Events and activities guidelines

Updated Feb. 28, 2022

• Guiding principles
• Definitions
• General safety and COVID-19 prevention
• Food, beverage, and other external vendors
• Internal in-person meetings
• Event approval
• Off-campus events
• External events
• Tracking, testing, and tracing
• Appendix I: Event approval guidelines

Guiding principles

• All items outlined are subject to change based on the evolution of the pandemic, government and/or institutional regulations, and public health best practices.
• The guidelines are applicable for the Coral Gables and Marine campuses.
• The guidelines provide high-level guidance for University events.
• Food is permitted at indoor events; however, individually wrapped or boxed meals are preferred versus passed or shared items.
• Off-campus events follow the same guidelines as on-campus events.
• Undergraduate student organizations should refer to Student Affairs for guidance on approval processes for student-led events.
• The central calendar provides a consolidated list of in-person events and activities.

Definitions

• Large gathering: A large gathering is defined as follows:
  • More than 50 total persons in attendance.
    
  • The number of persons in attendance is inclusive of all staff, vendors, and others physically present at the time of the event and is not limited to only registered guests. 
• In-person event: Programs, events, conferences, and any other non-curricular planned in-person gathering, indoors or outdoors, including those organized by an individual unit, utilizing their own space. In-person events do not include University-scheduled classes, labs, internal meetings (as defined below), or sanctioned athletic practices or competitions.
• External event: An in-person, on-campus event that includes any number of external attendees.
• Internal in-person meeting: An in-person meeting held within a single space/area for the duration, and attended exclusively by University of Miami faculty, staff, or students for the specific purpose of coordination, information sharing, and/or making decisions related to University operations.
• Internal attendee: Any faculty, staff, or student at the University of Miami.
• External attendee: Anyone who is not a faculty member, staff member, or student at the University of Miami. This includes vendors and contractors, families of internal attendees, and anyone who is not employed by or studying at the University of Miami.
• On-campus event: Meeting, program, event, conference, and any other non-curricular planned in-person gathering, indoors or outdoors, held at a facility that is owned or operated by the University of Miami.
• Off-campus event: Meeting, program, event, conference, and any other non-curricular planned in-person gathering, indoors or outdoors, held at a facility that is not owned or operated by the University of Miami, but is within the South Florida tri-county area.
• University community member: Refers to all full- and part-time faculty, staff, students, fellows, trainees, and interns.
• Guest: Refers to someone who is on University property (owned or leased) temporarily for a short period of time at the invitation of the University, including invited speakers, event participants, academic visitors, prospective students, tour participants, athletes from other institutions, alumni, student family members, and other similar non-University community members.

General safety and COVID-19 prevention

• All colleges, schools, divisions, departments, and other organizational units are encouraged to continue consider whether large gatherings, with in-person interaction, are necessary versus using virtual alternatives, such as Zoom (or other video teleconferencing solutions), telephone, email, or other communication platforms.
• Event spaces and all those utilizing such spaces, including attendees (whether internal or external), are required to abide by University safety standards.
• Anyone who is symptomatic should not attend any events. Anyone who is immunocompromised should check with their health care provider prior to participating in any of the events described in these guidelines.  
• Physical distancing of 2 to 3 feet between each participant is preferable when considering event layout and number of attendees.
• Attendees should continue to the follow the latest University of Miami mask guidelines.
• Event spaces should be cleaned/sanitized after an event concludes. It is the responsibility of the event organizer to work with the venue and those providing approval to arrange for cleaning to occur (in some cases, there may be a charge associated and the event organizer should inquire about that in advance).
• Event hosts are responsible for ensuring appropriate personal protective equipment is available to safely conduct the event (i.e., wipes, hand sanitizer, gloves, plexiglass dividers, other cleaning supplies, and a reserve of masks if necessary).
• Facilities:
  • When possible, outdoor spaces should continue to be prioritized for large events. The impact of inclement weather and/or high temperatures when in direct sunlight should be taken into consideration when selecting the appropriate event venue and timing of the event.
  • Facility/venue managers should also approve health, safety, and staffing plans for the site.

Food, beverage, and other external vendor recommendations

• Chartwells remains the preferred vendor for approved food options for campus events, due to familiarity with the following campus guidelines and requirements.
• Eliminate commonly passed or shared items, such as serving utensils or condiments. Buffets, shared stations, platters, and open pitchers/punch bowls are discouraged.
• Food and beverage service and preparation areas must be sanitized prior to and during the event.
• Anyone serving food or beverages must wear a mask and gloves at all times.
• Event hosts should actively communicate with food and beverage vendors to ensure proper food safety and hygiene protocols are executed.
• Remember to inform vendors that staff who feel ill will not be allowed to work at the event.

Internal in-person meetings

• All units are encouraged to consider continuing the use of virtual alternatives, such as Zoom (or other video teleconferencing solutions), telephone, email, or other communication platforms for internal meetings.

Event approval

• As of Feb. 28, 2022, events are no longer being centrally reviewed from a COVID-19 perspective.
• Approval to hold an event is tentative until the venue approves of plans.
• Undergraduate student organizations should refer to Student Affairs for guidance on approval processes for student-led events.

Off-campus events

• Off-campus events are those events that are not held on a University campus, but still within the South Florida tri-county area.
• Events seeking to be held outside of this area would be subject to travel policies in addition to other considerations for off-campus events within this document.
• Participants in any off-campus events must adhere to all current University of Miami expectations in addition to applicable federal, state, county, and city guidance.

External events

• Organizers planning external events should ensure there is flexibility to adjust or cancel based on evolution of the virus and changes to University policy.
• Event hosts should collect email and phone contact information of all attendees to allow for communication regarding public health information, attendee expectations prior to arrival, event changes, and contact tracing if someone later is determined to be positive.

Tracking, testing, and tracing

• Anyone who has tested positive, is having symptoms consistent with, or has been exposed to someone confirmed positive for COVID-19 within the past 5 days is prohibited from attending any in-person event.
• Anyone awaiting a COVID-19 test result which was conducted because of COVID-19 symptoms or potential exposure is prohibited from attending an in-person event.
• As directed by public health officials, contact tracing will be initiated for confirmed cases of COVID-19 who attended an in-person event.

Appendix I: Event Risk Levels

Event types

Evidence suggests that certain event characteristics are at a lower risk of creating opportunities for transmission of COVID-19. Those characteristics are included in the “Lower risk” category on the table below. Higher risk activities, included in the column on the right, present more opportunities for transmission of COVID-19.