal plan is by submitting cancellation paperwork to The Meal Plan Office.

Paying for the 10 Meal Flex 600 Plan, 12 Meal Flex 400 Plan & 14 Meal Flex 200 Plan
Available to all students

• One annual payment to The Meal Plan Office with the application = $2,995.00. This payment and charge will not appear on the student’s portal and financial aid cannot be used in order to get the discount. The Meal Plan Office has to physically receive this payment with the meal plan application
  
• Eight monthly payments of $387.00 (eighth payment is $386.00) with the first payment to be sent to The Meal Plan Office with the application. Total cost of the meal plan using the monthly installment method = $3,095.00 (the first payment will not appear on the student’s portal account but the remaining seven will)
  **Financial Aid cannot be used to pay the first payment. The first payment holds your meal plan
  
• Making monthly payments does not add to your Dining Dollars. We arrive at the monthly payment amount by taking the total cost of the meal plan and dividing it by 8 payments. You are given all your meals and half your Dining Dollars when we issue you your meal plan card at the beginning of the fall semester (the other half of your Dining Dollars is put on your card right before the spring semester begins). If you run out of Dining Dollars, you may purchase more from The Meal Plan Office

Paying for the 7 Meal Kitchen Plus Plan
Available only to students with kitchens and students living off-campus

• One annual payment to The Meal Plan Office with the application = $2,595.00. This payment and charge will not appear on the student’s portal and financial aid cannot be used in order to get the discount. The Meal Plan Office has to physically receive this payment with the meal plan application
  
• Eight monthly payments of $337.00 (eighth payment is $336.00) with the first payment to be sent to The Meal Plan Office with the application. Total cost of the meal plan using the monthly installment method = $2,695.00 (the first payment will not appear on the student’s portal account but the remaining seven will)
  **Financial Aid cannot be used to pay the first payment. The first payment holds your meal plan
  
• Making monthly payments does not add to your Dining Dollars. We arrive at the monthly payment amount by taking the total cost of the meal plan and dividing it by 8 payments. You are given all your meal swipes and half your Dining Dollars when we issue you your meal plan card at the beginning of the fall semester (the other half of your Dining Dollars is put on your card right before the spring semester begins). If you run out of Dining Dollars, you may purchase more from The Meal Plan Office

Payment Options
The payment you make with the meal plan application can be cash, check, money order, Visa or MasterCard. Checks and money orders should be made payable to The University Corporation.

Guest Meals
The 7, 10, 12 or 14 meals cannot be used to feed guests. However, your Dining Dollars can be used for this purpose if you have enough available and each meal will be charged at the retail price. Our primary obligation is to feed the meal plan student with the meal swipes and not their friends.

Your Meal Plan Card
You will be required to come to The Meal Plan Office to have your picture taken for your meal plan card. The meal plan card is a plastic laminated card containing your picture and student ID number on the front that identifies you as the cardholder. The meal plan card comes already encoded with all your meal swipes and half your Dining Dollars for the year. We will contact you as to when you can come and have your picture taken. Having this done during the summer before school starts will save you so much time once you arrive on campus. You probably will not have time to do this during orientation.

Where Your Meal Plan Card Can Be Used
Your meal plan card can be used at all on-campus dining locations except Subway. On the CSUN campus, you will find Burger King, Sierra Marketplace, The Pub Sports Grill, The Orange Grove Bistro, Arbor Court, Juice it Up, Panda Express, El Pollo Loco and Geronimo’s for dining; 4 Freudian Sip Coffee Shops and 5 convenience stores – The Edge, Arbor Grill, Mercantile Exchange, West Side Store and La Tienda

Dining Dollars and Meal Swipes
To supplement your Dining Hall meals, we have added Dining Dollars to each meal plan. Dining Dollars are a cash value (dollar for dollar) added to your meal plan card that can be used at any food service location (except Subway). You can use Dining Dollars for on campus meals, snacks and drinks or to purchase additional dining hall meals whenever your meal swipes are used up for the week. If you use up all of your meal swipes for the week, you may continue to dine at Geronimo’s using your Dining Dollars at the reduced rate of $6.00 per meal. Meal swipes refresh Saturday morning and expire on Friday night. Unused meals are lost.

Keeping Track of Meal Swipes and Dining Dollars
You will have to work out a system for keeping track of your meal swipes per week as we do not as yet have a way to have all your meals for the week calculate on the register receipt. Eventually you will get into a routine where you know what meals you eat at Geronimo’s each week and that will help you keep track.

