Campus Dining Services Frequently Asked Questions

• The fall 2023 semester will begin Monday, August 28, 2023.
• Dining will be open throughout the week of August 21 – August 27. Most Dining will reopen for the semester on Wednesday, August 23.
• Utilize Where to Eat for up-to-date hours of operation for all Campus Dining locations.

After you have selected your meal plan, it will be added through an automated process around 7 a.m., 11 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily.

You can start using your meal plan upon move-in during the fall semester, whereas meal plans will begin the Friday before classes resume during the spring semester.

Meal plans are not available immediately after making a plan selection during the semester, but will be added with the next running of the automated process.

The President’s Welcome Back Picnic event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, August 27 and we want all students to join us in this event! The residence hall Dining team will be staffing this event so the dining centers will close for the day following lunch service.

All meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars: the end of day Friday of Finals Week marks the last day to use all meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars. Meal Plans and semester-based Dining Dollars will cease to function and will be removed after this day each semester.

The fall 2023 semester will end on Friday, December 15, 2023.

Dining will be available in some capacity to coincide with the start of meal plans for the semester. Operations that are open the first weekend and through the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday will have special hours. All other locations will open starting Tuesday, January 17, 2024.

Navigate to Where to Eat for up-to-date hours of operation, including special hours for holidays and breaks.

Meal plans for the spring 2024 semester will begin loading in the morning on Friday, January 12.

If you are adding a meal plan after the start of the semester, plans will be loaded through an automated process but not immediately. Please navigate to When can I start using my meal plan?

During breaks, closures, and holidays, the best resource to find out if a location will be open or closed is the Where to Eat webpage.

All meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars: the end of day Friday of Finals Week marks the last day to use all meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars. Meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars will cease to function and will be removed after this day each semester.

All Dining Dollars only plans: will also cease to function and will be removed after the spring 2024 semester ends on Friday, May 10, 2024.

All residence hall students are required to have a meal plan as part of residence hall living. Students that live off-campus or commute may also sign up for a meal plan.

For more information, see meal plans.

Meal plans are accessible through your student Onecard ID. Plans will be loaded to the system at the beginning of the semester or within a business day after making a selection when added during the semester.

Learn about other ways you can use your OneCard ID!

All meal plan selections are billed to the student's Bursar account, regardless if the student is living in the residence halls, or off-campus. For faculty and staff, meal plan selections are payable through payroll deduction, or online credit card payment.

We have options for students living in the residence halls, commuter students and faculty and staff. Learn about meal plans that fit your needs.

After you have selected your meal plan, it will be added through an automated process around 7 a.m., 11 a.m., and 4 p.m. daily.

You can start using your meal plan upon move-in during the fall semester, whereas meal plans will begin the Friday before classes resume during the spring semester.

Meal plans are not available immediately after making a plan selection during the semester, but will be added with the next running of the automated process.

If you would like to change or cancel your meal plan, please send an email from your student Z-ID email account to housing@niu.edu and dining@niu.edu.

Deadlines to change a plan:

1. If you added your meal plan before the semester started, you have 10 business days from the start of the semester to upgrade, downgrade or cancel your meal plan. After those 10 business days, you can still upgrade or refill, but you can't cancel or downgrade your plan.
2. If you added your meal plan on or after the first day of the semester, you have 10 business days from the date you added your plan to upgrade, downgrade or cancel it. After those 10 days have passed, you may still upgrade or refill, but you can't cancel or downgrade your plan.

Resident student meal plans: weekly meal plan swipes reset every Sunday morning/Saturday night at 12 a.m. The 100 Dining Dollars included with your plan expire at the end of the semester.

Off-campus student meal plans: off-campus students can choose between a semester-based meal plan or weekly meal plan. Semester meal plan swipes and the 250 Dining Dollars included with your plan both expire at the end of the semester. Weekly meal plan swipes reset every Sunday morning/Saturday night at 12 a.m. The 100 Dining Dollars included with your plan expire at the end of the semester.

