Plan Events for Your Org

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Event Services

ASUC Student Union’s Event Services team provide a number of event planning guides for RSOs and can provide additional services like helping arrange venues, catering, decorations, and equipment. Some of these services are provided free of charge to student organizations. They also host Event Planning 101 workshops. For more information visit the Event Services Student Organization page.

Major Events

Your event may qualify as a Major Event, which requires additional steps.  Please read the Major Events Hosted by Non-Departmental Users policy, review the Major Events info on OASIS’s Resources Page, and if you have questions and/or your event qualifies as a major event, please contact Organization Advising & Student Involvement Services (OASIS) to talk with an advisor.

High-Risk Events

If you are holding an event that has any of the following components, please read our Risk Management Guideline:

  • Minors under the age of 18 (including high-school aged students)
  • Animals
  • Sports/athletic activities
  • Performances
  • Moving vehicles
  • Tools, weapons, or heavy equipment
  • Fire (including cooking)
  • Outdoor events with high attendance
  • Film/video shoots
  • Anything else that may be considered high-risk

Inclusivity and Accessibility of Events

All activities on campus must be accessible to students with disabilities, including mobility impaired and Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students. To learn more about how to make your event accessible, visit the Disable Access Services website.

When marketing your event, you must include a standard accessibility contact statement. 

Sample statement: For disability accommodation requests and information, please contact Disability Access Services by phone at 510.643.6456 (voice) or 510.642.6376 (TTY) or by email at accessibility@berkeley.edu. Please attempt to make your service request with as much advance notice as possible.

Commercial Activity

University facilities, including Sproul Plaza, may not be used for any fundraising or commercial activities without approval from Event Services. RSOs may get permission to fundraise by completing the Display and Fundraising Permit Form on the Forms & Documents page. Other commercial activity, including bringing third party business and/or vendors to campus, must be cleared through Event Services.

Publicity

With hundreds of student organizations on campus all trying to capture the attention of busy students, marketing your organization, its events and programs can seem like a challenge. But, with so many different ways to engage potential members or event attendees, organizations just need to be strategic about their message to engage the campus community. Relying on fliers, tabling, or social media alone will limit your potential reach, but a combined effort across multiple mediums can pique the interest of a passerby.

View our RSO Event Publicity Guide for more information.

Types of Events:

Dances

The Major Events Hosted by Non-Departmental Users applies to dances your student group will be coordinating on the Berkeley campus, which requires in-depth staff assistance from OASIS advisors, the UCPD, and/or the ASUC Student Union Event Services.

Concerts

The Major Events Hosted by Non-Departmental Users applies to concerts with amplified sound your student group will be coordinating on the Berkeley campus, which requires in-depth staff assistance from OASIS Center advisors, the UCPD, and/or the ASUC Student Union Event Services.

Speakers/Performers

If you are paying a speaker or performer to come to campus, you must have them fill out a Personal Service Agreement. Some career performers/speakers may also request that you sign a contract. Please note that as a student organization, you are not legally able to sign such documents. If you need to write or validate a contract, please contact your OASIS Advisor.

The Major Events Hosted by Non-Departmental Users may apply to your speaker/performer event that your group will be coordinating on the Berkeley campus. Your event may require in-depth staff assistance from OASIS advisors, the UCPD, and/or the ASUC Student Union Event Services.

Amplified Sound

The use of sound amplification equipment for functions or events that are not officially authorized by the University is not permitted. Acoustic or ambient sound, such as that generated through musical instruments, may be limited if it is intrusive. When class is in session, sound amplification will be permitted for authorized events on the Savio (Sproul Hall) steps between noon and 1:00pm and between 5:00pm and 7:00pm, seven days a week.

Events with Alcohol

Alcohol may be served at events as long as it is done so in accordance with the Campus Alcoholic Beverage Policy. Please note that ASUC programs funds may not be used to purchase alcohol. If you are planning an event where alcohol is served, it is a good idea to meet with your advisor to figure out what you need to do to ensure you are in compliance.

Poker, Casino Games, Raffle, Free Drawing, Etc.

With certain exception, lotteries and gambling are illegal in California. A casino night or free drawing, however, may be held with prior approval from OASIS, adhering to all Berkeley Campus Regulations and procedures, and in accordance with the following:

 Casino Night & Games of Chance

  • There can be no entrance or advance registration fee. Donations may be requested. Any donations received, must go to an approved student group, campus unit or charitable organization. If you are requesting donations, make sure that your group is certified to fundraise
  • Scrip or chips must be used for play, no money can be used. Scrip and or chips must be distributed free with no connection to any voluntary donation.
  • Chips, scrips, or other symbols of winnings may be exchanged for prizes or gifts, excluding money (cash, check, etc.)

 Free Drawing

  • All persons who request a ticket must be accommodated
  • A donation, purchase, or any other form of payment or consideration cannot be required to obtain a ticket for the drawing
  • You must clearly stipulate on the drawing ticket:
    • The date, time, and place of the drawing
    • Whether or not the ticket holder must be present to win
    • The name of the sponsoring student group
    • The organization benefiting from the drawing, if any
    • A list of prizes
    • That no donation, purchase or any other form of payment or consideration is necessary to participate.
  • Your organization must possess the item or items to be given away before tickets are distributed
  • You must implement an accounting system for ticket distribution, and donation collection.
  • You may use only “drawing” or “free drawing” on the ticket and any other media connected with the event. The words “raffle” or “lottery” must not be used.

Auctions

UC Berkeley strongly values equity, civility, and respect in all of its institutional endeavors. OASIS encourages all registered student organizations to consider and uphold these values when planning events and activities for their members and the university community.

Occasionally, organizations will hold “date” or “slave” auction events as a fundraiser for their own organization or another non-profit group. While OASIS recognizes that groups who do organize and/or participate in these types of events usually do so with good intentions, we would like to challenge organizations to think more in depth about these types of events and their potential effects on the campus community. Additionally, we would like to empower organizations to hold alternative events.

“Date” or “slave” auctions involve the process of bidding on a human being for the services or the ability to spend time with a certain person. This process devalues a human being to the level of merchandise and involves a comparison of the relative “value” of each person being auctioned. This process has the appearance of actual slave auctions, which are a real and tragic part of this nation’s history.

Furthermore, we would like organizations to consider the safety concerns that arise as a result of “date” auctions. When a person “wins” the ability to spend time with another person, there is no way of telling what their true motives are. Given the prevalence of sexual assault in our culture, safety concerns exist if you allow a member of your organization to be compelled to spend time alone with someone that she/he may not know.

For these reasons and more, OASIS strongly encourages student organizations to avoid coordinating and/or participating in date and slave auctions. If you would like to organize an alternative fundraising event, your OASIS advisor can help you come up with ideas.

Adapted from the University of Michigan Guidebook for Student Organizations and the University of Texas – Austin Student Organization Manual.