SGB announces new board members, introduces sustainability committee

Pitt Student Government Board announced the election of two new board members and introduced four new charters at its meeting on Tuesday in Nordy’s Place.  

President Sarah Mayer opened the meeting by discussing her involvement in the search process for the new dean of students. 

“I serve as the student representative on this election committee,” Mayer said. “Over the next month, we’ll be engaging in a nationwide search for the new dean.” 

Mayer added that she met with the student admission aid and affairs senate committee to address campus safety and free speech resources.

“We had a presentation from the assistant vice chancellor in the office of public safety and risk management about how they deal with emergencies on campus,” Mayer said. 

Mayer then announced two new board members, Andrew Elliott and Shanthi Bhaskar. The Board is the executive and legislative branch of the SGB, and its members represent the student body to the administration and other organizations. 

“Our two new board members have been through a whole vacancy process, including the debate last week,” Mayer said. “They’ve been working really hard to engage in that process.” 

Mayer added that the new board members will abstain from allocations votes until they undergo the onboarding process. 

Community and government relations chair Marley Pinsky discussed an event held by CGR in collaboration with Pitt Votes on Tuesday to increase voter registration among the student body. 

“We helped with voter registration efforts that Pitt Votes was holding. We passed out things like stickers and made sure everyone who stopped by got registered to vote,” Pinsky said. 

“Today is national voter registration day, so it’s super important that everyone exercises their rights,” board member Maddie McCann-Colvard said. “If you have any questions about how to register or find a polling location on campus, please feel free to reach out.” 

Board member Neal Gupta discussed a meeting with the president of dining services to discuss meal swap options and food quality in The Eatery. 

“I have a bunch of questions I’ll be asking specifically regarding the use of meal swap and also the safety of the food that’s served at Pitt, since I know that’s been a huge issue,” Gupta said. 

Elliott promoted the Pitt Eats student task force, which is accepting applications beginning this week. 

“The task force is being run by the head of Pitt Eats, Rose Basso,” Elliott said. “Please keep an eye out for those applications, and please contribute.” 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair Lauren Lopez promoted an upcoming event in collaboration with the Frederick Honors College to increase the enrollment of students of color in the honors college.

“This initiative aims to create a more inclusive and supportive academic environment at the university for its students,” Lopez said. 

Facilities, Transportation and Technology Chair Olivia Budike discussed her meetings with the information technology advisory committee to make tech requests more accessible to students.

“I think the meeting will be a really good resource to fix the IT maintenance website,” Budike said. “I want to make that website more accessible for other students.” 

Allocations chair Nicole Zheng announced the allocations platform will be moved back to Experience Pitt, a platform first introduced in January 2024. 

“With this change, the deadline for allocations will be moving from Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. to Sunday at 11:59 p.m.,” Zheng said. 

Zheng added that the allocations committee has awarded $110,000 so far this year, with 15 to 20 allocations requests each week. 

Office of Sustainability Liaison Rachel Garcia announced Plastic Free Week, which will feature events to promote the reduction of single-use plastics on campus. 

“Plastic Free Week will be from Oct. 21 through [Oct.] 25,” Garcia said. “That Monday, the Plastics Collaborative, an off-campus organization, is going to come speak about how to reduce plastics usage.” 

Board members then introduced four new charters, which will be voted on in the coming weeks. 

Gupta introduced the single-use plastics ad-hoc charter, which aims to eliminate the use of single-use plastics on campus. 

Board member Sanai Overton introduced the renters-first ad-hoc committee charter, which advocates for students’ rights when renting off-campus housing. 

Board member Evan Levasseur introduced the Disability Resources ad-hoc committee charter, which advocates for accessibility in academic affairs, dining, housing and transportation for students with disabilities. 

McCann-Colvard introduced the Fund More ad-hoc charter, which will recommend changes to the processes of Student Union funding.  

Allocations: 

Model United Nations requested $3,669.40 to attend two conferences. The board approved this request in full. 

Fann Club requested $14,376.36 for event fees. The board approved this request in full. 

Chem E-Cube requested $4,627.06 to attend a competition. The board approved this request in full. 

Pittsburgh Fencing Association requested $2,332.22 to attend a competition. The board approved this request in full.