Policies & Forms

Please use this link to fill out the Approval Form

Bar Service

Alcohol Service is provided exclusively by URI Catering and we have a wide selection of beers and wines. All staff members are ServeSafe trained and adhere to all state of Rhode Island Alcohol Laws. URI Catering reserves the right to refuse services to groups which include guests who are not of legal drinking age. In all cases, we reserve the right to ask for proper proof of age and the right to refuse service to a visibly intoxicated guest. Please review the URI Dining Services Alcohol Policy (attached below).

Alcohol Policy

ORIGINATOR: Vice President for Student Affairs | DATE: July 2010 |POLICY #10-01

PURPOSE: To govern the purchase, possession, service, sale, consumption, and distribution of alcoholic beverages on the premises of the Kingston, Narragansett Bay, and Feinstein Providence campuses of the University of Rhode Island. W. Alton Jones Campus operates under its own alcoholic beverage license and is not included in this Alcoholic Beverage Policy.

APPLICABLE TO: All Departments of the University.

RESPONSIBILITY: All faculty, staff, students, and guests of all departments, colleges, and users of University facilities at the Kingston, Narragansett Bay, and Feinstein Providence campuses are required to comply with this policy.

A. POLICY:

The sale and/or service of alcohol is permitted on the Kingston Campus in the following locations: University Club, President’s House, Ryan Center, Boss Arena, Alumni Center and the Foundation Building. The sale or service of alcohol at the Providence Campus and the Narragansett Bay Campus, and locations not listed above, require the written approval of the President or his/her designee. Generally, requests to serve alcohol at on-campus functions will be denied if students under the age of 21 are in attendance.

All activities, events, locations, and individuals under this policy shall be subject to and in compliance with all appropriate State and Federal laws, local ordinances, and URI policies and procedures.

No individual under the legal drinking age of 21 years may possess, serve, sell, consume, or distribute alcohol on University premises or at any URI sponsored activity, event, and/or function. Where there is URI supervision staff over the age of twenty-one, individuals 18 year of age or older may serve alcoholic beverages in accordance with Rhode Island State Law.

All individuals authorized to serve alcoholic beverages under this policy must have completed an approved training for the responsible service, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Training must meet the minimum standards of programs such as TIPs. No individual may service or otherwise provide alcohol, for consumption, to individuals under the legal drinking age of 21 years. Proof of age must be provided upon request before service is allowed. 2

INDIVIDUALS MAY NOT:

  • Bring alcoholic beverages to any on-campus activity, event, and/or function unless specifically indicated i.e., as stipulated in the University Policy on Tailgating.
    Leave an activity, event, and/or function area while carrying or holding any type of container of alcoholic beverage.
  • Any individual violating the policies, rules and regulations of the University of Rhode Island and the State of Rhode Island will be held accountable and subject to appropriate discipline and/or sanctions prescribed by law and URI policies.

B. DEFINITIONS:

ALCOHOL or ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES: Beer, wine, hard liquor, distilled spirits, mixed drinks, and any and all other beverages containing ethyl alcohol.
SPONSORED: An event, activity, and/or function on the Kingston, Narragansett Bay, and Feinstein Providence campuses is a sponsored event, activity or function authorized by and conducted in the name of or on behalf of the University and/or is supported in whole or in part through funding under any University budget, University-related budget, and/or RI Board of Governors for Higher Education budget.
INDIVIDUAL: Employee, Faculty, Staff, Student, Volunteer, Guests, and/or Agent of the University
PREMISES: Any building, facility, vessel, vehicle, including real estate owned, leased, rented, and/or temporarily assigned, occupied and used, in whole or in part, is managed and operated under the authority of URI or an authorized agent.

C. PROCEDURES:

Service of alcoholic beverages at any University facility shall comply with Rhode Island General Laws and appropriate rules and regulations of state departments overseeing the service of alcoholic beverages.

Alcoholic beverages may only be purchased through URI Dining Services except as otherwise provided herein.

In the event that URI Dining Services is unable to service the event, it shall refer the department or customer to the University Club to service the event and to an outside vendor only in the case when neither Dining Services nor the University Club can provide the desired services. The department or customer MAY NOT use an outside vendor unless proper approvals have been obtained.
If the President approves the sale of alcohol to the general public at an event at the Ryan Center, the concessionaire will be the authorized vendor.
The service of alcoholic beverages must be in conjunction with food service and the Catering Waiver Form and Catering Policy #07-01 shall apply for purposes of this Policy.
Servers, Bartenders, Attendants must use prudent judgment consistent with training in determining whether or not an individual meets the legal drinking age requirement and are encouraged to exercise this judgment in denying service if they believe the individual is not over the age of twenty-one.

