Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Dining DBA and Topside DBA?
For each and every term that a student is enrolled in classes (in Hanover) or living in Dartmouth-managed housing, he or she must purchase one of the available dining plans for which that student is eligible. Each dining plan consists of two components: Dining DBA and Topside DBA. The Topside DBA component is set at $200 and is the same amount for all plans. The Dining DBA component is equal to the purchase price of the plan, less the $200 allocated to the Topside DBA component. For example, if you choose to purchase a (new) Mini-Green Plan, your college account will be billed for $1050; $850 will be deposited in your Dining DBA, and $200 will be deposited in your Topside DBA.
Dining DBA can be spent in any DDS location except the Topside convenience store. Topside DBA can be spent in either the Topside store or any DDS dining facility.
Normally, Dining DBA will be used in DDS dining facilities. If you wish to use your Topside DBA rather than your Dining DBA to pay for a food purchase in a DDS dining facility, you must tell the cashier of your intentions before your ID card is "swiped" by the cashier.
What is "roll over" and what, if any, advantage is it to me?
"Roll over" is the term used to refer to your ability to carry forward any unspent balance of Dining DBA to the subsequent term(s). Prior to the implementation of the 2006-2007 dining plan, any unspent Dining DBA balances were cleared from your account on the last day of exams each term, and all dollars still in your account were forfeited. Currently, all unspent Dining DBA balances will be carried forward to the succeeding term(s) until the end of the next spring term – specifically, the next Commencement Day – at which point they will expire. Put another way, at the end of Summer, Fall, and Winter terms, you will not lose any remaining balance in your Dining DBA account. Instead, your remaining balance of Dining DBA will remain active and simply get added to your Dining DBA for the following term – except at the end of Spring term, when your remaining balance of Dining DBA will expire.
"Roll over" applies only to Dining DBA. Rollover does NOT apply to Topside DBA. On the last day of exams for any term, you will forfeit any unspent Topside DBA dollars.
The "rollover feature" will provide students with an additional level of flexibility in their use of Dining DBA. Once dining dollars are loaded into your Dining DBA account (usually a few days before the beginning of a term), those dollars are available for you to use anytime until the next succeeding graduation day. For the student who, for whatever reason, did not spend all of his or her Dining DBA dollars before the end of exams, the ability to preserve those funds for use later (between terms, during "off term", etc.) will be a benefit.
If I run out of Dining DBA, what happens?
One of two things will happen. Because Topside DBA can be spent at any DDS dining facility, if you run out of Dining DBA and if you still have Topside DBA in your account, our point-of-sale systems (the cash registers) will automatically use your available Topside DBA to pay for the purchase. If you do not have any available Topside DBA, your purchase will automatically be applied to your Dartmouth charging account (or, as students often say, your account will simply "go negative"). At the end of each calendar month, your total of that month’s charges ("going negative") will be transferred to your Dartmouth student bill.
If I run out of Topside DBA, how will I make purchases at Topside?
Once you have spent your $200 of Topside DBA, any Topside purchases will be automatically be applied to your Dartmouth charging account (or, as students often say, your account will simply "go negative"). At the end of each calendar month, the total of that month’s charges ("going negative") will be transferred to your Dartmouth student bill.
If I do not anticipate spending $200 a term at Topside, what should I do to prevent the loss of this money at the end of the term?
It is very important for you to remember that your Topside DBA does not "roll over" from one term to the next, and you will lose any amount you do not spend during the term for which it was assigned. Also, it is very important for you to remember that your Topside DBA can be spent at any DDS dining facility. In addition, it is important for you to remember that your Dining DBA does "roll over" from one term to the next.
Accordingly, if you suspect that you will not spend all of your Topside DBA at Topside in any given term, you should use that portion of your Topside DBA for food purchases at one of DDS’s dining facilities before you spend all of your Dining DBA. To spend Topside DBA at one of DDS’s dining facilities, before the cashier swipes your ID card, simply tell the cashier, "I want to spend Topside DBA for this purchase". The cashier will then enter the data necessary to ensure that your purchase amount will be deducted from your Topside DBA rather than from your Dining DBA.
If you spend all of your Topside DBA and later decide you want to make purchases at Topside, you may do so simply by presenting your Dartmouth ID Card to the Topside cashier, and our system will automatically charge ("go negative") your purchase to your Dartmouth charging account (see above - "If I run out of Topside DBA, how can I make purchases at Topside?")
How and when can I change to a different dining plan?
If the plan assigned to you is not the plan you want, you may elect to change your plan one time per term.. To request a change in your dining plan, you must contact the Dartmouth Card office by (a) email, (b) in person, or (c) via the Card Office website (www.dartmouthcard.com) and request a change. Please remember that we accept no more than one dining plan change per academic term.
Students wanting to change from a term’s assigned dining plan - other than the Big Green Plan – to another can change dining plans during the first seven calendar days of that term. Students wishing to change from the Big Green Plan must submit a request prior to the beginning of the "discounting period" for that term (see below - "How does the Big Green Plan work?").
After the end of the change period for each term, students must keep their assigned plans for the remainder of that term. The dining plan to which you are assigned or to which you change will remain as your dining plan for all subsequent terms until you request a change in accordance with the process described above.
Please take note the following exception to the above rules for off-campus students moving into an ORL facility: If a student with an Off-Campus Plan moves into a Dartmouth residence without notifying the Card Office of the change in residence, he or she will be assigned to a Mini-Green dining plan. Any such student can then request a change to another dining plan during the term’s normal dining plan change period.
How does the Big Green discounting plan work?
A student enrolled in the Big Green dining plan receives $1420 of Dining DBA and $200 of Topside DBA. During the "academic term", Big Green plan holders’ purchases of food at DDS dining facilities will be discounted by 10%. The discount feature will apply to food purchases paid for with Dining DBA dollars, by charging ("going negative"), Da$h Discretionary dollars, and even Topside DBA. For the purposes of this discounting function, each "academic term" begins at noon on the first business day before classes begin and ends at 4:00 pm on the last day of that term’s exams. Any unused Dining DBA will "roll over" as described above and will remain active through the following term(s).
Purchases made by Big Green plan holders in Topside will never be discounted, regardless of what type of payment is used.
What plan(s) will be assigned to First-Year students? How will the Fall '08 Orientation factor into the new dining program?
Entering First-Year students will be assigned to the Green Plan (at a cost of $1,300). They will receive $200 in Topside DBA, $1050 of Dining DBA, and two "special meals". The two "special meals" will occur during the orientation period and account for $50 of the plan’s purchase price. First-Year students’ plans will become effective about 10 days before the beginning of fall term and will include the entire Fall Orientation period.
For fall term, a First-Year student may elect to change their dining plan only to the Big Green Dining plan provided the request is submitted to the Dartmouth Card Office before the end of the dining plan change period (the exact date will be determined and announced later). First-Year students may not elect to move to the Mini-Green Dining Plan until after they have completed fall term.