With campus dining options such as Blue Cactus not accepting meal swipes and the Pit only accepting them at certain times, the University has rolled out a new dining plan option, the Flex Plan, to help bridge the gap between meal swipes and Dining Dollars.
This new option comes a year after URochester dining services assumed a self-operation model, and it allows for more flexibility for first-years on campus, as it allows students up to $35 to spend per day.
“Flex Points work just like Dining Dollars, however, the balances automatically reset overnight to $35. This amount covers 3 meals a day in the residential dining halls and more,” the University’s dining services website reads.
This new program would allow students to take advantage of places on campus that don’t accept meal swipes, while still ensuring students are able to get three meals a day from the dining halls.
The program is effective as of Fall 2026 and is only for students on the River Campus.
Unlike traditional dining dollars, “Flex Points” are not applicable to what dining services call “retail items,” or products purchased from Starbucks or Hillside Market.
University Spokesperson Sara Miller explained why this plan might be appealing to some students: “[The Flex Points plan is] perfect for athletes and other students who need food on the go, or meal times don’t line up with their activities,” she said. “Based on student feedback and enabled by the move to self-operation, it replaces the unlimited plan and offers a daily flex balance that can be used at dining halls or retail outlets for meal services.”
Naidhruva Deb, Co-Chair of Campus Life Committee for Student Senate, believes that this new program could be especially useful for first-years: “I think it’ll be helpful for [first-years] to have exposure to all meal options on campus including things off the swipe plan, especially as they continue to expand and renovate dining.”
More broadly, the University has implemented other changes in dining, including continuous service in its dining halls. This means that there are no longer gaps in the day when the dining halls close between meals.
Beyond this new flex plan, and the introduction of Saffron & Stone and Blue Cactus last semester, more changes are scheduled to come this winter with a renaming of the Connections space in the Rush Rhees Library.
Additionally, students wanting a midnight snack won’t be able to frequent Hillside Market, the campus convenience store, as late as they once could. With the change of hours also came a new variety of products, including new food items from College Town’s Asian grocery store Joy Mart. After a summer remodel, the store changed their hours, now closing at 10 p.m. Monday–Thursday and midnight Friday–Sunday.
