A record number of students — 7,854 — have purchased University Dining meal plans this year, according to Randy Lait, business officer.

Dining spent $7,229 less this August than it did last August, according to an e-mail from Lait, but he was unsure whether it could be attributed to Dining’s permanent decision to end the use of trays in dining halls.

“We also found that [removing trays] saves some money in that there was less food waste,” he said.

Dining chose to discontinue the use of trays Feb. 18, which Lait said can contribute to less food waste because students will only get as much as they can eat if they have to carry their food plate-by-plate.

“Instead of getting lots of extra food and eating only half of it, [students] will get only what they can carry,” he said. “[With trays], a lot of times if there’s chicken and the beef, people will get both and then eat what they like.”

Jessica Brown, a sophomore in parks, tourism and recreation, said while trays were more convenient, she understands the need to conserve water during the drought period.

Lait said he missed the trays for their convenience, and Ashley Truslow, a sophomore in the transition program, said she agreed.

“A tray would be so much easier,” she said.

Case and Clark dining halls have already put larger plates in use, to allow customers to get more food without using a tray, Lait said.

The larger plates for Fountain Dining Hall have arrived, he said, but Dining needs to set up a new, larger rack to hold them in.

Lait said he would like to think more people are purchasing meal plans because of quality service and food.

“If you make the food taste better, make service better, students will certainly patronize your establishment,” he said.

Dining has also extended its hours in dining halls and other eateries around campus, with Fountain and Clark halls open until 8:30 p.m., Talley Student Center restaurants open until 10 p.m., and the Hill of Beans cafe in D.H. Hill library open until 1 a.m.

According to Trunslow, the later hours are useful to students who need to study late.

With the new cash register systems across campus, students can use debit and credit cards as well as student IDs, and Dining can analyze how many people use certain places at different times.

“We can see when our busy times are,” he said. “Hill of Beans’ busiest time was in the last hour that we were open, it was pretty clear that we should extend our hours.”

The University also allowed credit and debit card use at Carter-Finley Stadium for the first time during Saturday’s opening home football game, according to Lait.

Approximately 1,000 people used the new credit card system, he said.