Dining Dollars do show up on your receipt as the total you have left for the semester. Keep in mind that whatever plan you purchase, we will give you half of your Dining Dollars each semester to help you pace yourself over the course of both semesters. If you are on the plan that gives you 200 Dining Dollars per year, this means we have only put 100 on your card for the fall and will put the other 100 on for the spring. This ensures that you begin the spring semester with Dining Dollars. Whenever you spend Dining Dollars, look at your receipt. At the bottom, next to your name, there will be a number in brackets. This is the number of Dining Dollars you have left to spend until the end of the fall semester. If you run out of Dining Dollars, you can purchase more in The Meal Plan Office.

About Financial Aid
Although you may have financial aid to pay for your meal plan, The Meal Plan Office requires a minimum of the first payment of the installment plan to be submitted with your meal plan application to reserve a meal plan for you. Financial aid cannot be used for the first payment. The University applies your aid first to tuition fees, second to housing fees and third to meal plan. In order to have your financial aid pay the balance of your meal plan costs, you must have enough anticipated aid on your account by the August 1, 2009 deadline. If your financial aid is not posted by that date, you will be responsible for paying the payments as they come due every month. If your financial aid does not cover all of the meal plan costs, you will be held responsible for paying the monthly payments as they come due. Failure to do so will result in your meal plan privileges being suspended, late fees and a financial hold being placed on your account so you cannot register for classes, get transcripts, graduate, etc. Applications that are received without a payment will be returned to the applicant unprocessed. Please make sure you have enough financial aid and other resources to cover tuition, housing, meal plan, books and miscellaneous living expenses.

If your check is returned by the bank for any reason or your credit card charge does not go through, you must submit a new form of payment to The University Corporation within 5 business days along with a $25.00 returned payment fee. Acceptable forms of payment are money order, cash or Visa/MasterCard. Failure to replace the payment will result in your meal plan privileges being suspended and all charges being posted to your portal account. If you wish to cancel the meal plan immediately after submitting an application because you decide not to attend CSUN or accept on-campus housing, please do not put a stop payment on your check or reverse your credit card payment. Please call The Meal Plan Office and submit our cancellation form as soon as possible to prevent charges from being posted to your portal account.

Transportation to and From the New Dining Hall
The campus operates a tram service that runs from the main campus to housing Monday through Friday from 7 AM to 5 PM. There is an after hours shuttle van that transports students from campus to housing and runs from 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM Monday through Thursday. For more information on this service, you may contact Public Safety at 818-677-2157 or 818-677-3946. There is no tram or shuttle service on weekends. The tram route and stops map can be found at http://www-admn.csun.edu/parking/transport/tram_route.pdf.

Dining Hall Etiquette

• Respect the rights of those around you. Loud or abusive language will not be tolerated
  
• Please wait your turn in line
  
• Please refrain from horseplay or running while inside the Dining Hall
  
• Eat all you wish while in Geronimo’s, but food, beverages, fruit, desserts, etc. are not to be taken from the dining hall
  
• Please don’t be wasteful. Take only what you can eat at the first sitting. You can always go back for more
  
• Return all dishes, cups and utensils to the proper areas at the end of your meal. All paper refuse should be placed in the appropriate trash receptacles. Because the dining hall utilizes a self-busing system, we ask that you leave your table clean for the next guest
  
• Should you or others accidentally spill or drop food or beverages, please report it to management immediately so that hazards can be avoided
  
• Your care of the eating areas in the dining hall is greatly appreciated by everyone

Important Extras and Reminders
The meal plan contract contains additional information about the meal plan so make sure you read it before you fill it out and submit it as you will be responsible for its content. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions section to answer specific questions.

• Meal swipes do not accumulate from week to week and cannot be saved for later. If you do not use them up between Saturday and Friday, you lose them
  
• Dining Dollars are not sold separately
  
• Meal swipes at Geronimo’s cannot be converted to Dining Dollars
  
• Unused Dining Dollars will not be refunded and they cannot be converted to a gift card
  
• Your meal plan cannot be transferred to another person and you cannot give or loan your meal plan card to another person since it will have your picture and student ID number on it as an identifier that you are the card holder
  
• Unused Dining Dollars from Fall 2009 will roll over and be added to the Spring 2010 allotment but all must be used by May 14, 2010 or they will be forfeited

How to Contact Us
Mailing Address for Applications
The University Corporation
Meal Plan Office
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8309

Campus Location
We are located on the third floor of the Sierra Center inside The University Corporation between Sierra Hall and Jerome Richfield Hall

Phone Number
818-677-2655

Email Address
mealplan@csun.edu

Hours of Operation
We are open from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Friday and closed from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM for lunch. The front desk in the lobby of The University Corporation is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Although they cannot answer meal plan related questions, you can leave forms and messages with them for The Meal Plan Office.

Forms