Club COVID Event Planning Resources & Guidelines

Before planning your club meeting or event, please review Rice’s Event Planner Guidance document. The Office of Student Activities has compiled additional information below to help student clubs and organizations as they plan events during the current pandemic. All club events should also be submitted via OwlNest (as per the above video).

If you have any questions, please contact sactclubs@rice.edu. If you require event planning support, please fill out a COVID Event Planning Support: Consultation Request Form.

If you require financial support for an event, please fill out a COVID Activities Grant Application.

Alcohol

Undergraduate student events with alcohol are currently permitted on campus pending registration and approval. For access to the latest email update regarding alcohol at events please read this message from the DOU. However, for fall semester, cross-college events that include alcohol (“public” parties, crawls) are still prohibited. Smaller public gatherings with alcohol are permitted within residential college spaces with approval through the standard campus alcohol events risk management process. Graduate student events with alcohol should be registered and approved per the usual GPS process.

Athletic or Sport-Related Event (practice, game, tournament, etc.)

All current Rice University COVID guidelines must be followed, including sports that are played indoors must wear masks at all times. This includes practices, games tournaments, etc until the mask mandate has been lifted by the university. Visiting teams must also wear masks at all times while indoors as well. For more information or if you have any questions, please contact clubsports@rice.edu directly.

Catered Food & Drink

Food must be commercially prepared and packaged from a restaurant/caterer, and distributed by a designated server wearing gloves and a mask or in grab and go, prepackaged options. Gloves worn by designated servers should be changed frequently and hands should be washed after glove removal. Recycling should also be practiced when possible. Events with food must either occur outdoors, or participants must take and consume their food outdoors, to decrease the risk of spread while participants are unmasked.

Contact Tracing

To help with contact tracing, events will be required to capture RSVP's for all events and keep the records until the end of the semester. Clubs are encouraged to post their events within OwlNest, where the following features can be utilized:

Capture RSVP’s
Set a maximum attendance cap for an event
Share event invitations
Check students, faculty or staff into an event
Scan students, faculty or staff into an event using their “Event Pass”
Upload event attendance data

More information can be found through the following OwlNest pre-recorded trainings:

Dance Practice / Performance

All current Rice University COVID guidelines must be followed, including dance practices or performances that are indoors. All dancers, coaches, and choreographers must wear masks at all times while indoors. All personal equipment must be sanitized before and after each practice. For more information or if you have any questions, please contact clubsports@rice.edu directly.

Events over 100 Attendees

Events with anticipated attendance over 100 (including presenters, hosts, or coordinators) must complete an additional review process to be approved by the Crisis Management Team.

Food or Beverage Sales

Food or beverage sales are not currently allowed on campus. More updates will be provided as new information arises. For alternative fundraising advice, please visit Student Activities Fundraising website or fill out a Student Activities Club Advising Meeting Request form.

Guest Speaker

Guest speakers attending an event are responsible for ensuring that they are registered with the event planner and have read and agreed to all Rice policies and guidelines prior to arriving on campus. Please read Rice’s Visitors Guide and request visitors to complete the COVID Daily Self Checklist Screening prior to arriving at the event location. Guest speakers agreements are highly recommended before being allowed on campus. If your club needs assistance creating a Guest Speaker Agreement please email eventrm@rice.edu.

Inflatables

Inflatables are permitted as long as they can be properly sanitized between use and social distancing can be maintained. If you have questions about suitability of an inflatable, please contact sactclubs@rice.edu.

Minors

Events, programs or activities involving minors (individuals under the age of 18) who are not Rice students, regardless of the location of the event need to register with the Office of Risk Management. Clubs should register their event through submitting a Rice Sponsored Programs Involving Minors form. Events or functions where a minor is under the supervision of their own parent or guardian (e.g., sporting events or concerts) do not generally apply. For additional information, please visit the University Programs or Activities Involving Minors website. In addition all minors must complete the COVID Daily Self Checklist Screening and agree to the visitor policies prior to arriving on campus.

If you have any questions, please contact the Risk Management Office at 713.348.4751 or by emailing euo1@rice.edu.

Non-Rice Individuals

On-campus events designed specifically for non-Rice individuals are prohibited; however, non-Rice individuals may attend student organization events open to the public. Visitors attending an event are responsible for ensuring they are registered with the event planner and have read and agreed to all of Rice’s visitor policies and guidelines prior to arriving on campus. Please read Rice’s Guidelines for Visitors document for more information.

On-Campus Meeting Rooms

The Crisis Management Team (CMT) has modified occupancy expectations for campus venues to align with physical distancing guidelines. This includes smaller event spaces which may not allow for the upper 25-person limit or the usual fire code occupancy. Updated occupancy numbers can be found online (see links below) or through consultation with venue managers and posted outside the venue entrance.

