Notes

white paper - This white paper will identify and detail the issues involving kosher dining at UMDCP.
A kosher meal plan has been available for purchase from Maryland Hillel for decades. In the past ten years, the numbers of students requiring a kosher meal plan have increased greatly. These students have been challenged by the following issues.
Students requiring a kosher meal plan have the option of purchasing the meal plan from UMD Hillel. This purchase limits their ability to eat in other campus dining halls for snacks and other foods that may be purchased without kosher supervision curtailing their total campus experience. It limits their social interactions with roommates and other students since their kosher meal plan may only be used at Maryland Hillel. The same holds true for their ability to bring friends in to Hillel for a meal since the meal plans are not interchangeable. There is no open access to all dining venues on campus for students who purchase a kosher meal plan.
Purchase of the Maryland Hillel Kosher Meal Plan is cumbersome and challenging. There is no information about the Kosher Meal Plan on the UMD website Dining Options page. Students are directed to Maryland Hillel for kosher meal plan information.
Students register for room and board on the website and must choose a meal plan for the registration to go through if they will be living in UMD housing without a kitchen. Students requiring a kosher meal plan then go to Maryland Hillel to purchase their meal plan and get a refund from the university for their previously purchased UMD meal plan.
UMD is a university that is known for the rich Jewish life on its campus. It is a draw for students from all over the country attracted to the outstanding academic offerings including Israel studies programs, Jewish philosophy major, Hebrew language studies in addition to the many opportunities to identify Jewishly. Comparable institutions of similar national reputations, both public and private offer a kosher meal plan as one of many options on their Dining Services web page.
In order to offer our students open access to all campus facilities and dining venues, the opportunities to interact socially with the diverse population that thrives on our campus, and ease of access in the registration process, we recommend that the kosher meal plan become one of the many dining options offered by UMD Dining Services on their website and be incorporated under the auspices of UMD.
It is recommended that this be done as part of the planning process for the new Maryland Hillel facility with a projected completion date of Fall 2015.
UMD Dining Services leadership will participate in the planning for the new kitchen facilities so that it will be built according to their specifications and requirements.
UMD Dining Services will assume the management and responsibility for all aspects of this dining venue as one of their campus locations.
Maryland Hillel will work with UMD Dining Services on all aspects of the kashrut standards of the venue to ensure the certification remains constant and acceptable to the Jewish community it will continue to attract.