In early February, select a date for the fall Welcome Picnic. (Yes, this actually has to be done this early!) Historically, this has been held on the Friday of the first week of fall classes (that is, the Friday between 29 August and 4 September, inclusive; check the Academic Calendar to be sure).
Coordinate with Michele to book the Bartlett Shelter in Schenley Park; the CS Department covers this expense. Generally, the extra permit cost of having alcoholic beverages has also been covered by the department. (Whether to actually have alcohol at the event is usually dependent on the weather.)
Reservations typically open in mid-February; check the website for the exact date, and have Michele book the shelter as soon as possible. Until 2014, the University simply issued a check at this time, and we called to reserve the shelter; the payment was not required to be made until a later date, which we typically took care of in July. In 2015, reservations shifted to an online system at http://pittsburghpa.gov/dpw/shelters. It is not yet known how this affects our procedure.
If the Bartlett Shelter is unavailable, prefer the other shelters in Schenley Park according to roughly the following order: Anderson, Westinghouse, Camp David Lawrence, Overlook. (Note that the Oval Shelter is too small for our needs and the Vietnam Veterans Pavilion is too large and expensive. Prospect Shelter does not have an on-site grill available.) Information and resources about the shelters can be found at http://registerparks.pittsburghpa.gov/.