Student Government Board to elect new board member this month

Following Celeste Lintz’s resignation from Student Government Board, applications for the board member vacancy are due this Thursday. According to SGB elections committee chair Ciara Markoski, SGB will hold public interviews of the candidates and private deliberations. 

Lintz, a senior bioengineering major, announced her resignation from the board on Aug. 10 via a press release posted on the SGB Instagram and website. 

“It is with a heavy heart that I chose to resign due to increased commitments, but I feel this is the best decision for the board at the time,” Lintz said. “This year’s SGB is poised for a substantial impact on our Pitt student body, and I wish them much success with the initiatives planned for the following year.”

According to the resignation press release, candidates for the board member position must be full-time students in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5, and not under judicial hold.

The board member application includes a meeting with Markoski, along with the submission of a resume, short biography, student leader letter of recommendation, an essay and a list of student signatures.

“Each candidate is required to have 150 undergraduate, non-College of General Studies student signatures,” Markoski, a senior political science and history major, said. “We’re monitoring these signatures to make sure no graduate students accidently sign.”

According to Markoski, SGB will review applications on Sept. 9 in their planning session. They will hold the first public interview with five candidates on Sept. 16 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., and SGB will choose two candidates from the first round for a final interview on Sept. 20. Markoski said each interview will be about 20 minutes long. 

SGB President Danielle Floyd said SGB has yet to set an official date to select the candidate, but they aim to announce the candidate via a press release after the Sept. 20 meeting.

Vacancies on the board do not occur too often. Leonie Finke, SGB’s judicial committee chair, said she has not seen a board member vacancy during her time on SGB. According to Finke, a senior neuroscience and international relations major, her role in the selection process is to ensure that “nobody’s breaking any rules.”

Floyd said there are applications open right now for various SGB positions. Open applications include First Year Council and first year positions on allocations, elections, judicial and civic engagement fellows. The applications for these positions include written questions and resumé submission, but do not include the signature or recommendation letter requirements of the board member vacancy application.

For students who would like to get involved with SGB without having to apply for a position, Floyd said students can join a conditional committee. These committees are holding their first meetings this week, with meeting times listed on their respective committee pages.

SGB has five central conditional committees, according to Floyd, that anyone can join at any time. Four of the committees have open meetings that students can attend to join at any time — the academic affairs committee, the facilities, transportation and technology committee, the community and government relations committee and the health and wellness committee. Floyd said the diversity and inclusion committee has closed meetings, but students who are interested in joining should reach out to Erikah Cudjoe, the chair of the diversity and inclusion committee.

“I encourage students who are looking to have a direct impact to get involved in Student Government Board,” Floyd said. “I really encourage people to get involved in our conditional committees, because they are the legs of SGB. They handle more of the ‘meaty’ concerns.”

Although she’s sad to see Lintz leave, Floyd said she wishes her well in the future. 

“We appreciate her contributions to our Pitt community, and it is now time to turn our attention towards filling this new vacancy,” Floyd said in the press release.

According to Floyd in the press release, members of SGB are committed to filling the vacancy in a “transparent and open manner.”