Changes to Cory/Soda Room Policies for Fall 2021

Effective August 23, 2021

(Last updated: 06-oct-2021)

Please review these changes to the Cory and Soda Hall room reservation policies before attempting to book a room this semester:

Regular business hours in Cory/Soda are M-F, 9 am - 4 pm
During prime hours (M-F, 10 am - 5 pm), rooms can only be booked for department-, instruction-, or research-related meetings and events
Rooms must be vacated—and all meetings concluded—before campus buildings close at 10 pm
Please keep bookings for meetings outside of prime hours limited to a maximum of 2-3 hours per week.* This request has been made to give as many groups as possible an opportunity to use the few rooms available.
Rooms cannot be booked for overnight events (XRG events excluded)
Eating and drinking inside rooms is prohibited (XRG events included)
Homework parties can ONLY be held in the Woz Lounge (430-438 Soda-SEE BOOKING LIMITATIONS BELOW) and 540-AB Cory

*Does not apply to sanctioned, course-related activities.

Building-Specific Regulations

The Woz (430-438 Soda)

Indoor Lounge Area

You must have card key access to host a meeting in this room
No homework parties may be booked in this room between the hours of 11am - 2pm M-F.

Outside Terrace Area

May be freely used by EECS students during the day
Must be cleared by sunset
May be closed without notice for Department-hosted meetings and events
Cannot be booked as a meeting space

HP Auditorium (306 Soda)

Will be locked outside of regular business hours. If your event starts before 9 am or after 4 pm on a weekday, or any time on the weekend, you must make an appointment to pick up a metal key at least 48 hours in advance of your event. Key picked-up is available by appointment only: https://calendly.com/eecs-building-access/eecs-key-pick-up

540A/B Cory Hall (formerly the DOP Center)

You must have card key access to host a meeting in this room

About Reserving Cory and Soda Hall Rooms

EECS department rooms in Soda and Cory Halls are only available for EECS and other COE community events and cannot be reserved by members of the broader campus community.

Book a room

Room reservations take 4 business days to process and are not considered booked until they are CONFIRMED! Cory and Soda rooms are only available for EECS and other COE community events.

Guidelines

Room usage: Restrictions and guidelines vary per room. See Room Availability for details. Only the leaders of EECS-affiliated student groups, Academic Student Employees (ASE), faculty, staff, and graduate students may book rooms in Cory or Soda.

Advance reservations: With few exceptions, reservations for Spring/Summer semester can be made after Veteran’s Day of the previous year, and reservations for Fall semester can be made beginning the previous semester’s Spring Break.

Priority bookings: The room schedulers reserve the right to cancel or move any confirmed booking if the room is urgently needed for an important academic or department function.

Reservations for classrooms: Reservations for classrooms (Soda 306, 310, 320, and 405, and Cory 293, 299, 521, 531, and 540AB) are not accepted until the 4th week of the semester.

Homework parties: These events can ONLY be held in the Woz Lounge (430-438 Soda) and 540-AB Cory. For the Woz Lounge you may NOT book between the hours of 11am - 2pm M-F.

Late & no-shows: After 20 minutes a reservation is forfeited and the remainder of the time is given to the first drop-in user.

After hours events: If your event will be in the evening or over a weekend, please make an appointment to check out any necessary keys from 387 Soda Hall the weekday of the event (for weekends come on Friday). Appointments are available M-F, 10-11:30am. Appointments must be made a minimum of 2 days before the scheduled pick-up

Event cleanup: Reserving space in Soda and Cory Halls is a privilege that can be revoked if your group fails to clean up after your event. See the Event Cleanup rules below.

FAQ

Event Cleanup Rules

When you request to reserve a room, you not only become responsible for the conduct of the people attending the event, but also for the condition of the room at the end of the event. Three or more complaints about room cleanliness, missing furniture, or rearranged furniture will result in the loss of reservation privileges for you and/or your student organization.

Avoid becoming responsible for someone else’s mess by ensuring doors are closed and locked at the end of your event. If someone is using the room right after your event, ask if they have scheduled the room for use. If you find a room in poor condition at the beginning of your event, please email a photo to soda-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu (Soda Hall) or cory-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu (Cory Hall) along with the date and name of your event.

