Students indicated that Rose's, a Chinese restaurant on Boston Ave., is their take-out restaurant of choice, in a survey conducted by Dining Services and the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate to find a new Merchants on Points (MOPS) vendor. But Rose's has not guaranteed that it will participate in the program.
Although Rose's and most of the other restaurants on the survey approached the University about participating in MOPS, Rose's could decline Tufts' offer after reading the fine print of the MOPS agreement.
MOPS brings increased revenue to participating vendors, but Tufts only reimburses the restaurants once a month, which can cause cash-flow problems for small businesses. Concerns about slow reimbursements and high University fees led Urban Gourmet to drop out of the program this summer.
Senators have discussed changing the reimbursement policy to deduct money from students' accounts in real time. But the restaurants involved go through a lengthy reimbursement process, explained Senate services committee Chair Ed Schwehm. It would be difficult to speed up the minor details, such as filling out forms and sorting receipts to prove the orders actually occurred, he said.
"You would think that it's possible because they're connected [by modem] to Tufts," he said. "But the restaurants have to check signatures to avoid fraud, which has happened in the past."
Dining Services and the services committee could rule out Rose's because it closes early. The restaurant is open until 11 p.m., leaving students only a four-hour window to order food on points on weeknights. Dining Services is negotiating with Rose's management to extend the restaurant's hours.
If Rose's decides not to extend its hours, Golden Light - a Chinese restaurant in Davis Square - will likely become the new MOPS vendor. The restaurant, which "stays open the latest in town," according to its menu, closes at 2 a.m. on weekdays and 2:45 a.m. on weekends. It received the second highest vote total.
Of 836 voters who participated in the six-day survey, which was conducted over the Internet, 289 students selected Rose's and 106 chose Golden Light.
Though students prefer Rose's, Schwehm said, they would likely complain that they could not order on points in the wee morning hours if Rose's became the new MOPS vendor. "We're going to have to say 'we told you so,'" he said, adding that having a vendor with longer hours is a higher priority than food quality.
Golden Light was also given a copy of Dining Services' MOPS contract, in case Rose's declines the offer. "We want to make sure there is no controversy," Schwehm said. "That's what we're trying to avoid by contacting both."
Schwehm and services committee member Josh Belkin will decide which restaurant will join MOPS when they meet with Director of Dining Services Patti Lee Klos on Wednesday. The new vendor must then install the technology that connects it to the University database. This could cause a delay, Schwehm said. Though Lee Klos ordered the MOPS equipment over the summer when Urban Gourmet left the program, it has not arrived because of a corporate changeover in the supplying company.
"If we get the equipment, it could be done by a month from Wednesday," Schwehm said. "But I'm almost certain that it'll be done by the end of the semester."
Students have long lobbied to add a Chinese restaurant to MOPS. "One of the [student] biggest recommendations to be added to MOPS was a Chinese restaurant," Senate President Eric Greenberg said. "We've never had a Chinese restaurant on MOPS and it's high time here."
