Flexi-Choice Food Court

• If you are going to miss lunch because of a lecture, don’t worry, you haven’t already paid for lunch at College, so you won’t lose out. If you’re going out for dinner with friends, you haven’t already paid for your dinner at College, so you can afford to get dessert.
• Students load money on to their meal card online so that they don’t have to worry about having lots of cash with them. You can check your balance when you need to, and you can recharge your card online from your own room.
• If you forget your card, don’t worry, we do accept cash. (It’s cheaper with your card though!)
• At meal times there will be a range of options, from budget to gourmet, both hot and cold.
• Throughout the day you can buy a snack, chocolate, sushi, ice-creams, biscuits, yoghurt, salads, takeaways, sandwiches, lollipops and heaps more!!
• At DDS you can bring friends from other colleges, or from in town, to eat with you. They can pay cash or you can shout them. You can also eat in either the Duval College or the Drummond and Smith College dining hall.

The new Flexi-Choice system was designed to give our students more choice and freedom when it came to dining, budgeting and meeting specific dietary needs.

Previously, and currently with the other UNE Colleges, students were required to pay for 3 meals a day within their College fees. This meant that students paid for breakfast, lunch and dinner, regardless of whether they ate at College or not. After an extensive amount of research, we realised that, for example; on Friday nights a large proportion of our students were eating out, meaning that they paid for dinner twice, once at College and once in town. Many students could not return to college between lectures and missed the lunch that they had already paid for. We understand how important it is for students to budget, thus implemented the new pay-as-you-go system. Now our students only pay for the dinners that they eat here.

We are aware that many students have very specific needs and budgets. In an effort to meet these needs we have implemented Flexi-Choice catering. This system allows students to choose exactly when, and on what, they spend their money. It allows us to provide longer opening hours (most UNE college kitchens are open at meal times only) and allows us to significantly improve food quality and availablility. Now our students can go 'out' for a coffee and a foccacia at their own college dining hall.

• Flexi-choice is a user-pays “meal card” system which allows for greater flexibility in food variety and timing, particularly if you are absent from the College, at lectures or in town.
• Remember that your meal card is comparative to a credit card and should be closely guarded as such. It can be financially increased online in your own room anytime of the day or night.
• If you forget your card or bring a friend along for a meal, you may use cash to make purchases but your prices will be increased to normal retail prices.
• The balance of funds left on your card can be checked online at any time.
• You can check the records of all your activities and purchases on line.
• If you have any major queries about your card or your usage please see someone in the College Office.
• There will be a considerable offering of small goods within the retail section of the Cafe.  Monitor your usage carefully so you are aware of both your meal purchases and the other options available throughout the day.
• Note the time of meals in the Food Court when the offerings will provide for the ‘budget busters’ hot food service or the continental breakfasts.
• There is a Food Committee set up for monitoring the Catering Services and the opportunity to make suggestions for any additions or changes to be considered.
• You may write to the Catering Manager if you have recommendations or issues relating to the food service through email on ddsfoodcomments@une.edu.au
• College “Celebratory Dinners” are included in your overall residential fee. This means that you are not required to pay with your meal card for formal dinners.

Duval College holds many celebratory dinners throughout the year. These dinners are traditionally quite formal, with drinks and nibbles on arrivals, mains and desserts. There a speeches, awards, formal gear and academic gowns. The traditional formal functions include awards and academic celebratory nights, scholarship dinners, and guest speaker nights. There is a Sports awards night, A Valedictory dinner, Parents Weekend and many more. Formal functions are great fun and allow Duvalians to show their College pride and to celebrate everyone's acheivements.

Formal dinners are not paid for with Flexi-choice meal cards. These are included in each students' College fees.

One of the best things about the new catering system is that everyone is welcome to dine at Duval and Drummond and Smith Colleges. When friends or family come to visit, it is easy for them to pay cash and have a meal at College. At Duval, some of the members of the Senior Common Room run tutorials over lunch times and use their meal cards to purchase meals and eat with their students. The system also allows College staff to mingle with students at meal times and ensures that the relationship between staff and students is strong.