General Info & Policies
Catering policies and guidelines
We’ll do all we can – but making your event truly memorable, impressive, and run as smooth as possible requires a partnership between us and you. Your cooperation with the following guidelines will help us focus on our overriding goal: the success of your event.
Safety
Staffing
Timing
Delivery
China and linen
Non-campus events
Outside caterers
Safety
We promise to:
ensure a safe event. As the sole and exclusive caterer for all food service functions on campus property, we are inspected and authorized by the Cortland County Health Department. We are also the sole vendor of alcoholic beverages on campus property as authorized by the New York State Liquor Authority. You promise to:
- plan the length of your event so that food will not be in service beyond two hours.
- provide transportation for guests who have been drinking alcohol.
- not remove any food from the premises for your safety and that of your guests.
- be responsible for lost or stolen articles.
Staffing
We promise to:
provide a highly trained, courteous staff who knows how to orchestrate a successful event with professionalism.You promise to:
- respect the time and commitments of our hospitality staff. Please help them keep to their work schedules.
- pay a hospitality staffing fee if your event requires extra staff, runs late into the evening, or extends beyond prearranged hours
Timing
We promise to:
provide the food and décor for your event at the time requested. We’ll do all we can to accommodate any timely requests or changes.You promise to:
- One month before the event
contact Campus Catering with your group’s name, contact person, phone number, billing info, and New York State tax-exempt certificate (if applicable).
select a menu and book a location. - Seven days before the event
provide a final guest count and any special requests for your event. We’ll bill your event for your final count or the number of people who actually attend, whichever is greater.
sign and return the catering contract. - Three days before the event
make any cancellations. Cancelling your event with less than three business days’ notice will incur a 10% surcharge. We will also charge for unrecoverable costs such as special linen or flower orders. - These are the minimum time frames. Additional lead time is appreciated.
Delivery
We promise to:
deliver food at no delivery charge to events held in Corey Union.
You promise to:
- be responsible for delivery fees to other campus venues:
- $15 for orders of less than $50
- $20 for orders of more than $50
- $25 for deliveries made on weekends, and between 5 and 11 pm on any night
- Delivery charges may be avoided by customer pick-up.
China and Linen
We promise to:
- provide appropriate linen service for all catered events at no extra charge.
- provide china and silver at no extra charge for all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners served within Corey Union.
- try our best to obtain special orders of linen, décor, and flowers (at additional cost).
You promise to:
- alert us well in advance if you need special linen service ($3.00 per tablecloth, $0.25 per napkin).
- pay a china/silverware fee of $1.50 per person for events outside of Corey Union.
- pay $0.75 per person if you choose to upgrade from standard paper products to Classic Ware (high-quality plastic dishware).
Non-campus events
We promise to:
provide the same high level of service to the public as to the Campus community.You promise to:
- pay a portion or all of the invoice in advance at our discretion if you’re not affiliated with SUNY Cortland.
- The total cost of your catered function is subject to an 8% tax unless a tax-exempt form is on file
Outside caterers (in cases where we permit)
We promise to:
- ensure that the caterer/restaurant is licensed under the NY State Health Department and provide a copy of the health department permit.
- review the outside caterer’s last three county health inspections and health permit on file.
- provide a probe thermometer and time/temperature log sheet to the person transporting the food. We’ll record the temperatures of all hot and cold food items as they are loaded for transport and when they arrive at our premises to ensure that the food has stayed within safe temperature limits. We will provide appropriate guidelines.
You promise to:
- provide sufficient advance notice of the event so that we may acquire the proper health department documentations.
- ensure that food items come from an approved source. Home-canned or -prepared items may not be used under any circumstances. All meats must be USDA approved. Shellfish must have the proper tags. High-protein items such as cheese, dairy, and eggs must also be procured from a reputable supplier.
- pay a per-person service charge for any handling, storing, and/or proper serving of menu items from outside sources.
- provide a sample of all items on the menu to the Cortland County Health Department if food-borne illness is reported in connection with your event. They will be lab tested to determine which item caused the illness. The establishment that prepared the offending item would then be the subject of a health department investigation and legal liability.