Residence Dining Account
Academic Year 2008 - 2009
View the 2007 - 2008 RDA Information
Students living in the residence halls (except McEachern, Orton, and Rogers) automatically receive a residence dining account (RDA) with their housing and dining contract. Students living in McEachern, Orton, and Rogers can choose to purchase this account. With an RDA, students can make purchases at Southside Café, Hillside Café, Northside Café, three markets, and nine campus espresso bars (Bustad, Cyber Café, Lighty, Carpenter, Cleveland, Stephenson, Flix Café, Northside Market Espresso, and Hillside Magic Beans Espresso). Students with a Residence Dining Account will receive a 40 percent discount when they use their RDA in Southside Café, Northside Café, Hillside Café and Cougar Fitness Café.
Every purchase made with an RDA in the markets and espresso bars will automatically receive a 10 percent discount on the total purchase.
The markets sell school supplies, toiletries, and snack items. The RDA can be used to purchase all of these.
RDA Levels
Each student selects ONE RDA level on their Housing and Dining Contract application.
| RDA Level | Overhead Cost | RDA Dollars | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | $900 | $690 | $1590 |
| Level 2 | $900 | $902 | $1802 |
| Level 3 | $900 | $1060 | $1960 |
| Level 4 | $900 | $1270 | $2170 |
| * All prices listed above are per semester | |||
The total cost per semester includes expenses for preparing and serving food, cleaning the residence dining facility, mortgage payments, and utilities.
In fall semester 2007, the average RDA dollars spent in the dining facilities was $843. The highest expenditure in RDA dollars was $2,029 during that semester. We suggest that you make your decision based upon how often you plan to eat in the residence dining facilities, how often you plan to use your RDA dollars in the markets and espresso bars, what kind of food you plan to eat since items are individually priced, how often you plan to go home on weekends, etc.
Students may purchase additional RDA dollars at any time during the semester at Housing and Dining Financial Services, Streit-Perham Building, or on the CougarCard website. All dollars added will go directly toward food purchases.
Even students who purchase Level 4 may find it necessary to add additional RDA dollars to their account if they frequent the residence dining facility often and shop at the Markets and Espresso Bars.
Every time you make a purchase, your new account balance shows on the cash register. If you think you made an error in choosing your RDA Level, you must change it before the end of the eighth week of classes. The account balance will be carried over from fall semester only if you stay in the Residence Hall system and purchase a Residence Dining Account for the Spring Semester. Since the RDA is not accepted in the summer, the balance is not carried over from spring semester to summer semester or the following fall semester.
RDA Management
Add RDA Dollars- Current Balance
- RDA Activity Detail
Sample Dining Center Prices
Please follow link below to view a sampling of dining facility prices.