When your event is over, you are expected to return furniture to its original layout and, as much as possible, leave the room the way you found it. This includes wiping down tables and throwing away trash. Eating and drinking inside rooms is prohibited

If waste generated by your event’s participants does not fit in the trash/recycling/compost bins: Soda room users must deliver excess trash directly to the dumpster located in the West driveway of Etcheverry Hall; Cory room users must deliver excess trash directly into the dumpsters located outside the 1st floor (southeast) entrance to Cory Hall (behind Hearst Mining).

Special Events

Some events require permits that can take up to 10 business days to process and can require a sponsor as well as multiple signatures.

To use the Woz Lounge on Saturday or Sunday, you must pay a cleaning fee for janitorial services. This fee varies and can be paid either by check or by providing a chart string account number.
Requests to reserve the Woz Lounge must be made by noon, the preceding Wednesday.
Thinking about serving alcohol at your private event?
Campus policy states that alcohol is NOT permitted at events sponsored by undergraduate registered student organizations. Read the campus policy on events with alcohol.

Planning ahead is the key to success!

Frequently Asked Questions About Room Reservations

Please note that the policies outlined in the gold box titled "Changes to Cory/Soda Room Policies for Fall 2021" at the top of this web page supersede any conflicting policies that may appear in the FAQ below.

1. How far in advance can I reserve a room?

Requests for Spring/Summer semester reservations will be accepted after Veteran's Day.
Requests for Fall semester reservations will be accepted after Spring Break.

All room bookings must be made at least four days in advance of events.

2. Can I use a room without reserving it?

You may only use the meeting rooms in Soda and Cory Halls if you have a confirmed reservation. In Soda Hall, CS undergraduates may use the 341 upper division undergraduate lounge, or the 3rd floor Woz Terrace (if it is not being used for a department event). In Cory Hall, undergraduates may use the 2nd floor TI Lounge and central courtyard, and the 3rd floor Newton Lounge at the Sutardja Dai bridge.

3. Where can I hold Office Hours and Study Groups?

In Soda Hall, the following events can ONLY be held in an alcove:

Office Hours (NOTE: Alcoves on the 3rd floor are only available for upper division class support)
Tutoring
Study groups

In Cory Hall, they can be held in the following:

TI Lounge (open area across from 241 Cory)
212, 258, 367, 400, 504 (CS office hours can be booked in these rooms on weekdays before 10am and after 5pm.)

4. Where else can I reserve rooms on campus?

If you are unable to reserve space in Soda or Cory Halls, you may want to consider the following options:

Jacobs Hall meeting rooms
COE facilities (Bechtel Engineering Center, Hearst Memorial Mining Building, O'Brien Hall, McLaughlin Hall)
Eshleman Hall conference rooms (for RSOs only)
Use the library’s search tool to find a study space
For CS review sessions and midterms, please mail cs-scheduling@cs.berkeley.edu
For EE review sessions and midterms, please mail ee-scheduling@eecs.berkeley.edu
For EE activities other than regular class meetings, such as film screenings, outreach programs, or student organization meetings, see the SIS Project website.

5. What are the business hours for Soda and Cory Halls?

Soda Hall: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:00pm (closed 12:00-1:00pm)
Cory Hall: Monday-Friday, Fall 2021: 8:00am-4:00pm (closed 12:00-1:00pm)

6. How do I gain access to a room after business hours?

If you need card key access to a meeting room, please request access using the EECS conference room access request form no later than two business days prior to your event. You will need the following information:

Name
Student ID Number and Proxy Numbers (6 digits on back of ID card)
Event Name
Room Needed
Day and Time of Event

If you need a metal key, please fill out a EECS conference room access request form, and schedule your key pick-up. Keys are picked up at Soda 387. Key pick-up appointments are available M-F, 10-11:30am. Appointments must be made a minimum of 2 days before the scheduled pick-up.

7. How do I report missing furniture from a room?

Email soda-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu or cory-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu or stop by the front desk to report the problem if it is during normal business hours.

8. How do I report a dirty/messy room?

Email a description of what you found to soda-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu or cory-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu. Please include the following information:

Room number
Date and time
Photo if possible
Was room closed/locked?
Someone is in a room that I have reserved. What do I do?

If you have a confirmed reservation for the room and are within 15 minutes of the beginning of the reservation, POLITELY interrupt the people in the room and inform them you have a confirmed reservation. If, for some reason, the other group doesn’t vacate the room, please contact either soda-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu or cory-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu.

9. Whom do I contact if I have a question that is not on this list?

Questions about Cory rooms should be sent to cory-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu. Questions about Soda rooms should be sent to soda-rooms@eecs.berkeley.edu