Catering Guidelines & Policies

Welcome to Campus Dining

College Association, Inc. Catering Services has developed the following policies, menus, and instructions to make sure your event is successful and memorable. All policies are designed to help ensure your satisfaction and streamline the planning process. Our goal is always to exceed your expectations and to provide exceptional catering services!

Planning Your Event: Booking, Contract, Guarantee

To accurately prepare for your event, please book your event (in CaterTrax) at least 10 business days in advance whenever possible, including your menu selections, location, arrangement, and the number of expected guests. College Association will take event orders up to 3 days in advance; however, we may not be able to guarantee specific menu items and/or location requests with short notices.

Booking Made Easy

1. For event scheduling and room reservations, contact Amber Baines, Special Events Coordinator, at bainesa@canton.edu or 315-386-7918.

2. Browse our menus in CaterTrax or download from our website to review.

3. To place a food order, create an account and/or log into CaterTrax.

4. Enter event details and menu selections, including any special requests.

Don’t see a menu selection that fits your event needs? No problem! Please contact our Retail Dining & Catering Manager Sean Conklin at conklin@canton.edu to review additional options.

After Booking

The catering team will review your request and an automatic email will be sent to you once approved.

Changes may be made up until 7 days prior to the event; however, we will make every effort to accept changes with as little as 3 days’ notice, but we cannot guarantee all accommodations on such notice. Due to product ordering and staff scheduling, we cannot accept changes within 3 days of the event.

A final guarantee must be given 5 business days before the event. You will be billed for the final guarantee or actual number of guests, whichever is greater. If Catering Services does not receive a guarantee by the deadline, the most current count will become the guarantee. The guarantee may not be decreased on the day of the event.

Food Information/Safety

Dining Services will retain all remaining food to ensure safe food handling and cannot provide containers for packaging leftover food per New York State Department of Health and Dining Services policy. Guests are not allowed to remove food or beverages that are not consumed from an event catered by Dining Services. Whenever possible, Dining Services utilizes food recovery to limit waste. Catering will not be held responsible for any food items removed without our knowledge or consent. No credits or refunds will be issued.

Please let us know about any food allergies that need to be taken into consideration for your event. We do not operate in an allergen free kitchen, so guests with food allergies and/or intolerances need to take that into consideration prior to dining with us.

Final Payment & Guarantee

When booking the event, the expected guest count should be as accurate as possible. This is the guarantee for the event and billing is based on this number unless the actual number is higher. Please call or email with the guaranteed number of guests at least 5 business days prior to the event. For group sizes of 75 people or more, we require a 7-day notice. If changes are necessary, including count changes and times, Catering will plan, bill, and purchase food based on this number. If we do not have final guarantee by this deadline, we will use the estimated count on record.

For billing purposes, your final bill is based on the guaranteed number of guests that attend your event, plus any additional guests in excess of that amount.

Cancellations

We require a 3 business day advance notification for any cancellations. If there are costs incurred as a result of your cancellation, you will be billed for those costs. If you need to cancel, please call the Dining Services office. Please do not email last minute cancellations. Clients must speak directly to a Catering representative; an email or voice mail is not a valid cancellation.

If inclement weather is approaching, please keep College Association updated as to the status of your event.

Alcohol Policy

Events requesting alcohol service must be submitted to Catering Services at least 35 days in advance of the event to ensure all licensing requirements are met.