Dining Dollars only plans: Dining Dollars purchased separately from a meal plan expire at the end of the academic year. Level plans purchased during the fall semester will roll over remaining balances to the spring semester, but will not roll over past the spring semester.

All meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars: the end of day Friday of Finals Week marks the last day to use all meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars. Meal plans and semester-based Dining Dollars will cease to function and will be removed after this day each semester.

All students that choose a Huskie Block Plan receive Dining Dollars to supplement their weekly or semester meals. Dining Dollars can also be purchased in addition to a Block Plan or as a standalone meal plan for off-campus students.

Dining Dollars can be used at all Campus Dining Services operated locations. Use Dining Dollars to purchase items not on meal exchange in retail dining, to treat a friend to a meal in residential or retail dining, or for a small snack instead of using a meal swipe.

There are different types of Dining Dollars depending on how the funds were added. Dining Dollars can be included with a meal plan selection, be added to accompany a meal plan, or purchased separately as a standalone off-campus meal plan.

1. Residential students: Dining Dollars associated with the Residential Block meal plans are noted as Dining Dollars Res. These funds are allocated once and remaining balances at the end of the semester will also be forfeited.
2. Off-campus students: Dining Dollars associated with the Off-Campus Block meal plans are noted as Dining Dollars OC. These funds are allocated once and remaining balances at the end of the semester will also be forfeited.
3. All students: Dining Dollars associated with the Dining Dollars Level plans are noted as Dining Dollars Add. Dollars expire at the end of the academic year so any unused at the end of the fall semester will roll over to spring. Any unused dollars at the end of the spring semester will be forfeited.

More information on meal plans available.

Add Dining Dollars

Meal Exchange offers the ability for Huskie Block plans to choose dining options from a retail dining center to use one of your meal swipes for a combination of items like a sandwich, chips and a drink. Locations offering meal exchange will list what items are eligible to be combined for one meal swipe.

Stevenson Retail Dining, Gilbert East Side Café and Depot C-Store offer meal exchange all day.

Qdoba and Grill at Huskie Den offer meal exchange after 7 p.m.

Einstein Bros. Bagels offers meal exchange from 8 to 10:30 a.m.

The To-Go meal program allows for students and staff members on one of the Huskie Block Plans to fill an eco-friendly, sturdy, reusable container and take their food to-go from one of our All You Care to Eat locations. Visit To-Go program webpage for more details.

Huskie Bucks are separate from your dining meal plan. Your Huskie Bucks account is a pre-paid debit account that can be used anywhere on campus to purchase meals as well as various services like copying/printing. Huskie Bucks can also be used at many local restaurants.

Visit Huskie Bucks for more information.

Wondering how many meals you have left today, this week, this semester?

You can use eAccounts to view your current meal plan balance, Dining Dollars balance, even Huskie Bucks balance.

Check your meal plan balance

Optionally use the web-based system above, or you can use the Transact eAccounts mobile app.

All meal plans have a five meals per day limit. This limit is applied to all Campus Dining locations across campus.

Meal exchange is using your meal swipe to purchase a combination of items from one of our retail dining locations. The daily and/or weekly limits apply regardless if you use your meal swipe for meal exchange or at Neptune or Patterson Dining.

If you hit your daily, weekly, or semester meal limits, all dining locations still offer other payment options so you can still eat. Dining Dollars, Huskie Bucks, and credit card are accepted at all locations. Some locations also accept cash. Navigate to Where to Eat for more information on what payment options are available by location.

In All-You-Care-to-Eat Residence Dining Centers, the door price is set by meal time. Breakfast is $7.50, Lunch is $9.50 and Dinner is $11.50.

Sign-up for the Faculty and Staff Meal Plan is currently under construction.

Please email us at dining@niu.edu with the plan you wish to select and the payment type you wish to use. We will manually process your request until the new request system has been completed.

