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St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University

Academic Facility Rental Guidelines

St. Cloud State University campus facilities are primarily intended for educational use. Most are available at all times for formal class instruction as well as university sponsored educational activities that contribute to the intellectual and cultural growth of the students. However, in recognizing the university's role in the cultural and economic advancement of Minnesota, professional resources and physical facilities may be utilized on a space-available basis to the community.

The purpose of Academic Facility Rental Guidelines are to avoid conflicts of dates, information, and facilities for events outside the academic schedule. Academic Facility Rental Guidelines are administered by the Conferences and Scheduling Office (CSO) housed in Atwood Memorial Center, room 110, phone 308-2075.

General Guidelines

Facilities are grouped in three categories for the purpose of determining who will schedule their usage and coordinate any contracts or billings involved. Facilities should be reserved at least two weeks prior to an event.

I. Scheduling and Coordinating

The scheduling departments listed below maintain sole responsibility for the actual room schedule during the listed times. The coordinating department is responsible for arranging contracts and billings. The coordinating department will also follow through on the setup details for off campus groups.

  1. Facilities scheduled by and coordinated through CSO are:
    1. Atwood Memorial Center
    2. Ritsche Auditorium and lobby
    3. Mall areas
  2. Facilities scheduled by Academic Affairs but coordinated through CSO are:
    1. Academic classrooms
  3. Facilities that are scheduled by and coordinated through individual departments are:
    1. Athletic and recreation facilities
    2. Eastman Hall
    3. Garvey
    4. Halenbeck Hall
    5. Husky Stadium/Dome
    6. Miller Center
    7. National Hockey Center
    8. Outdoor Athletic Space
    9. Performing Arts Center (Theater space reserved by Theater, Film Studies and Dance Department and music spaces reserved through the Music Department)
    10. Residence hall facilities

II. Priority

  1. University departments and student organizations may schedule as far ahead as the scheduling system allows within the confines of the approved academic calendar time period. Priority within the university will follow the established priority procedures as defined in the faculty handbook.
  2. Non-university groups may reserve space up to one year in advance with the following exceptions:
    1. While priority over other non-academic groups can be established up to one year in advance, reservations for facilities also used for classes (other than Ritsche Auditorium) cannot be confirmed until the semester's class reservations have been established by Academic Affairs.*
    2. Ritsche Auditorium can be reserved for the following academic year (September-May) only after May 1 in order to allow the academic departments to set their calendars first.* Academic Affairs sets the priority between academic programs and will have first priority for classes in Ritsche Auditorium from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and until 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Music Department has the priority for afternoon and evening. (Priority over other non-academic groups can still be established one year in advance by placing a tentative reservation.)

*Note: After the class schedule is complete, academic classes no longer have priority over other uses for that semester and professors desiring additional space need to consult the appropriate scheduling office as listed in the general guidelines on page 1 of this policy. Information about scheduling contacts is available from CSO.

Charges and Liabilities

I. Rental fees

  1. University departments and student organizations will not be charged rental fees for any departmental activity which they solely sponsor.
  2. Cosponsored events.
    While the addition of a non-university cosponsor enhances the number of events we can host, cosponsorship must not be used to shield non-university groups from rental fees. The act of cosponsorship is defined as the active participation and support of an event. The committee views this relationship in a serious manner and will not tolerate merely lending one's name to an event and calling that cosponsorship. To further support this policy, the following two procedures will be necessary for cosponsorship:
    1. Approval by the college dean or vice president (or faculty advisor and the director of Center for Student Organizations and Leadership Development) on the cosponsorship form.
    2. The cosponsoring organization will designate a campus contact to work with the scheduling office and be present at the cosponsored event. Cosponsored events will not be charged a facility rental fee. Special fees may be assessed for extra setup or unusual cleanups.
  3. Non-university groups.
    Groups/organizations not directly related to the university must pay rental fees according to the following Fee Schedule. The Fee Schedule and policies listed in this document can be altered or waived only by the Academic Facility Rental Committee or the University President. The exception will be commercial rates which can be negotiated by the CSO director. Non-university groups will be charged for rehearsal at the regular rate schedule.

II. Technician fees

Rental charges for space do not include charges for technical help which is requested or required.

  1. Assignment.
    Technicians will be assigned based on the type of organization they are and the complexity of their technical requirements. University organizations with simple needs are handled by student technicians. If they have complex needs, they will be asked whether they would prefer a Learning Resources & Technology Services (LR&TS) professional technician or student technicians for sound setups. Commercial and nonprofit booking with simple requirements will be given the same choice, but commercial bookings with complex technical needs beyond students abilities or equipment available will be required to either use LR&TS technicians or hire out an independent sound company. All of our lighting equipment is handled by student technicians.
  2. Charges.
    1. There will be no charge for academic classes.
    2. Music Department will not be charged technician fees if the event can be considered part of the academic program. University Program Board will be granted 150 free technician hours to provide programming in Ritsche Auditorium.
    3. Student organizations will be charged for all technician time.
    4. Events that a university department cosponsors with a non-university group will be charged for technician times.

III. Facility use for state agencies

Minnesota State Colleges & Universities (MnSCU) policy is to make meeting space available to other state agencies without cost, except for those charges which might accrue as a direct result of some special meeting requirement.