Facilities

1. General Policy
2. Food Policy
3. Equipment Policy

MU BUILDING USE—GENERAL POLICY

In recognition of the stated purposes of the Memorial Union facilities, the following categories of building users have been established to provide definite guidelines for priorities, types of event, conditions pertaining to use, and reservations for building space.

1. First Priority: UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY
1. Recognized Student Organizations and Student Fee Funded Programs
2. Alumni activities of Oregon State University Alumni Association
3. Administration, staff, department, and faculty activities directly connected with the University
4. State Agencies connected with the Oregon Department of Education or Oregon University System and Federal Agencies funded by grants to OSU
2. Second Priority: GUESTS
1. Administration, staff, department, and faculty activities that are of a social nature, or not directly connected with the regular operation of the University
2. Corvallis Community Organizations
3. Corvallis Government Organizations
4. Regional and National Organizations and Agencies
5. Commercial Organizations
It is the intent of the following policies that whenever the MU facilities are used by groups for the purpose of generating income, for whatever purpose, a rental will be charged in addition to charges for all services provided to the event.



Co-sponsored events will be charged out at the lower of the two rental categories.

3. Use Policies
1. No rental will be charged for the use of space by users in Category I a, provided these groups do not charge admission, assess fees, or in any way attempt to recoup costs associated with the event, other than the amount charged by approved Caterers for catered services.
   
   Scheduling of MU Ballroom
   Scheduling of the MU Ballroom shall be no greater than one year in advance of the requested event date for all Category I use.
   Exceptions:
1. Shall be granted to OSU student groups and OSU departments when hosting a regional or national conference requiring a guarantee of space available.
2. OSU sponsored programs deemed essential to the recruitment of potential students may be given scheduling privileges greater than one year in advance of their date by authority of MU Administration.
3. All other requests for scheduling more than one year in advance shall be considered as an appeal to the MU Board of Directors.
2. Category I-b through d and Category II users will pay room rental in all cases, even when the amount being charged is for recovery of food costs associated with catering services.
3. Recognized Student Organizations and Student Fee Funded groups may preempt (displace or bump) any organization in Category II up to six weeks before the scheduled event. If the Category II event requires definite confirmation of space, a request for this can be made to the MU Administration.
4. Advance reservations may be made only for groups of five or more persons, and shall usually be limited to five hours per week, per group for closed events.
5. No curricular classes, workshops, or seminars for which credit is given, tuition charged, or attendance required may be regularly held in the MU building.
   Exceptions:
1. Physical Education classes in Bowling and Billiards
2. Classes in the CSSA, or MU Leadership curriculum, or other regular academic programs taught by personnel employed by the MU, Student Involvement, or Student Media
3. Summer term short-courses which have special needs of building facilities that cannot be met elsewhere on campus
4. Food System Management or other food-related labs coordinated through MU Retail Food Service.
5. ALS (Odyssey) courses, up to a maximum of two classes per day (MU Learning Lounge only).
6. Continuing Education Classes or other for credit classes that require the MU Craft Center as a laboratory (discretion of the Craft Center Manager).
6. In the event of substantial setups of tables and chairs, or moving of furniture, labor will be charged to the sponsoring group.
7. Room rental charges do not include the use of special equipment for which a separate rental is charged.
8. Cancellations for rental of facilities and equipment must be made at least twenty-four hours prior to event. If cancellations are not made prior to this deadline, the full amount of rental will be charged.
9. Food
   Recognized Student Organizations: may bring certain types of food and beverage for consumption by organization members attending a closed meeting. A list of acceptable products is available from the MU Reservation’s Office. Student Organizations exercising this privilege are also accepting responsibility for removing all packaging, food, and beverage residue, and associated trash at the conclusion of their meeting. Should additional cleaning be necessary, fees will be charged to the student organization.
   
   All Other Groups: no food or beverages may be brought into the MU for scheduled events held in the building. Personal sack lunches, snacks, or other foods prepared for personal consumption and not served to others are permissible at scheduled events. Any exceptions to this policy must be granted by the Manager of the MU Retail Food Service.

FOOD IN THE MU POLICY

The Memorial Union is served by OSU Catering for all meeting spaces in the Memorial Union and the MU Quad. OSU Catering is the exclusive caterer to the MU, with the following exceptions.

Event organizers utilizing the MU Ballroom, or in the MU East International Forum as the site for their food event may select from a list of approved caterers for these two locations. Each site is furnished with a separate food pantry for staging catered services. Please check with MU Reservations for a current list of approved caterers for these two locations.

Recognized Student Organizations may bring certain types of food and beverage for consumption by organization members attending closed meetings. A list of acceptable products is available from the MU Reservations Office. Student Organizations who exercise this privilege are also accepting responsibility for removing all packaging, food and beverage residue, and associated trash at the conclusion of their meeting. Should additional cleaning be necessary, fines will be charged to the student organization. The MU also allows the use of student group catering by Recognized Student Organizations, when those student groups utilize the Student Involvement Cultural Meal Support Program. These arrangements must be made well in advance through the S.I. Special Events Coordinator (541-737-2917).

Student and Departmental groups using Memorial Union event space for promotional distribution or resale of food or beverage items must comply with all pre-existing contracts for food or beverages that apply to the MU.

Student Groups Selling Food Items:
Student organizations may act as direct sales agents for food products with a maximum frequency for all such events of two per week (Monday thru Friday) on a first-come, first-served basis. In this instance, student groups are viewed as additional sub-contractors fulfilling the mission of the MU Retail Food Service organization and are accountable to the MU Assistant Director for Retail Food Service during the student group’s event. A fee of 5% of gross sales or $15 per day is payable by the student group to MU Retail Food Service. Recognized Student Organizations may utilize the Cultural Meal Support kitchen for preparation of food for resale, or a more limited menu of resale food items may be prepared in the student’s private kitchens (home or apartment). When preparing food in an unlicensed, private kitchen the menu may only consist of individually wrapped baked goods (rolls, pies, cakes, breads, cookies and other pastries). All other consumable items being sold must be pre-packed and commercially prepared. Raw food products (garden produce, for example) that require preparation are exempt from these regulations.

Student Groups Using Third-party sellers:
Off-campus retail food vendors, who are not under contract to the Memorial Union, are not allowed to operate inside of the Memorial Union building at any time. Use of the MU Quad by groups sponsoring events that involve off-campus food vendors for fund-raising or in support of a major, all-University event are limited to the hours of 5:00 pm on Friday, through 6:00 am on Monday.

Student Groups Giving Food Away:
Groups registering food activities may give away food/beverages that are commercially pre-packaged, prepared in the Cultural Meal Support kitchen, or supplied to the group by an approved caterer. At no time may student groups give away food that is prepared in unlicensed, private kitchens

MU EQUIPMENT POLICY

1. Equipment rental will be limited to members of the University Community and MU Guests for use during University-related activities in the MU or nearby.
2. Minimum Billing is $4.00. Users renting equipment totaling less than $4.00 are encouraged to pay at the time of the checkout of equipment.
3. Equipment charges are based on a 24-hour day.
4. Operator charges (in addition to rental rates) are by the hour, including set-up and tear-down time.
5. Cancellations for equipment must be made at least 24 hours prior to the event. If cancellations are not made within or prior to this time period, an apportioned amount of the rental will be charged.
6. Repair or replacement charges will be made if equipment is returned damaged or broken.
7. All equipment is for use in the Memorial Union and MU East International Forum/Club Escape unless otherwise noted.
8. Equipment requested on day of event may incur a $5.00 service fee