Student Union Guidelines on Dances, Social and Public Events: Policy 25130.03

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Student Union Policy provides for special events and program activities to be scheduled by special consent of the director or his/her designee. In order to provide the special services required for such events, as well as, maintain a safe and secure environment, the following guidelines have been established:

1. All dances, social and public events are required to complete and submit an appropriate request form. Requests for all dances, social events, or public activities should be submitted to the SU Meeting and Conference Services office (179 SU) at least ten (10) working days in advance from the event date, and,  in most cases, should be restricted to Friday or Saturday evenings. Such requests must be approved by the Director or his/her designee before the event will be placed on the schedule. 
2. These types of events will normally not be permitted to extend beyond 12:00 a.m. without prior approval from the Student Union Director or his/her designee. All guests and performers shall vacate the building 30 minutes after the event ends. 
3. When possible, an after-hours event should be scheduled in an appropriate location that is not scheduled for a morning activity requiring set-up the following day. 
4. Dances, social events, and public activities that are allowed to extend past midnight require the presence of OSU Police officers or an approved security option by OSU Police. The sponsoring organisation shall arrange, in conjunction with SU Meeting and Conference Services, for the officers before the event is scheduled (see #1 above).
5. A representative from the sponsoring organisation may be required to attend a mandatory logistics meeting. This meeting will be held in the SU Meeting and Conference Services office (179 SU), a minimum of three working days prior to the event. At this meeting, all policies and procedures will be reviewed by Student Union staff and the OSU Police Department. Also, at this meeting, sponsors must have verification of security arrangements and prepay the late hours charges associated with the event (see#6). Failure to comply shall result in cancellation of the event. SU Meeting and Conference Services, in consultation with the OSU Police and the sponsoring group, has the right to cancel a scheduled event at any time. If there is probable cause for a disturbance at the event, or the sponsoring group has an ongoing history of their inability to control their events. 
6. For events requiring after-hours services, charges are assessed as follows:
   1. OSU student, faculty, and staff groups will be charged a minimum of $30.00
   2. Non-University groups will be assessed a minimum of a flat rate of $50.00, plus $20/hour/staff required for building supervision and services beyond normal operating hours. These charges are in addition to the established rental rate of the room and security cost, if applicable. 
   3. OSU student groups will share 50% of the cost for security when not charging admission for the event, with the remainder being paid for from Student Union funds. If an OSU student group is charging an admission fee, then they are responsible for paying the full cost of any necessary security. All other sponsoring groups must pay the entire cost of security.
7. The sponsor will be held responsible for managing the event and maintaining acceptable conduct of those in attendance, as well as for any damages which may occur to property or equipment during the event. In addition, no "SMOKE MACHINES", balloons or other devices which will cause the fire alarms to be activated will be allowed in the student Union. 
8. All persons in attendance must comply with established University policies concerning alcohol and drug use. Possession of weapons of any kind (including guns, knives, canes, sticks, rocks, bottles, clubs etc.) or any object that may be used as such will not be permitted. Failure to comply with rules may result in loss of future privileges. 
9. After-hours access will be limited. All exterior doors, as well as those connecting to the Atherton hotel, will be secured at the normal building closing time, with the exception of the northeast  2nd floor entrance. Persons scheduling the event should be instructed to inform those attending to use only the northeast 2nd floor entrance after 12:00 a.m. unless other arrangements have been pre-approved by the Director or his/her designee. 
10. The Police officer(s) shall be on duty 30 minutes prior to the scheduled time of the event and shall remain 30 minutes after the event ends or until all participants and performers have left the Student Union. The police officer(s) and group sponsor should contact the Building Manager 30 minutes prior to the event opening. 
11. Precautionary admission procedures may be instituted at the discretion of the Student Union. Examples of such include the use of metal detectors, ID checks, guest registrations, etc. Such requirements will be covered at the event logistics meeting prior to the event. Cost of providing these additional security measures will be passed along to the scheduling group. 
12. It is the sponsoring agent's responsibility to restrict access if guests exceed the designated room capacity. For purposes of this document, dance capacities have been set as follows:
    
    1. Exhibit Room 1 & 2 - 100 people
    2. Starlight Terrace - 300 people 
    3. Ballroom - 500 people
    4. Theatre- 450 people
    5. Cowboy Underground - 250 people
13. The Building Manager on duty, in consultation with OSU Police and sponsor, has the right to stop the event if, in his/her judgemnt rules are being disregarded, facilities are not bieng maintained, or there is disruptive behavior resulting in a security risk. 
14. Any exceptions to the policy must be approved by the Student Union Director or his/her designee. 

Questions? Contact Meeting & Conferences at (405) 744-5232 or meetings@okstate.edu.