SGB provides food safety updates, approves ad-hoc charters 

Student Government Board provided an update on food safety in the Eatery and voted on four charters at its meeting on Tuesday in Nordy’s place. 

Board member Evan Levasseur discussed a meeting he had with Steve Schurr, the Senior Vice President of Chartwells, the company that manages Pitt Eats.

“We first asked about trying to get fruit back on meal swap at the market. They said the intention of the meal swap is for balanced meals rather than grocery items,” Levasseur said. “It does not sound like this is going to happen.” 

Levasseur added that revisions will be made to address food labeling issues for allergens on campus.

“Allergen contamination has been a very big issue on campus. The Pitt Eats team has undergone food safety training and retraining,” Levasseur said. “Hopefully, this issue will come to see an end.” 

Levasseur announced that a town hall meeting in the Eatery will allow students to voice their concerns about on-campus dining.

“We’re still working with [Pitt Eats] to continue to institute better policies for students,” Board member Andrew Elliott said. “If you ever have any issues with food safety or food quality in the university’s eating establishments, please reach out to us.” 

President Sarah Mayer, the student representative on the dean of students search committee, provided an update on the search.

“We formulated a rubric to judge our candidates on during our interview and selection process,” Mayer said. “We also had a brainstorming session to talk about questions we want to ask the interviewees and what kind of values we want to see in the candidates.”

Mayer added that the job posting for dean of students is now active, and applications are underway. 

Mayer also announced the reintroduction of the civic engagement fellows program, a fellowship that aims to enrich student civic engagement opportunities in Pittsburgh. 

“This is something we’ll be revamping this year, so we’re working on creating a new job description for it,” Mayer said. “Hopefully we’ll release that soon to the public.”

Mayer added that she will be involved with the search committee for the executive director for campus recreation. 

“It’s a new search that will be carried out at the beginning of next year, around January or February,” Mayer said. 

Vice President Lauren Rubovitz discussed her involvement with the Campus Utilization Planning and Safety Committee, which advises the Senate on matters concerning physical infrastructure. 

“They discussed improved construction communications, which you can opt into via text,” Rubovitz said. “[The texts] will let you know if anything comes up that might impact mobility or how you’re getting to campus.” 

Board member Sanai Overton announced she will meet with Vice Provost Carla Panzella about affirmative action in the admissions process.

“If anyone has any concerns related to Title IX or the civil rights office that they would like for me to present to them, please contact me,” Overton said. 

Board member Mercy Akanmu discussed an initiative she is working on to revise the anti-Black racism course.

“Next week I’ll be meeting with Dr. Ron Idoku, who basically heads the entirety of the anti-Black racism course,” Akanmu said. “I’ll be talking about how to greatly improve that course for future generations at Pitt.” 

Community and Government Relations Chair Marley Pinsky announced the committee’s most recent initiative, promoting the campus master plan survey. The master plan survey, which is open to the general community, allows participants to select their favorite locations and highlight goals for the campus’s future. 

Allocations Chair Nicole Zheng announced that the allocations process has fully returned to Experience Pitt after being temporarily conducted on Jotform, and Board members then introduced voting for four new charters, which were introduced at last week’s meeting. 

The board then voted on passing the Disability Resources ad hoc committee charter, which advocates for accessibility in academic affairs, dining, housing and transportation for students with disabilities, and on the Fund More ad hoc charter, which will recommend changes to Student Union funding processes The board approved both initiatives.

Board member Elliott announced voting for the renters-first ad hoc committee charter, which advocates for students’ rights when renting off-campus housing. The board approved the ad hoc committee. Lastly, board member Gupta introduced voting for the single-use plastics ad hoc charter, which aims to eliminate the use of single-use plastics on campus. The board approved this ad hoc committee. 

Allocations: 

Steel City Sampna requested $12,300 to hold an event. The board approved this request in full. 

Taaza Dance Competition requested $24,775 to hold an event. The board denied this request in full. 

Club Gymnastics requested $3,000 for practice facility costs. The board approved this request in full. 

Pitt Pantherettes requested $5,917 for new uniforms. The board amended and approved this request, with the awarded amount to be determined. 

Delta Epsilon Mu requested $3,650 for national dues. The board approved this request in full. 

Irish Dance requested $2,222.42 to attend a competition. The board amended and approved this request to $1,831.76

Figure Skating Club requested $15,400 for national dues and venue rentals. The board amended and approved this request to $3,000. 

Asian Christian Fellowship requested $2,620 for transportation costs. The board approved this request in full.

Mock Trial requester $2,340 for competition fees. The board approved this request in full.