Venue Resources:
- Rooms.rice.edu (Rice Student Center)
- Outdoor Space Request Form for Clubs
- Classroom Request Form for Clubs

Off-Campus Events

All off-campus events must still adhere to all of Rice’s policies and procedures. All off-campus club events must submit a Travel Registration Form and also be submitted on OwlNest.

Outside Entertainment Vendors (Non-Food)

Before contracting an outside vendor please review the Visitors Guide and request vendor personnel to complete the COVID Daily Self Checklist Screening prior to arriving at the event location. A complete list of Event Planning Resources can be found here.

All contracts involving clubs must be submitted to the Office of Student Activities no later than three weeks prior to the contracted date, for signature by the Director of Student Activities after approval from University General Counsel. The Director of Student Activities is the ONLY person who can sign contracts for clubs as per University policy. This review is established for the protection of the club, its officers and sponsor, and the University. Any contract signed before securing proper approval is the personal responsibility and liability of the individual signing the contract. If your club has a contract, please contact the Office of Student Activities at sactclubs@rice.edu.

Outside Performers (Comedian, Band, etc.)

Before contracting outside performers, please review the Visitors Guide and request vendor personnel to complete the COVID Daily Self Checklist Screening prior to arriving at the event location. Additional event planning resources can be found here. A complete list of Event Planning Resources can be found here.

PPE Supply Requests

Student clubs can request PPE supplies for their event(s). Please note, it is important to only request needs for one specific event to ensure campus disinfecting and sanitizer is accessible for all campus events. Rice University has purchased a supply of masks for our employees and students to wear when in public. Due to the limited nature of masks currently available, additional mask requests will only be accepted from department directors. For questions regarding PPE costs and amounts needed for your event, feel free to directly contact FE&P by emailing fsc@rice.edu or calling 713-348-5408.

Service Activity

All in-person service projects must create a COVID precaution plan as well as utilize an electronic check in/attendance method for contact tracing. In addition, all off-campus club travel must be registered through the travel registration process located on the Club Travel website and submitted as an event via OwlNest.

Solicitation

Rice encourages the use of online transactions before an event for retail and/or fundraising purposes. Student organizations should utilize signup.rice.edu in order to create a payment/registration portal for monetary transactions, as mentioned in Club Finance Training. Clubs can email sactclubs@rice.edu in order to request an account be created for their organization. Please have a sanitation plan if managing cash. Feel free to visit the Student Activities website for Fundraising tips as well.

Tents

Provisional Campus Facility (PCFs) “Tents”

The four PCF "tents" located near Hanzsen and Wiess Colleges will be used for academic courses during the day and managed by the Registrar’s Office Monday through Friday 7:00am until 6:30pm. The PCFs are all equipped with AV kits equivalent to the updated classroom equipment for dual-delivery and standard furniture set-up which includes tables with chairs. The current capacity is 50 guests.

The evenings and weekends are managed by Campus Events through rooms.rice.edu. Additionally, PCF 1 has been designated for COVID Testing and will not be available during Fall 2021 semester.

Schedule:

Academic Use: Monday through Friday, 7:00am until 6:30pm
Student and Department Event Use: Monday through Friday, 6:30pm until Midnight and Saturday through Sunday 7:00am until Midnight

Travel

To help support contact tracing, all club events requiring off campus travel must be registered through the Club Travel Request form and may require follow up for an off campus COVID precaution plan.

Voter Registration

RiceVotes is a hub for the Rice community that supports voter registration, voter education, and voter mobilization. You can find resources here about when, where, and how to register and cast a ballot in Harris County and other municipalities, how to register and encourage others to vote, and how to become a more informed and active citizen by connecting the issues and values that matter to you to the electoral process. If there will be any voter registration volunteers coming to campus, please see visitor information below.

Vaccination Status

Event Coordinators cannot ask participants or registrants to identify their vaccination status.

Visitors

Visitors are expected to follow the same policies and safety guidelines as the other members of the Rice community. As an important precaution to protect the Rice community, everyone on campus, including visitors, is required to wear a cloth face cover as defined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and as delineated below:

Indoors: Face coverings must be worn indoors at all times with the exception when you are eating or drinking but you must stay at least six feet away
Outdoors: Face coverings are not required to be worn while outdoors.

Additionally, while on the Rice campus all visitors should practice physical distancing (also known as social distancing), whenever possible, and stay at least six feet away from other people. Before coming to campus, all visitors should check their temperature and monitor for possible symptoms. If ill, they must stay home and avoid coming to campus until they are well.

For more Visitor Resources please download and review the Visitor Guidance Resource document.

*Event planners are asked to agree to the following terms:

As an event planner, I will stay informed and up to date regarding Campus COVID-19 Policies and will do my part in stopping the spread. I will also plan all events in accordance with the Rice Events Policy:

To help with contact tracing, events will be required to capture RSVP's for all events and keep the records until the end of the semester. There are several RSVP tools available to the Rice community. More information on how to access these and other tools is located in the Event Planner Guidance. More event guidance can be found on the Rice Event Resources website.