Tufts students will soon be able to use JumboCash, the prepaid debit account that can be placed on student I.D. cards, in an increased number of ways and locations.
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate is partnering with Tufts Dining Services to expand the existing Merchant Off−Campus Partners (MOPs) restaurant delivery program.
The expansion is going beyond adding additional restaurants to expanding the hours during which JumboCash is accepted at existing restaurants and adding the option of using Jumbocash for onsite purchases.
MOPs, which was created to supplement meal plans, currently allows students to use JumboCash when purchasing food for delivery from eight participating vendors during certain designated hours.
New restaurants may be added as early as this spring, though "the full effect will be felt in the fall," Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos said.
According to Klos, the Senate has pitched the JumboCash proposal to over twenty local eateries. Some restaurant owners have even contacted Tufts to request information on the MOPs program.
"We're waiting to hear back from those restaurants whether they are interested in joining the program," Co−chair of the Senate Services Committee Dan Pasternack, a junior, said.
Klos explained that part of the MOPs expansion process will include adding new payment options and longer hours.
"I anticipate [in−house JumboCash usage] will be part of the expanded program, for both inside sales and throughout the day," she said.
In theory, the impending updates to the off−campus JumboCash options will permit students to use the debit account at any time of day and at the restaurant itself, according to Pasternack.
He added that the addition of new restaurants and payment options is largely the result of a new JumboCash system being used by Dining Services, which will decide the number of new restaurants included in the program.
"Dining Services is in the process of switching to the system, so now a lot of manpower is being devoted to the switch," Pasternack said. "It's really uncertain how many more transactions they'll be able to handle, and that'll be the determining factor in how many restaurants are added."
The Senate will host a food fair on March 1 in the Mayer Campus Center, in which many of the restaurants being considered will participate. The food fair will allow vendors to advertise, as well as give students a chance to sample food from potential new MOPs members.
Klos noted, however, that not participating would not preclude restaurants from joining the program. "If they're for some reason unable to attend, that does not exclude them from consideration," she said.
Klos encouraged everyone to try the latest local food selections. "Who doesn't love free food?" she said.
After the fair, the Senate's spring survey will feature a question asking students which particular restaurants they want to add to the JumboCash program.
"We're going to use the survey results to supply a list of restaurants we want," Pasternack said.
Sugar and Spice, Tasty Gourmet and Anna's Taqueria are among the restaurants being considered.
After assessing the student body's response to the vendors at the food fair, the Senate will join Dining Services in deciding which new food vendors will be added to JumboCash.
Pasternack noted that request for MOPs expansion has been in the works for a long time.
"I think that there's always been student demand, and [the senators] have just been asking for a long time for the expansion, and it's because of the actual logistics within Dining Services that they haven't been able to," he said. "Now that they're finally able to, students will push for what students have been asking for for the past few years."
