Pomona College has become a “net exporter” of students to other 5C dining halls for the first time in several years, according to administrators.

“In prior years, more students from the other 5Cs came to Pomona,” said Bob Robinson, Assistant Vice President and Director for Facilities and Campus Services. “This year, we’re seeing that trend reversing.”

“Crossover numbers” are recorded by a dining hall card system from Blackboard, a software company serving educational institutions.

According to Blackboard’s numbers, Pomona students ate a total of 15,998 meals at the other schools’ dining halls in August and September, while students from those schools ate only 13,350 meals at Pomona’s dining halls during the same period.

Blackboard’s records indicate a similar trend for December, when Pomona students ate 8,227 meals at the other 5Cs and students from other schools ate 5,432 meals at Pomona.

“Historically, we’ve been a net importer,” said Karen Sisson, Vice President and Treasurer of the College. “That’s why we’re very concerned about the counts, because this is a big change.”

Administrators said part of the disparity could be explained by technical glitches with the Blackboard system.

“The system goes down quite frequently,” Robinson said. “In theory the cards are supposed to be recorded and then uploaded when the system goes back online, but I don’t know if that’s actually occurring.”

Sisson said Claremont University Consortium, which oversees the Blackboard operation, is working to fix these glitches.

However, Robinson said technical error does not entirely explain the change.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and we’ve noticed that some of the other colleges have been shadowing or mirroring some of the things we’ve done in past years,” he said.

Burrito night is one example of this, said Margie McKenna, Assistant Director for Campus Services.

“They’ve done it on the same night we do,” she said, adding this imitation has also happened with Frary’s Japanese night.

When asked about the negative financial effects of this trend, Sisson said this was not a serious concern.

“Certainly, we’d prefer to have more students coming to Pomona, because that’s a financial incentive, but we don’t budget for a certain amount of crossovers,” she said. “If we have more students eating here, that’s great, but we don’t rely on it.”

When interviewed, Pomona students’ opinions largely reflected a preference for other schools’ dining halls.

Chris Byington PO ’12 said his sponsor group was probably responsible for a large portion of the increase in crossovers.

“We eat almost every meal at the other 5Cs,” he said.

Madhav Mehta PO ’12 expressed a similar preference for non-Pomona dining halls, but acknowledged that convenience sometimes plays a role in his decision-making.“Pomona works us too hard for us to eat at CMC all the time,” he said.

Collins was the preferred non-Pomona dining hall for Pomona students last semester. Just over half of all crossover meals went to CMC.

In response to the Blackboard numbers, college officials are considering changes to the dining hall food options.

“We’ll be working with the Food Committee to see what’s driving people to vote with their feet,” said Sisson. “We can’t afford to have steak every night, but we try to find an acceptable balance.”

Robinson and McKenna said they are looking to revise the school’s vegan options and expand relationships with local food vendors.

“Anything we can do to enhance the local economy, rather than trucking stuff in from 500 miles away, is a benefit to us,” Robinson said.

“We’re also working on labeling,” McKenna said. “If it’s vegan or vegetarian, you’ll be able to see exactly what’s in it.”

The administration is also considering changes to dining facilities.

“I think Frank’s getting a little tired and probably needs a little refreshment,” Sisson said, although there are no immediate restoration plans for the dining hall.Robinson also said he would love to do something about the acoustics in Frary.

“The simplest thing to do is [install] upholstered panels, strategically placed throughout the building,” he said. “Even in Hogwarts they had ‘House’ banners that were sound-deadening. Maybe we’ll get Gryffindor banners!”