Room Scheduling

Schedule events for your group, department or organization at HMS.

Conference Center

Book a room or schedule an event at the Joseph B. Martin Center

The Campus Space Use Rules were released by Harvard University on Aug. 1, 2024. In this guidance, supplemental local rules for the HMS and HSDM communities have been integrated into the Campus Rules were appropriate and are both labelled and in blue to create a single campus use resource for HMS and HSDM communities.  

These rules are intended to ensure community safety, security and well-being; set expectations for compliance with federal, state, and local laws and University and School rules and policies; and promote orderly event planning and noncompeting space use.  Please familiarize yourself with these rules before reserving space or planning an event on campus.

The Room Scheduling Department is responsible for scheduling most HMS South Quad common spaces, including amphitheaters, classrooms, conference rooms, labs, the Quad, and other special event locations. The Department is responsible for scheduling over 80 spaces located across 7 buildings, with the majority located in TMEC . The Department is charged with appropriately and efficiently allocating space in order to meet the competing demands of the Educational, Research, and Administrative programs of the school.

Approximately 30,000 events are booked annually through the Room Scheduling Department. Of this total, the HMS Educational Program comprises approximately 80%. Due to this high volume and more importantly, the complexity of course schedules, HMS courses are given priority over administrative activities in all quad-based space used primarily for teaching activities. Course scheduling is performed twice per year, in October for Spring courses and in May for Fall courses. 

Due to an increased demand for appropriate classroom/meeting space to support the existing needs and continued growth of our Quad-based academic and basic science departments, the following policy revisions took place in June of 2022 : 

  • Only internal, HMS Quad-based departments have the ability to directly book space through the HMS Room Scheduling – EMS system 
  • Non-HMS departments looking to book space on the HMS campus will be directed to the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center for all meeting and event space needs. 
  • Requests for an event within 2 weeks by any non-HMS department may be submitted via email to the HMS Room Scheduling Office at room_scheduling@hms.harvard.edu  
  • All events being held on the Medical School campus must be officially sponsored by an HMS Department and will be required to supply a 33-digit billing code for associated charges and/or to be held in reserve for any additional clean up or damages.

Requests for space are submitted directly to the Room Scheduling Department from a client base comprised of HMS Faculty, Staff and Students. Requests are sent primarily via the room scheduler but can also be sent via email. Requests for space are assessed for approval within 48 business hours outside of the two academic scheduling periods. Those submitted before or during academic scheduling periods are not assessed until course scheduling has concluded. Summary of request is NOT a confirmation, it is a receipt of the request.

Joseph B. Martin Conference Center

Related to constraints around space size, service capabilities, campus access and noise impacts, if you are inquiring about an external event, events over 150ppl, events with predominantly outside (non-HUID) guests in attendance, full day programming, events with enhanced setup components (ie poster sessions, trade booths, etc.) we recommend you plan on hosting your program at the Martin Conference Center. 

If you are interested in scheduling a meeting or event at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, please contact the office at (617) 432-8990 or email Alwyn Thomas for availability and pricing. Review the Conference Center Scheduling Guidelines for more information.