Other institutions allow their students to use dining dollars at neighborhood restaurants and our students are interested in this as well. How could we accomplish this and what implications would it have for our current dining program?

Including neighborhood restaurants can be a great way to support the local community and expand offerings and operating hours but needs to be considered with the budget in mind. Your institution must first determine the amount of dining dollars it is amenable to offering; these funds will no longer be captured by your in-house dining program. This must be balanced with the selected restaurants’ willingness to pay upfront costs for student card readers and other IT integration features. Regardless, the first step any institution must take is to discuss it with your dining provider. Depending on who bears the financial risk of the program, that conversation can then evolve into determining the level of dining dollars offered and engaging in initial discussions with local restaurants to gauge their interest.