Catering policies

As the sole and exclusive food and beverage provider on the SUNY Cortland campus, we are inspected and authorized by the Cortland County Department of Health. We uphold food and safety regulations and therefore there will be no carry out of food not consumed from your event. To ensure safety and sanitation for customers and guests, a Catering representative will remove all items in a timely manner. Campus Catering will not co-mingle events with other catering/restaurant services.

Please plan the length of your event so that food will not be in service beyond two hours.

We promise to make every effort to accommodate all of your catering requests.

Please provide us with a minimum of 30 business day notice when you place a catering order. Catering orders requesting alcohol must be submitted with 60 day notice in order to obtain a license from the NY state liquor authority. Business days are considered to be Monday through Friday, non holiday. We recommend placing your order as early as possible so we can at least get your event on record. While every effort is made to accommodate all catering requests, we cannot guarantee service with notice less than 30 business days, 60 if requiring alcohol. 

To meet your catering needs, we require the following information 10 business days prior to the event:

Final menu selection
Final attendance guarantees

NOTE: Campus Catering cannot co-mingle events with other catering/restaurant services nor can outside food be combined for in person catered events.

Our business workday is Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; all arrangements must be made within these hours. A 15 percent late fee will be applied for events booked or modified outside of our guidelines. 

If you plan on canceling or changing your event, please notify our Catering office via phone or e-mail by noon, 15 business days prior to your event. Should you need to cancel your event in less than 10 business days, we will charge 50 percent of the cost of the event. In the event of a late cancellation due to severe weather, every attempt will be made to keep the costs billed to the customers at a minimum on a case-by-case basis.

We charge rates as follows for deliveries:

Orders less than $75, charge $25.
Orders more than $75, charge $40.
Weekend or orders before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m., charge $50.
Alumni House, charge $50.
Corey Union, Free of charge.

Please allow us access to your delivery location at least 60 minutes prior to your event; larger events will require additional setup time.

We offer china service or Classicware for any event at the following cost:

Coffee or Beverage Breaks, $1.50 Classicware or $2.00 per person china
Receptions, $1.50 Classicware or $2.00 per person china
Lunch or Dinner Service,  $2.00 Classicware or $3.00 per person china
Corey Union, China free of charge

Please let us know of your final course selections, so that we may finalize the pricing of our service ware.

The costs for linen are as follows:

Tablecloths, $5.00 each
Black Spandex, $5.00 each
Napkins, $1.00 each

Please provide us with your linen order 5 business days prior to your event.

In the occurrence of a very large event where specialty equipment may need to be rented, we can provide this for you at an additional charge.

If any catering equipment is missing or damaged after an event, you will be responsible for the replacement cost of the equipment.

SUNY Cortland faculty and staff can reserve a room through the MYRedDragon room reservation system. All other customers call Campus Activities at 607-753-2321 press 1 for the department secretary.

Please reserve your event space/meeting room prior to making your catering arrangements. To reserve a space for an on-campus event, please contact Campus Activities at 607-753-5574 for your booking needs. The event location must be unlocked and available at least 60 minutes prior to the event start time as shown on the event order. Large events (30 people or more) will require additional set up time. You are responsible for the safekeeping of all catering equipment dropped off at the site. Any lost or damaged equipment will be charged at replacement value. Catering is not responsible for the set up of rooms, tables and chairs.

More information on Event Planning

We provide a full range of premium alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. For events with alcohol service, the serving of alcohol at any given event is subject to Campus and State Liquor Authority approval. Temporary liquor licenses are required for all bars outside Corey Union.

Alcoholic beverage permit applications must be processed at least 45 business days before the event. Catered events requesting alcohol must placed no later than 60 business days in advance. Temporary licenses will incur a charge of $60 each. We will not be able to provide or serve alcohol at a function booked after this 60-day time period in order to adhere to NY state requirements.

Please note that orders will include a bar set up fee of $250 for a full bar or $150 for beer and wine only. Alcohol quantity will be billed on actual consumption.

Bars will be assessed a $100 per hour labor charge.

Sufficient quantities of non-alcoholic beverages and food must be available and displayed at all times. We are not able to provide alcohol for any event that falls outside NY state liquor authority guidelines. Per NY state guidelines, we will not serve alcohol where the food is catered by a different provider. We must serve food as outlined in those guidelines. Pretzels and chips do not qualify. Futhermore, you, the host of any event serving alcohol, will be responsible for providing safe transportation for those who were consuming alcohol.

Please provide a method of payment when finalizing your order. We accept Visa, Master Card, Discover Card, certified check or money order. Connections is not an authorized method of payment for Catering services.

In some cases, a 50 percent deposit prior to the event date will be required.

If your group is tax-exempt, please provide our office with a copy of your tax-exempt form at the time of ordering. You can fax a copy to 607-753-5938.