Senate Council discusses plan for Pitt, SGB plans

President Robin Kear opened Thursday’s Senate Council meeting by announcing the implementation of community-engaged scholarship and diversity, equity and inclusion work in promotions and tenure decisions. 

“I am very happy to announce this,” Kear explained. “About 18 months ago, Faculty Assembly passed guidance related to this — since then, an agreement has been achieved with no changes.” 

Senate Council met Thursday afternoon in room 2700 of Posvar Hall and over Zoom for its first meeting of the spring semester. It heard an update on “Plan for Pitt” by Chancellor Joan Gabel and heard reports from student leaders of the Student Government Board, the College of General Studies and the Graduate and Professional Student Government. 

Student Government Board President Ryan Young reported the board’s latest happenings, including their election season and a new platform for scheduling and allocations. 

Young announced SGB will begin hosting more town halls from January through March for students to ask rental-related questions to community partners such as The Bridge on Forbes about off-campus living.

“We’re also going to be increasing tabling to provide renting resources to students,” Young said. “We plan to hold a town hall related to food accessibility in Oakland.”

Finally, Young provided updates on SGB’s recent transition to Experience Pitt, a new platform that serves as a “one-stop shop” for allocations requests and scheduling.

“The transition to Experience Pitt has been as smooth as you can imagine,” Young said. “It’s been great to have a centralized and streamlined space for student organizations to use.”

Senate Council then heard a report from College of General Studies Student Government Board President Skyler Cheevers. 

Cheevers said student engagement is a priority for the board this semester.

“We plan to hold a design contest toward the end of this month to help get students involved and spread the word about CGS,” Cheevers said. “We want to reward our students and keep them engaged in the CGS community.” 

Cheevers then gave an overview of the CGS events calendar the board has begun working on since their return from winter break.

“This spring, CGS will be hosting an Excellence Reception to honor CGS faculty and staff who have made a difference in the lives of students,” Cheevers said. “We are absolutely honored to demonstrate our formal appreciation for the faculty members.”

Cheevers also explained some events planned by the board to celebrate the CGS graduating seniors this spring. 

“We are determined to provide students with some sort of free entertainment to congratulate them on their hard work throughout their academic year,” Cheevers said. “As crazy as it sounds, we’ve also begun planning our CGS senior send-off ceremony that will take place before the university commencement on April 28.” 

Cheevers reintroduced CGS’s plan to hold self-defense lessons for students with the university police.

“This is something we discussed last semester, and we have stayed in contact with the officers to secure several time slots throughout February and March,” Cheevers said. 

Lastly, Cheevers outlined some things CGS is working on outside of event planning. 

“We are working on revising our constitution and beginning conversations about our upcoming elections,” Cheevers said. “We are also really looking forward to an upcoming meeting with the Chancellor about how CGS fits into the university’s long-term plan.”

Claire Dunning, the executive administrator for the Graduate and Professional Student Government Board, stepped in for president Rithika Behera to give their report at Thursday’s meeting. 

Dunning outlined the upcoming events for GPSG this semester, including coffee hours, ticket raffles and networking events. 

“Our previous coffee hours have been very popular,” Dunning said. “We’re happy to give students an opportunity for free hot breakfast and coffee on their way to classes.” 

Dunning gave insight into GPSG’s biggest event of the year, their annual Spring Fling. 

“The Spring Fling is an amazing opportunity for graduate and professional students to network and meet new people,” Dunning said. “We know that lots of students are looking forward to it.” 

Lastly, Dunning announced GPSG’s collaboration with the career center, including plans to hold virtual workshops to help graduate students prepare for life after graduation. 

Staff Council President Lindsay Rodzwicz gave a report of recent happenings among the council, including their January general meeting and upcoming events. 

“At our January meeting, we worked on revising the mission of Staff Council, which is to represent the interests of and advocate for all staff at the university,” Rodzwicz said. “Our revision was focused on four key topics — active participation, shared governance, mentoring and networking opportunities and our internal meeting structure.” 

Rodzwicz also announced a new format for the monthly Staff Council newsletter to promote reader engagement and expand the newsletter’s readership. 

The computing and information technology committee chair, Angie Zack, gave an overview of a policy that revised the use of university computing resources. 

Senate Council passed the “Access to and Use of University Computing Resources” pPolicy today with a vote of 96% yes — 4% abstained. 

Finally, Chancellor Gabel reported on updates for Plan for Pitt, an initiative launched in the fall of 2021 that clearly outlines the University’s plans in all aspects, including funding, academics and employment. 

Gabel explained the Plan for Pitt values, which include fostering strong academic programs, retaining students, recognizing students from all types of communities, providing affordable education and amending the housing options for those who live on and off campus. 

“We want our students to be trailblazers. We want them to finish strong, and we want them to be prepared for what’s to come once they leave Pitt,” Gabel said. “We want our culture to be welcoming both qualitatively and quantitatively.”