Student Unions’ Reservations Office Hours
To contact the reservations office, please call 412-648-7817 or email wmpittun@pitt.edu from 9 AM – 5 PM, Monday – Friday.
Setups can be submitted through your EMS reservation or to wmpittun@pitt.edu for all student union reservations.
Reserving Space in the Student Unions
Visit EMS to Browse by Location: ems.williampittunion.pitt.edu
The Event Management System (EMS) is to be used for reserving rooms in the William Pitt Union (WPU), O’Hara Student Center (OSC), Campus Recreation facilities, Schenley Quad, Towers Patio and tabling, and other designated academic buildings during evening hours. The room reservation system provides an online means for reserving and viewing student organizations’ and Student Affairs’ room reservations across campus. Authorized users can submit requests for room reservations to be reviewed by William Pitt Union and O’Hara Student Center reservations staff.
To create an EMS account:
1. Complete the EMS quiz!
2. Apply for an account!
Here’s how:
- You must be an officer in a SORC recognized student organization or Pitt Oakland campus staff or faculty.
- View our EMS training Powerpoint and complete the quiz at the end of the tutorial. You must complete the quiz for your account to be activated.
- Your quiz results will automatically be sent to us. If you do not take the quiz we won’t know you applied for an account.
- You must also apply for an account at ems.williampittunion.pitt.edu
- Be sure to use your Pitt username (e.g. abc123, no @pitt.edu needed) and current Pitt password. Alias usernames should not be used.
- New users will be notified via e-mail when their account has been activated. Typically, accounts are activated within 3-4 business days but can take up to 1-2 weeks during peak times of the semester.
For help with the new EMS interface please watch these videos!
If your account is inactive or pending, DO NOT apply for another account! Email ems-help@pitt.edu and we can re-activate your current account.
Student groups are eligible to have 2 members with EMS access per organization.
If you are an officer in multiple organizations, you can have access to reserve on behalf of more than one organization. Email ems-help@pitt.edu with the student organization names and your positions within each club.
Once your account has been activated, you can begin reserving space at ems.williampittunion.pitt.edu. EMS is most user-friendly when using a computer rather than a mobile device and either Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox.
Looking for space not found in EMS? All SORC recognized student organizations and university departments are eligible to reserve space in other University buildings.
Reservation Timeline
| Fall Requests | Spring Requests | Summer Requests | |
| Official University Requests | Pre-confirmed | Pre-confirmed | Pre-confirmed |
| Student Affairs & Formula Groups | First Monday in April | Second Monday in September | First Monday in February |
| Student Organizations | Second Monday in April | Third Monday in September | First Monday in February |
| Academic & Administrative Units | First Monday in May | First Monday in October | Second Monday in February |
Recreation and Athletic Space are on a different schedule than the WPU reservation timeline, click here to view when you can reserve a facility. Any questions pertaining to Campus Recreation space, please contact Robert McCarl at rdm102@pitt.edu.
Reservation Booking Rules
| Multipurpose Rooms, Outdoor Spaces | 21 days in advance |
| Meeting Rooms, Dance Studio, & Cathedral of Learning and David Lawrence classrooms* (evenings and weekends) | 7 days in advance |
| Information Tables | 4 days in advance |
| * For student organizations only |
Once your event is approved, please work with your designated William Pitt Union or O’Hara Student Center contact for any questions or concerns.
Room Setups
Room setups are due to William Pitt Union Reservations or O’Hara Student Center Information Desk no later than 2 weeks before an event. Setups should be submitted to wmpittun@pitt.edu.
When requesting a room, be sure to include your personal setup and tear-down time. Facilities reserved time is not for personal use and you will not have access to the room during this time.
| Room | Default Facilities Reserved Time |
| Multipurpose Rooms, Outdoor Spaces & Nordy’s Place | 2 hours |
| Meeting Rooms & Dance Studio |
30 minutes |
Blank and Max Capacity Diagrams
Set Up Types & Glossary
Frequently Used Terms
Indoor tables on the lower level of the WPU (Schenley Café) available for marketing organizations and upcoming programs. Indoor tables are also available in Towers lobby.
Outdoor tables in front of the WPU or Schenley Quad available for marketing organizations and upcoming programs.
Any room that the set up can be changed and adapted to fit your needs.
*Assembly Room, Kurtzman Room, Ballroom, Lower Lounge, Dining Room A & B, 548, 630, Nordy's Place, OSC Ballroom & Dining Room
Any room that must be used as found. Usually set lecture or conference style.*Kimbo Conference Room, Dining Room C, 310, 527, 538, 539, 540, 542, 822, 837, 909, 918
The list of rooms you are eligible to reserve. The rooms are grouped together under templates which can be found under the My Reservations Templates once you are logged in. Student groups have different permissions than departments and can reserve more space on campus. For example, student groups can reserve University Classrooms in the evenings and weekends while departments are unable to do so.
Student groups can request classrooms in the Cathedral of Learning and David Lawrence after 9pm on evenings and 10am on weekends. Student groups are not permitted to rearrange or remove classroom furniture. All requests for audiovisual equipment are handled by Classroom Services.
The questions asked to you in EMS in order to collect as much information about your event as possible.
Depending on the type of event space you are looking to reserve, below are some questions EMS will need to know:
- Date of event
- Desired location
- Event start and end time (this should include your personal set up and tear-down time)
- Advertised start and end times
- Expected attendance
- University/SORC account number
- Description of event (as detailed as possible)
- Will you be having non-Pitt speakers or guests?
- Will you be having food/beverage?
- If you are having food, would you like to compost your food waste?
- Will anyone under the age of 18 be present?
- Will there be sales or fundraising?
- Is your event open to anyone or private?
- Submit a room diagram by attaching to your reservation in EMS or emailing wmpittun@pitt.edu or ohara@pitt.edu
For additional information regarding event planning, including potential costs, food forms, and other policies and procedures, click here.
FAQ
General Questions
Your account status is switched to “inactive” when you have not used it or made a reservation in the past semester. Send an email to ems-help@pitt.edu asking for your account to be reactivated. You will receive an email confirmation within a few days when it has been reactivated. Please do not reapply for an account.
Send an email to ems-help@pitt.edu. Please include the clubs you are involved in and what positions you hold.
Two students per organization. Please let us know when officer transitioning is happening so we can make sure the appropriate students have access to reserve on behalf of the organization.
Logistics
It is important to know what the purpose of your event is and your expected attendance before putting in your EMS request. You can find room capacities on either EMS or max diagram templates on the Reservations webpage.
You can use the Browse feature on the left-hand side of the EMS website. You do not need to have an EMS account to browse for space.
See our WPU Max Capacities Guide
Within 2-4 weeks, you will receive an email from a staff member in the WPU or OSC stating your next steps. If you would like to check with the reservations office regarding the status of your event, please contact either wmpittun@pitt.edu or ohara@pitt.edu no later than 2 weeks before an event. Meeting rooms will be set as is. To see sample setups, stop by the WPU Reservations desk Monday through Friday 9am-5pm or visit our Reservations webpage.
First, select a template under the Create a Reservation tab. Next to where you select a date and time you will see a Recurrence button. There you will be able to set your reoccurring needs. Once you have confirmed your needs EMS will automatically select rooms that meet your needs and identify which dates have conflicts. You will then continue your selection process as normal and/or change the location for dates with conflicts.