{"id":166173,"date":"2026-04-15T05:47:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T05:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/166173\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T05:47:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T05:47:06","slug":"how-penn-dining-selects-campus-business-partners-determines-payment-methods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/166173\/","title":{"rendered":"How Penn Dining selects campus business partners, determines payment methods"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was inspired by a question from a reader. Submit yours here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Students on a Penn Dining Plan can either use dining dollars or meal swipes to pay for food at retail and residential locations across campus.<\/p>\n

Penn Dining oversees residential dining halls, such as Quaker Kitchen and Falk Dining Commons in Steinhardt Hall and retail dining services \u2014 including Gourmet Grocer, Starbucks in 1920 Commons, and Pret a Manger in Huntsman Hall. The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with members of the Penn Dining team to learn how the University selects business partners and decides which payment methods are accepted at different dining locations.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the DP, Penn Business Services Director of Communications & External Relations Courtney Dombroski explained that Penn Dining assesses the \u201cneeds of students\u201d when determining whether to offer meal swipes or dining dollars at campus dining locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Dombroski, Penn Dining \u201cwill assess that information, look at usage,\u201d and then make decisions \u201cwith regard to access and being fiscally responsible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Sign Up<\/a><\/p>\n

Unlike dining systems offered by other universities, Penn Dining Dollars are part of its meal plan and can only be used at establishments within the \u201cPenn Dining ecosystem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to their website<\/a>, Penn Dining partners with Bon App\u00e9tit Management Company to oversee dining facilities and \u201censure that consistency, quality, and sourcing are specifically overseen by a reputable organization with the tools to do so.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Director of Hospitality Services Wendy Sparks \u2014 who oversees dining services on campus, including the partnership with Bon App\u00e9tit \u2014 told the DP that the Penn Dining program aims to promote \u201cthe student experience here at Penn\u201d and is \u201chere to support student life and the academic mission.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sparks explained that the program is built around residential buildings and retail options to \u201cmake sure we are built for the academic mission.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Sparks, Penn’s partnerships with Starbucks and Pret a Manger came after Penn Dining surveyed students on their preferences for on-campus dining options.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Penn Dining has direct oversight over Starbucks and Pret a Manger in Huntsman as part of the \u201cPenn Dining ecosystem.\u201d According to Sparks, like other retail options, both locations employ Bon App\u00e9tit employees. She explained that, on the other hand, residential options employ hourly Penn employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sparks also discussed upcoming renovations<\/a> to the 1920 Commons in May. The renovation is set to occur in three phases, culminating in a \u201cgrand reopening\u201d scheduled for January 2029. Based on preferences expressed in student surveys, Sparks said she feels \u201cpretty confident in saying we will be having a Starbucks there\u201d but added that the University has not ruled out introducing other retail options, such as a \u201clocker [or] ghost-kitchen type option.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really listen to the students and want to make sure we\u2019re meeting their needs around the hours we\u2019re open,\u201d Sparks said. \u201cOur goal is to make sure we have variety and late-night options available for our students within the framework of Penn Dining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff reporter Candice Felderer covers admissions and can be reached at felderer@thedp.com<\/a>. At Penn, she studies philosophy, politics, and economics.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was inspired by a question from a reader. Submit yours here. Students on a Penn Dining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-166173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-philadelphia","9":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","10":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}