ESE Colloquia & Events

Student Event Planning Guidelines

Please refer to the below guidelines when planning your event

Room Reservations

  • Click this link for the student room reservation website. There you will be able to check on the availability of the desired room and submit a reservation request. These are automatically sent to SEAS space.
    • Food is not allowed in classrooms or auditoriums. So if planning an event with food, please avoid those spaces or have food set up outside for grab and go afterwards.

Ordering Food

  • Click this link for approved Penn caterers. It is the responsibility of the student group to order food for their event. Food requested from an establishment that requires credit card payment can be done through the department (many restaurants offer catering).
  • Events requesting food that have not been approved: Reach out to Dr. Sonya Gwak (sgwak@seas.upenn.edu) first requesting funds through CSEG for your event. This way, they will know about your student group. If this is a strictly ESE event and Sonya is already aware of your group, disregard that step. If your request is denied (or an email to Sonya wasn’t applicable), please send an email to Danielle Kopicko (dtadros@seas.upenn.edu) and Erin Dowling (erdo@seas.upenn.edu) in ESE stating your request. Include a dollar amount and why it is important that we consider funding the event. If the department approves, the request will then be submitted to PEFS for final approval. This should be done 2 weeks (10 business days) prior to the event date to allow time for approvals and ordering.
  • Events with approved food should be ordered at least 1 week in advance through the caterer, 3 business days through a restaurant that offers catering, and the day prior for pizza to ensure delivery (can be the same day for pizza depending on amount and time of event).
    • When ordering through a caterer they will email you an invoice once the order has been placed. Forward that to Erin Dowling (erdo@seas.upenn.edu) who will then submit a request for a PO number. Once the number is received, it will be sent to you to forward to the caterer.
    • When ordering through an establishment that requires a credit card payment (restaurants, pizza), send Erin what you would like to order, and she will place it using a Penn purchase card. This way we do not have to worry about reimbursement requests. Please also send a contact name and phone number so that it can be given to the delivery driver.

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Erin Dowling (erdo@seas.upenn.edu).