To purchase a faculty and staff meal plan, you must be currently employed at NIU as civil service, SPS, faculty or extra help, with a valid OneCard ID. Student employees, including graduate employees, please see the off-campus student meal plan options available to you.

You are able to pay by credit card online or payroll deduction.

For payroll deduction, finalize your request by completing the start/stop payroll deduction authorization form and send your form electronically to dining@niu.edu after submitting it.

Calculate the amount of each deduction by dividing the total cost of the plan evenly by the number of pay periods. Per plan, please do not exceed the following number of deductions:

• Faculty/Staff 15: four (4) pay periods.
• Faculty/Staff 30: eight (8) pay periods.
• Faculty/Staff 60: ten (10) pay periods.

Dining Dollars enhance your faculty and staff meal plan by allowing you to purchase food items at other campus dining locations in addition to the All You Care to Eat dining centers. These dollars additionally provide access to all retail and grab 'n go locations. It's perfect for when getting to an All You Care To Eat dining center is difficult. Check where you can use Dining Dollars.

Faculty and staff meal plans do not expire. This includes both the meal swipes and Dining Dollars when applicable.

Whenever you find yourself running low on meal swipes or Dining Dollars, you can submit a new request for a faculty and staff meal plan.

If you have an active faculty and staff meal plan payroll deduction, please select a different payment method.

All meal plans include meal exchange option. Learn more about Meal Exchange.

Where can I use Meal Exchange?

A program for any faculty and staff meal plan (15, 30 or 60) to fill a reusable container and take their food to-go. Applicable for meal plan swipes only.

Take To-Go from Neptune and Patterson.

Navigate to To-Go program for more information.

Campus Dining Services does not offer refunds for any faculty and staff meal plan purchase. If you find yourself not using the plan as expected, we would ask that you attempt to treat a guest, whether it be a student, current or prospective, a colleague, or even a community member to a hot meal in one of our locations.

Huskie Bucks are another way to pay for meals but are not part of a meal plan. You can deposit funds into your Huskie Bucks account at any time. Learn more about Huskie Bucks.

Huskie Block Plans, Dining Dollars, Huskie Bucks, and debit/credit cards allow you to eat at all campus dining locations. Our operations are grouped by residential or retail, your choice.

Enjoy dine-in or meals to go from our residential dining operations Neptune Dining and Patterson Dining. We also have several retail dining locations including Stevenson Towers, Founders Memorial Library and Holmes Student Center offering you more variety. Most retail dining locations have seating nearby to enjoy your meal or take your food with you.

Check out Where to Eat for a complete list of our operations and their hours.

Some dining locations are open before classes start. All students will be able to use plans starting on move-in day. Check Where to Eat for the latest dining schedules.

Fall 2023 meal plans begin Wednesday, August 23 at lunch.

Spring 2024 meal plans begin Friday, January 12 at lunch.

We offer a variety of menu items to accommodate most special diet needs. If you have dietary restrictions or food allergies, visit Alternate Diets, Allergies and Intolerances to review the resources available and to request accommodations and nutrition assistance.

Yes, the Huskie Food Pantry is available to currently enrolled students who need help getting food for any reason. For assistance outside of regular business hours or during campus closures, community resources are available through the Huskie Food Pantry.

Learn how the Huskie Food Pantry works.

It is very important that you get your student OneCard ID. Meal plans are only accessible through your student OneCard ID. Plans will be loaded to the system at the beginning of the semester or within a business day after making a selection when added during the semester.

Learn more about other ways you can use your OneCard ID!

For your security, OneCard IDs mailed to you require activation before they can be used. You should have received instructions with your ID, or you can follow the instructions to reinstate your OneCard ID. Best of all, the activation is immediate!

Residence hall students have the option of getting a temporary meal plan card by visiting any of the residential dining center offices. This temporary card suspends your lost OneCard so that it cannot be misused and then it will allow you to access your Huskie Bucks or Meal Plan. If you lose your OneCard outside of residential dining's regular business hours, you may suspend your OneCard online.

Learn more about reporting a lost or stolen OneCard.