Board convenes for first meeting of semester

After Tuesday’s Student Government Board meeting, Board members, committee chairs and students milled around Nordy’s Place in the William Pitt Union to discuss involvement.

Freshman Michael Kister shared his hopes of becoming a member of the Fundraising subcommittee, which falls under the Community Outreach committee.

“I was really involved in student government in high school, and it seems like a great organization to get involved with here at Pitt,” Kister said.

SGB president Gordon Louderback welcomed 70 new and returning students, who gathered during the Board’s weekly public meeting during which members passed one resolution unanimously.

Board member Mike Nites’ resolution, which dealt with Student Affairs Affiliated Groups and the previous budget codes that these organizations abide by, was originally tabled in April. 

SAAGs were previously required to submit their budget request for both the upcoming fall and spring semesters before the end of the previous spring semester. SAAGs are large student groups that receive a predetermined portion of the Student Activities Fund rather than submitting weekly allocations requests like traditional student groups.

The Resident Student Association, Interfraternity Council, National Panhellenic Conference, Panhellenic Association, Black Action Society, Asian Student Alliance, Engineering Student Cabinet and Nursing Student Association all qualify as SAAGs.

The new resolution will now allow SAAGs to submit their budget requests semester by semester. They will still make their fall semester requests in the spring, but spring budget requests will now occur in the preceding fall semester.

Each Board member and committee chair also reported on initiative progress made over the summer. 

Academic Affairs Chairman Nuwan Perera noted his involvement in working to extend the hours of Hillman Library. The library is now open around the clock Monday through Thursday. Board member Sowmya Sanapala announced Pitt’s affiliation with the Worker Rights Consortium, which she has worked to advocate alongside Pitt’s chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy. Board member Dave Rosenthal noted the continuation of the College Readership Program that was established through the Board’s recently signed contract with the New York Times and USA Today. Free copies of the papers will continue to be available around campus.

No allocations requests were during the meeting.