FORM

URI Alcohol Sale Approval Form is to be used to obtain approval for all sites not listed in policy. The Vice President for Administration and Finance is the President’s Designee. Please:

  • Fill out the form and have it co-signed by the Dean or Department Head.
  • Attach a memo of explanation/justification.
  • Fax to the Dining Services Catering Department. Fax number is 874-5089.
  • Dining Services Catering Department will forward your request to the Vice President for approval.
  • The request should be reviewed by the Vice President’s office at least two weeks before the date of the event.
  • Executed copies will be sent to the Dean or Department Head and Catering Services upon approval by the Vice President.

Catering Policy

ORIGINATOR: Division of Administration |September 2012 |Policy #07-01

A. POLICY:

It is the goal of the University of Rhode Island to utilize and/or promote its auxiliaries, enterprises, cost-centers, and other entrepreneurial services of the University for events and activities held at its campuses. Therefore, it is the policy of the University of Rhode Island that departments, colleges, and other users of University facilities at the Kingston and Narragansett Bay Campus utilize the catering services offered by URI Dining Services for activities on these two campuses.

If the University caterers are not able to provide the required services, an outside caterer may be utilized.

Consumption of alcohol at functions on the Kingston or Narragansett Bay Campus is prohibited unless held at the Alumni Center, Welcome Center, the Mosby Center (by special permission of the President), or at other locations approved by the President or the President’s designee. The expenditure of state funds for the purchase of alcoholic beverages is expressly prohibited. There shall be no reimbursement made with University funds for the consumption of alcoholic beverages. When the President permits the serving of alcoholic beverages at a function in University facilities, alcoholic beverages must be provided and served by URI Catering Services.

B. PURPOSE:

To ensure a consistent policy and procedure for the catering of food and beverages within the University’s Kingston and Narragansett Bay campuses, the term “catering” applies to the purchase and service of food, beverages, and food-related items for consumption on the University premises.

C. PROCEDURES:

  1. Expenditures for catering services must comply with the State of Rhode Island Office of Accounts and Control Policy No. A-36 on “Payments for Coffee Breaks, Luncheons, Dinner, Etc.” guidelines for all State employees on the use of state funds and all other pertinent state and URI purchasing policies.
  2. University departments, colleges, or other users of University facilities seeking catering services:
    • a. Must secure a price for URI Catering Services which has the right of first refusal to service the event. It is not mandatory to contract the services of URI Dining for any event under $100. URI Dining Services must determine if it can service the event and must provide a quotation to the user. If Dining Services is unable to service the event, it will inform the requesting department or individual by indicating such on the Catering Waiver Form.
    • b. If Dining Services cannot provide catering, the department or user shall then it will inform the requesting department or user by indicating such on the Catering Waiver Form.
    • c. If URI Dining Services is unable to service the event, the department or customer may then use an outside vendor and must obtain proper insurance and food handling certificates for the outside food provider.
  3. The Food Handling and Vendor Policy shall apply for all catering services provided on University property of the Kingston and Bay campuses.
  4. If internal catering is waived, an external catering service must be procured through a Limited Value Purchase Order (LVPO), and compliance with instructions regarding competitive quote requirements must be followed. The waiver form must be signed by the University caterers before securing outside caterers and the waiver form shall be attached to the LVPO. Failure to do so is a violation of the LVPO requirements.

APPLICABILITY: All departments, colleges, and users of University facilities at the Kingston and Bay campuses are required to comply with this policy.

Catering Waiver

The catering wavier is used if you want to use an outside vendor instead of URI Catering for your event. Please click the link below. The requestor should fill out this form and sign it. After signing, it will ask you to put the departments’ authorized/funding email in for signature. Once that is complete, it will automatically be sent to URI Catering for final review and authorization. 

Click Here for the URI Catering Wavier

Cancellation Policy

If an event needs to be canceled: please call Catering during 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. business hours.
A refund will be issued based on the following cancellation timeline & percentage:
  • 1 week prior to event = 100% refund
  • 72 hours prior to event = 50% refund
  • 48 hours prior to event = 25% refund
  • 24 hours prior to event = 0% refund
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Policies and Cancellation listed are for internal catering requests only. External catering policies and cancellation vary, please contact URI Conference Services for details.