The first year of college is a transition year for most students, a time when they quickly mature and learn to be more independent. The University assists in this process by providing a structured housing and dining program during the first year as a student. Our inclusive program alleviates the concern for basic needs -- food and shelter -- and allows the student to concentrate solely on his or her studies and adjustment to college life. The guaranteed base of first-year students allows University Dining to expand its program beyond the traditional dining hall to include fast food restaurants, a specialty restaurant, and convenience stores.

A good diet is a balanced diet. Your number of Meals Per Week (you have the option to choose the plan that best matches your schedule and lifestyle) is your most cost-effective way of eating on campus. You will eat many of your meals in the Fountain, Clark, or Case Dining Hall and choose from a wide selection of entrees, vegetables, salads, and desserts.

You can also use your equivalency program to automatically transfer the cost of a meal in the dining hall toward the purchase of food items at either the Atrium Food Court, Talley Student Center, or Port City Java . To provide you even greater flexibility, Board Bucks allows you to purchase items at all University Dining locations, including convenience stores. Together, Meals Per Week and Board Bucks provide you a comprehensive program of hunger needs.

Board Bucks are mandatory for the 8, 10, and 12 meal plans, and optional for the 14 meal plan, Block Plan and the Dining Hall Freedom Pass.

You can choose one of five options: 8 meals, 10 meals, 12 meals or 14 meals per week. If you seldom miss a meal then you will probably want to choose the 14 of the 19 meals served each week. If you never eat breakfast and will be gone most weekends the 8 or 10 meal plan could be right for you. Analyze your own eating habits and customize the plan that best suits your needs. Statistically speaking, the plan most often chosen is the any 12 meals plan.

No. We have always had a policy that allows students to eat all they want and never leave the dining hall hungry. Consequently, we always prepare enough food to feed every student who comes through our doors. This doesn't mean, however, that we don't realize that there are going to be times when you are simply unable to eat all of your meals in a given week. In fact, we have studied this situation for years and have determined that statistically speaking, you will probably miss an average of two meals per week.

Therefore we have priced our meal plans based on the meals we know students will statistically eat, not on the meals that will actually be eaten. For example, when you sign up for the Any 10-meal plan, your cost is based on the fact that you will probably only eat 8. If you sign up for Any 12, you'll probably only eat 10. So if you do eat all of your meals in a week, you're actually eating a couple of meals free.

The equivalency program allows you to use your meal plan "meals" at the quick service eateries by transferring the value of the meal you would have eaten at Fountain Dining Hall toward your purchase.

Just go through the line, make your selections and go to the cashier. He or she will then apply the equivalency rate for the given meal period toward your purchase. If you go over, then the balance will be deducted from your Board Bucks balance. The equivalency rates are as follows:

Breakfast: $4.25
Lunch/Brunch: $4.80
Dinner: $5.00

Like the number of Meals Per Week, this is strictly an individual choice. Since you will use your Board Bucks to supplement the cost of your meals at eateries other than the dining halls, get snacks and drinks in between meals, and stock up on sundries and other items from the convenience stores, we recommend that you think carefully about how many you will need to get through the semester. If you run out, you can purchase more and if you purchase too many, you can roll them over and use them during the spring. Just be sure to use all of your Board Bucks by the end of the spring semester as they cannot be carried over from one academic year to the next.

You can carry forward unused Board Bucks from the fall semester to the spring semester, but the balance will not satisfy your requirement to select a Board Bucks level for the spring. For example, if you chose 300 Board Bucks in the fall and had 50 left over at the end of the semester, you could roll those over to the spring semester. You would then select another level of Board Bucks, say, 200, giving you a combined balance of 250 for the spring.

You should try to use all of your Board Bucks by the end of the spring semester as they cannot be refunded at the end of the academic year.

The amount of Board Bucks you haven chosen is recorded in University Dining computers. When you present your student identification card at any University Dining location, the cash register computer checks to determine the number of Board Bucks you have remaining and automatically deducts the amount of your purchase from the remaining Board Bucks. At any time you can determine your remaining Board Bucks by stopping by a University Dining location and having your student ID card read by the cash register computer. No purchase is required.

Board Bucks are accepted at all University Dining locations. You can use Board Bucks to buy a pizza or a chicken sandwich at the Atrium Food Court, a meal at the Wolves' Den sports restaurant, or even to buy items at any of our convenience stores. Board Bucks also work in vending machines equipped with card readers. One very convenient way to use Board Bucks is to pay for any additional charges on a meal not covered by our equivalency program.

One of the reasons we have such a wide selection of foods at the dining halls every day is to meet the different dietary needs of our students. Not everyone wants or needs to eat the same foods, so we provide as many choices as possible.

In nearly all cases, the variety we offer at the dining halls meets the dietary needs of students. The dining halls offer a vegetarian and vegan choice at every meal. If, however, you have a special medically-directed diet program that you feel is outside of the scope of our normal menus, feel free to contact the dining hall managers. We will do everything we can to meet your special requests.

In addition, University Dining has its own registered dietitian, Lisa Eberhart, who is available to answer questions or provide more in-depth consultation. Just click on "Ask Our Dietitian" to request a meeting or ask a question.

Although there are similarities between the AllCampus Network and Board Bucks, there are major differences. Both programs are activated through the use of your student identification card at the cash register. Both programs allow you to make purchases on the campus of NC State University without having to use cash.

Board Bucks, however, is a part of your dining program, and purchases can only be made at University Dining locations. Board Bucks are discounted at time of purchase, there is no refund of unused Board Bucks, and all Board Bucks must be used before the end of the spring semester.

The AllCampus Network is a cash debit system that is free of charge to all NC State students. You decide how much to put into AllCampus and you can add to it at any time. You can use your AllCampus account to make purchases not only at all University Dining locations, but also at the NCSU Student Bookstore, where you can pay for books and supplies. Should you withdraw from school, you can receive a full refund of any unused AllCampus funds, minus a small processing fee.

Since Board Bucks can only be used at University Dining locations, the amount of purchases at these locations is automatically debited from your Board Bucks unless you specify otherwise.

You can use your AllCampus account to make purchases not only at all University Dining locations, but also at the NCSU Bookstores, residence hall laundry facilities, parking services, select vending machines and Ticket Central. Should you withdraw from school, you can receive a full refund of any unused AllCampus funds, minus a small processing fee.

Each Saturday morning the Meal Plan "resets" so that with the breakfast meal you are starting a new "week" of meals. The week begins Saturday morning and ends Friday evening.

So, be sure to use as many meals as you can before Friday evening so you don't lose them. Saturday morning you start all over again.

Need more Board Bucks for the rest of the semester? You may deposit additional funds into your Board Bucks instantly from your web browser by following the "Manage My ID Card" link at the top of this page. Or, you can add to your Board Bucks by bringing cash or check to the AllCampus Office in the West Dunn building. We'll add it to your account on the spot!

Remember, unused Board Bucks roll forward from Fall to Spring, but must be used by the end of the spring semester.

University Dining is now offering a Block Plan which gives you 160 meals to use throughout the course of the semester, instead of a predetermined number of meals to use each week. This can be useful for students who use a lot of meals when they are here all week, but use less meals on the weeks they go away for the weekend.

This plan allows you to eat as often as you want in the dining halls. There is no limit on the number of meals per semester and multiple visits during the same meal period are allowed. This plan now includes one meal equivalency per meal period. You may not use this meal plan to purchase meals for other people.