West Virginia University students arriving for the fall semester should keep their Mountaineer Cards with them as they explore restaurants in the Morgantown community, as they will discover more opportunities to use them.
The Mountaineer Card Office has expanded its Mountie Bounty plan to off-campus locations, increasing flexibility and variety for students, faculty and staff as they evaluate meal options.
Brandon Twigg, assistant director of the office, says it’s an initiative that’s been a priority for several years.
“Offering the Mountie Bounty plan at off-campus locations is a project that has been in development for about four years,” he said. “We heard the requests from students and parents about having more flexibility with the plan and we are very happy to deliver this new service to our students.”
Mountie Bounty is a pre-paid account that works like a debit card. The plan allows parents, students, faculty and staff to add money to their Mountaineer Card to be used for services at dining hall facilities, campus restaurants, the WVU Bookstore, campus coffee shops and cafes, laundry facilities, printing at WVU computer labs, WVU pharmacy purchases and residence hall laundry facilities.
Twigg says that the plan will work the same off-campus as it does on-campus – just swipe your Mountaineer Card when you pay.
“It’s very convenient for our students,” Twigg said. “They’ll simply present their Mountaineer Card for payment. They are already required to carry their Mountaineer Cards with them for identification purposes and access to certain buildings and events, so it eliminates the need to carry both your debit card and your Mountaineer Card.”
Twigg says the major benefits of expanding the plan off-campus include the dual benefit of giving students additional variety in their meal choices and adding economic vitality to the community in which they live while also giving parents the assurance that their money is being spent wisely.
“One of our goals is to give more options to our students who do a lot of their spending in the community, while still giving parents the ability to ensure that spending is going towards educational expenses like books and food,” he said.
As part of the off-campus expansion, they have worked to ensure that the plan can only be used for essential purchases. Items prohibited for sale with the Mountie Bounty plan include alcohol, tobacco products, firearms, adult magazines and lottery tickets.
Off-campus merchants ready to go online as part of the Mountie Bounty plan as of Aug. 12 and 13 include Panera Bread locations on Patteson Drive and Willey Street; CVS locations on Earl Core Road, High Street, Pineview Drive and Star City; Burger King on Patteson Drive; The Greeks on Beechurst Avenue; and Campus Canteen on High Street.
The Mountaineer Card Office is continuing to work to create partnerships with local merchants as the program expands. Vendors interested in exploring partnership opportunities with the Mountie Bounty plan should contact the Mountaineer Card Office at 304.293.CARD or via email at WVUCard@mail.wvu.edu.
Parents, students, faculty and staff can add funds to their Mountie Bounty plan by visiting http://mymountaineercard.wvu.edu.
-WVU-
hr/08/07/15
CONTACT: Brandon Twigg; Mountaineer Card Services
304.293.2273; Brandon.Twigg@mail.wvu.edu
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