Students can expect to add their meal plan to the ever-expanding list of things that are going to cost them more, as University Dining Services has accepted a 4-percent increase in meal plan cost proposed by Sodexho, the campus dining contractor.

The increase, which resulted from a collective bargaining agreement with Sodexho’s unionized workers, is in response to the increase of the state minimum wage, which has risen over $1.50 in the past two years.

“It’s a matter of the costs of doing business,” said Bob Griffin, marketing manager for Sodexho. “We have a yearly sit-down with a dining services contract committee and we lay [the cost] out. We chat about it and they take our plan back to review… It’s a pretty straightforward process.”

According to Griffin, 80 percent of the overall price increase accounts for increased labor expenses, including health care and wages for Sodexho’s union employees. The remaining 20 percent will supplement the cost of operation of the dining halls and associated inflation — what Sodexho calls “all the expenses that we incur just by opening the door every day.”

Jim Meagher, the resident dining director and head of the committee comprised of staff, faculty and students, reportedly had no qualms with Sodexho’s initial price adjustment, according to Griffin. Meagher could not be reached for comment.

Griffin noted that Sodexho was holding to the current national Consumer Price Index, which tracks the prices of consumer goods and services and concurrent inflation in order to establish a basic idea of the average cost of living. He said that the increase was “pretty nominal” in comparison to those in the past.

“The year we opened Appalachian was a sizable jump, somewhere around 9 percent,” Griffin said. “It’s an issue at our management meetings all the time. For us to be able to keep it at [4 percent]… we’re pretty happy with that.”

Taking into account minimum wage increases and employee benefit adjustment, the increase is “reasonable,” according to Student Association president Mike Smyth.

“Considering 80 percent of the 4-percent increase goes to [Sodexho’s] union, and is the result of the minimum wage increase… it’s understandable,” Smyth said. “We’re not going to object to 4 percent.”

While it seems as though the University is continually increasing prices, Griffin wanted to assure students that Sodexho’s intentions are in fact not as malevolent as they sometimes assume them to be.

“I would hope [students] would understand… we don’t arbitrarily look to raise the board rate,” Griffin said.