A new alternative to residence hall dining meal plans has arrived at Iowa State this fall, but Department of Residence officials say the new plan is causing confusion among students.

Since mid-August, a company called Off Campus Access, Inc. has been circulating e-mails to ISU students living in residence halls. In the e-mail, the company markets a meal plan called ‘The I-State Meal Plan’ as a lucrative alternative to ISU Dining meal plans.

On their Web site, www.istate mealplan.com, the company describes the I-State Meal Plan as “an off-campus meal program that enables you to eat at your favorite local restaurants instead of the dining hall.”

According to Off Campus Access, Inc.’s Web site, under the I-State Meal Plan, students who sign up will receive a card in three to four days. They can then visit a participating restaurant and pay with their card.

Participating restaurants include the Stomping Ground Cafe, Subway, Blimpies, Quiznos, Dairy Queen, Taco John’s, Papa John’s and Domino’s.

In addition to saving money on food, cardholders also receive discounts on school supplies, clothes, haircuts and movies. Students can monitor their account balance online, and their account rolls over from semester to semester and year to year. Upon graduation, students can receive their remaining card balance.

Since the e-mails were sent out, there has been confusion over the affiliation between the company and Iowa State.

Kate Bruns, communications specialist for the Department of Residence, said students living in the residence halls have been asking questions about the newly-marketed meal plan.

“Based on interactions, some students are thinking that the [I-State Meal Plan] is an ISU plan, when in fact it’s not,” she said.

Director of the Department of Residence Randy Alexander shared Bruns’ concern of students being fooled by the company.

“The concern I have with [the I-State Meal Plan] is some of the publicity on the Web site may be confusing to current students and new students,” he said. “I saw an ad logo [on the I-State Meal Plan’s Web site] for students to cancel their ISU Dining meal plans. However, deciding to cancel your ISU meal plan is not an option unless students are living in units that have a kitchen, like Fredericksen Court or University Village.”

Bruns said a few students living in residence halls have called the Department of Residence wanting to cancel their current meal plans so they can switch to the I-State Meal Plan.

Mike Dolezal, regional director for the I-State Meal Plan, said Off Campus Access, Inc. offers meal plans for over a dozen schools in the country.

“Our goal is to save students money with more options and better food all the time,” he said.

“I think the most important thing is that students face a dilemma to either eat in the dining hall and eat X amount of food or lose money,” he said. “Also, the food quality [in resident hall dining] is not up to par with restaurants.”

Dolezal said there is no cost to sign up for the I-State Meal Plan, no minimum balance and students can use the card in the summer and during breaks.

He said Off Campus Access, Inc. tries to gear their meal plan toward off-campus students also.

“We’ve had a couple of [ISU] students sign up for the plan over the summer, and we have about a dozen students sign up every day now,” Dolezal said.

Area businesses point out the card may have benefits for students wishing to use it.

Andrew Wick, an employee of Subway, 113 Welch Ave., said ISU students can start using their I-State Meal Plan cards on Monday.

“We just swipe the card through a machine and that calculates how much money is spent,” Wick said. “I’m foreseeing it will be very popular and make things a lot busier.”

Rob Rioux, general manager of Papa John’s, 3335 Lincoln Way, said he believes the I-State Meal Plan would grow more popular with time.

“I would say you’ll probably get medium response back this semester,” he said. “But in the spring and the following semester, it should grow and a minimum of 50 percent of the ISU students will have [the I-State Meal Plan].”

Jonathan Reed, owner of Stomping Grounds Cafe, 303 Welch Ave., shared Rioux’s outlook on the new meal plan.

“I think it’s a neat idea and a nice alternative for students and parents,” he said. “I think it will be very slow at the beginning, but maybe after a a few years, it will pick up.”

Dolezal said Off Campus Access, Inc. is continually adding restaurants every week.