After piloting the cashless system in Liz Waters residence hall two years ago, University Housing has decided to implement a cashless system at Gordon Dining and Event Center this fall.
With this system, students can only use a credit card, debit card or Wiscard to pay for food at university dining halls. University Housing Director Jeff Novak said the cashless system has proven successful at other residence halls.
“Last year, we expanded [the cashless system] to four of our six dining halls [with] no issue,” Novak said. “To continue to improve efficiency, we move forth with eliminating cash from not only Gordon but Four Lakes this year as well.”
Liz’s Market, Rheta’s Market, Carson’s Market and Newell’s Deli are among the locations that have already gone cashless. After the implementation of the system at both Gordon and Four Lakes, every dining hall and convenience store run by University Housing will no longer accept cash.
Novak said the cashless system will ultimately save students money. By using their Wiscard, students living in residence halls can save 30 percent on all food in housing-owned dining facilities across campus.
“If a student ever used cash, they lost out on a tremendous discount with us,” Novak said. “I try to tell students and parents all the time, when you use a credit card and not your Wiscard, you literally throw away 30 cents on the dollar.”
Along with the cashless system, dining halls on campus will also be implementing a new tier system that requires students living in University Housing to deposit money onto their Wiscards. While Novak said there is no connection between going cashless and the new meal plan, he explained the meal plan will help ensure that students have money on their Wiscard to pay for food in the dining halls.
Novak said upwards of 99 percent of transactions in dining halls are made with credit cards, debit cards or Wiscards. Therefore, he said a cashless system will make little to no impact on students’ daily lives.
“If we had large amounts of our customers using cash, we would continue to use it,” Novak said. “We find most students are not carrying cash. The way of the future is not carrying cash.”
The cashless system will go into effect Sunday, August 12th.
