Students looking for one more way to take advantage of the Wolfpack One Card can benefit from a new program on Hillsborough Street, which offers exclusive restaurant deals to Wolfpack One Debit MasterCard account holders.
Howlin’ Good Deals, a program in which Hillsborough Street businesses promote monthly discounts for One Card Debit MasterCard users, launched this month. The Hillsborough Street Community Services Corporation partnered with Campus Enterprises to create the program.
A relationship between Hillsborough Street vendors and N.C. State has been a work in progress, according to Jeff Murison, executive director of Hillsborough Street Community Service Corporation, who has been working on the program.
“It’s a topic that’s been talked about and researched for many years,” Murison said. “Fortunately, the University was able to develop a plan that was both legal and practical.”
Private universities, such as Duke, allow students to use meal plan equivalences at off-campus restaurants. By law, N.C. State is prohibited from doing so, because it would require the University to act as a bank during money transfer, which is illegal for a public university.
Although students can’t use meal plan equivalences off campus, Howlin’ Good Deals is a compromise because it helps vendors on Hillsborough Street while expanding the versatility of the Wolfpack One Card for students, according to N.C. State Campus Enterprises’ marketing communication director Jennifer Gilmore.
“It’s important that we have a strong Hillsborough Street,” Gilmore said. “With the new program, students have an incentive to eat on Hillsborough and receive a discount, making the One Card more valuable to students, parents and faculty.”
Murison said that merchants on Hillsborough Street are excited to engage with the faculty and students at N.C. State.
“It’s a great opportunity to build a relationship and connect with the faculty and students,” Murison said. “In the near future, as the program develops and matures, additional businesses are expected to join in.”
So far, six businesses on Hillsborough have committed to offering discounts through the program: Two Guys Pizza, The Alley, Pita Pit, Freshberry, Coffee Haven and Jersey Mike’s.
“We look forward to serving customers for years to come, and the new student card will help us reach more people,” Matt Domanski, manager at Jersey Mike’s, said in a press release about the program. “In addition, we will be able to share specials to the great folks at N.C. State.”
Restaurants participating in the program could offer a monthly special deal for One Card users.
Students and faculty can learn more from the Live it Up Hillsborough Street Facebook page, the Wolfpack One Card Facebook page or the One Card we bsite.
Students who don’t have their One Card registered with Debit MasterCard but wish to take advantage of the Howlin’ Good Deals program can register their cards on the One Card website at onecard.ncsu.edu/mastercard.