We provide pizza for a student group we meet with once a month. Pizza helps build attendance, but would this fall under the category of "continual" or "repeating" meetings that happen too frequently to be reimbursed?
A monthly meeting of this type would be perfectly appropriate. Events that might not be would be weekly staff meetings at which lunch was always provided, even when not necessary to the success of the meeting.
Next month we're having a day long department retreat. We planned on serving lunch, but should we just give attendees an hour break instead?
If serving lunch helps you maintain the momentum of the retreat, then by all means serve it. If your meeting only runs from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. then you would probably not serve lunch unless programming continued through the meal.
I went to a conference last week where I took a colleague out to lunch. This is someone we are trying to recruit as a faculty member for our program. Does this fall under the meals policy or the travel policy.
If you were out of town it would be governed by the travel policy.
We'll be serving canapes at a reception honoring a retiring faculty member. Professor Smith was quite fond of crabcakes and lobster. Does the policy provide guidelines regarding the type or price of food we provide?
No, this decision should be based on your budget and the goals and requirements of the event.
