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Information for Colloquium and Seminar Hosts

Host’s responsibilities

The host of a colloquium speaker should make sure that the visitor understands that a colloquium talk should be aimed in large part towards a general audience. More technical or narrow talks may be more appropriate as seminar talks than as colloquia, and the speaker should be guided to an appropriate level for the audience in any case.

Most details of a speaker’s visit, such picking up the visitor from the airport, making sure the necessary equipment is available for the speaker’s talk, and arranging a dinner following a colloquium, are coordinated by the host.

Some hosts offer home hospitality to their guests; if some of the speaker’s travel expenses will be reimbursed, and the speaker will be staying in a hotel, please have Margaret make hotel reservations to get the best rates and to facilitate direct billing to the department.

On the Day of the Colloquium

On the day of the colloquium the host’s duties include

  • Bring the speaker to the tea at 2:30. If you have other obligations then please arrange for a colleague to do it.
  • Introduce the speaker at 3:00. Remind the speaker to end the talk at 3:50, at which point you ask the audience for questions.
  • The  Atrium has a built-in lcd projector. So if the speaker needs one, they should bring their talk on a usb drive or have it accessible over the web.
  • Here are some tech advice tips for the atrium. If you want assistance, ask Henry Adams.
  • Please lock the Atrium door and turn out the lights when you leave.

Colloquium/Seminar Dinner Reimbursement

Please see the Colloquium/Seminar Dinner Reimbursement page.

Support for Speakers

The Department of Mathematics only reimburses speakers, up to a predetermined amount, for expenses related to travel, such as air fare, taxi, rental car, hotel, meals or per diem.

To request support from the department through the Visitors and Colloquium Committee, please send email to the chair of the committee with the answers to the questions on the Speaker Request Form.

Note that typically each faculty member can receive support for one colloquium speaker or two seminar speakers ($900 max) in each academic year.

Please note that the procedures above apply only to short term visitors. If your visitor is coming for more than a few weeks it is more complicated, especially if they are not a US resident. See the Department’s Visitor Page.

The reimbursement rules apply to funds used from a host’s grant as well as to funds provided by the department.

Hotel Information and Dates to Avoid

The host should coordinate with Margaret so she can make the reservation for the speaker.

On football weekends, it may be difficult to impossible to find a hotel room (let alone at the rates listed below), so keep this in mind when choosing a date for your speaker. Over Homecoming weekend no hotels will have open rooms Saturday night at decent rates. Check the Gatorzone website or the UF calendar website for football weekends.

Our usual hotels are listed below. Talk to Margaret if you need more options.

HotelBest rateDate rate
last checked
AC Hotel Gainesville (Univ. Ave. & NW 13th St., in the Standard)
Ph: 352-792-1151
$159.00 This is the tax-exempt department rate which must be direct-billed to department and the reservations must be made by Margaret. Breakfast is $15.99 a day. The only parking available is valet at $30 plus tax a day.

(This is the hotel’s “university business” rate.)
8/10/23
Hampton Inn – Downtown Gainesville (101 SE 1st Avenue)
Ph: 240-9300
$169.00- 175.00 includes breakfast. This is the tax-exempt department rate which must be direct-billed to department and the reservations must be made by Margaret.

(This is the hotel’s “university business” rate.)
8/10/23
Hilton Inn – UF (1714 SW 34th Street)
Ph: 371-3600
$139.00 This is the tax-exempt department rate which must be direct-billed to department and the reservations must be made by Margaret.

(This is the hotel’s “university business” rate.)
2021
Hotel Eleo, 1514 SW 14th Street
Ph: 352-565-2702
$159 for city view and $169 for lake view. This is the tax-exempt department rate which must be direct-billed to department and the reservations must be made by Margaret.8/10/23