SGB encourages students to vote, announces new AI program PittGPT

During its weekly meeting on Tuesday at Nordy’s Place, SGB announced there will be no public meeting next Tuesday, Nov. 5 due to Election Day. Instead, President Sarah Mayer urged students to vote and offered SGB’s support in the voting process. 

“Please make a plan to go and vote,” Mayer said. “If you need help making a plan, come to the SGB office or reach out to me or anyone on the board. Be sure to vote.” 

Community and government relations chair Marley Pinsky discussed SGB’s Election Fest, which will be held Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the WPU plaza. 

“I feel like there’s a lot of anxious feelings around this election for a lot of great reasons,” Pinsky said. “The goal of Election Fest is to promote voting as something to celebrate and be prideful in. It’s a reason to gather as a community and celebrate democracy.”

The event will feature lawn games, food and mock voting held by Pitt Votes. The mock voting table will allow students to preview their ballots outside the polling place. 

“Mock voting is going to be a really great opportunity for the people who are brand new voters,” board member Andrew Elliott said. “It’ll give people peace of mind and ease their nerves.”

SGB hopes to use this event to show student support for canceling in-person classes on Election Day, according to Elliott.

“[Election Fest] is a great opportunity to show that students are excited about voting and really support this change,” Elliott said. “Last year, an SGB board member worked really hard to get classes held asynchronously on Election Day. There’s still pushes around campus to get classes off on Election Day.”

Facilities, transportation and technology chair Olivia Budike announced a new generative AI program called PittGPT, which was discussed at the University Senate’s Computing and Information Technology meeting this week. 

“The SCITC committee was talking about a new AI-generated program that they’re launching called PittGPT,” Budike said. “They sent the prototype over to me and I plan on checking it out with my committee next week.” 

The program, created by SymphonyAI, was sent to members of the Senate’s Computing and Information Technology committee to review this week. 

“The idea seems very new, like something exciting that Pitt just wants to try,” Budike said. “The committee was just granted access to the pilot and prototype of it. They wanted to get our feedback on it.” 

Mayer provided an update on the search for the new Dean of Students. The position became vacant in May of 2024 and is currently filled by Lorraine Craven. 

“We have five finalist candidates that are on campus over the course of the entire week,” Mayer said. “We’re doing all-day interviews with a different candidate every day. This includes tours with Pathfinders, meetings with admin and lunches with students.” 

Mayer invited students to attend a lunch with the candidates. Lunches will be held every day this week from noon to 1 p.m. in the 9th floor conference room of the WPU. 

“Anyone is welcome to join. It’s an opportunity to talk to the candidates, ask them about their previous experience, their visions for Pitt, et cetera,” Mayer said. 

SGB announced the finalization of its Support, Advocacy and Prevention Chair interview process, which has been ongoing since the beginning of this semester.

“I’m so excited to announce that we have our new Support, Advocacy and Prevention Chair here with us tonight, Ella O’Rourke,” Mayer said. “I’m super excited to see what she’ll do with the committee. She’s very qualified and overall a great person.” 

O’Rourke introduced several initiatives she plans to work on, mostly focusing on sexual assault prevention. 

“I’m thinking of introducing a workshop series about consent and supporting survivors and victims of sexual misconduct situations,” O’Rourke said. “I’m also introducing a mentor-mentee program about how to better support survivors and victims. 

Board member Neal Gupta introduced a bill which, if approved, would change the name of SGB’s Facilities, Transportation and Technology committee to “Campus Operations and Innovations committee.” The bill will be voted on next week to allow time for “public commentary” and student comments, according to Mayer. 

“The bill was found by the members of the committee. They want to change the name to reflect the committee’s desires,” Gupta said. 

Allocations:

Strong Women Strong Girls Pittsburgh requested $2,342.48 for rideshare to and from events. The board denied this request in full. 

Chinese American Student Association and Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers requested $10,500 to hire a guest speaker. The allocations committee recommended denying the request, but the board approved it in full. 

Women’s Club Soccer requested $13,642.56 to attend a competition. The board amended and approved this request to $3,000. 

Club Swimming requested $7,474.04 for lodging at a competition. The board approved this request in full.