SGB announces student safety, grocery store initiatives

During Student Government Board’s weekly meeting on Tuesday at Nordy’s Place, SGB Wellness Liaison Evan Levasseur discussed new initiatives he’s working on to increase student safety on campus. 

“I’m in talks with Pitt Police to focus on on-campus tobacco smoking, verbal harassment, catcalling and general student safety,” Levasseur said.

Levasseur said he hopes to “improve campus safety and inclusivity” through the initiative, which is in collaboration with End Street Harassment Pittsburgh. 

Adding to his recent work in food safety and accessibility, Levasseur announced an initiative he’s begun working on with Assistant Vice Chancellor of Auxiliary Services Julie Bannister to bring a grocery store to Oakland. The issue has been a concern for students for several years. 

“Bannister reached out to us about picking an on-campus grocery store initiative back up,” Levasseur said. “I’m very excited to work on this and get it going. I’ll be emailing flyers to get [the initiative] sent to students and advertised.”

President Sarah Mayer also announced the conclusion of the search for a new dean of students and assistant vice provost, which has been ongoing since September. 

“I’m glad to have finally wrapped up the dean of students search, which was taking up a large chunk of my time,” Mayer said. “I had the privilege of meeting with all the candidates and getting to know them. I also met with Dr. [Carla] Panzella to give student insight on the search and give further recommendations.”

“The position has been vacant since May and is currently filled by Lorraine Craven,” Mayer said. “The next dean of students and assistant vice provost will be announced in the near future and begin their work next semester.” 

Next, Mayer said, she will serve on the search committee for the executive director of campus recreation. 

“The next search begins in two days, and I’ll keep everyone updated on opportunities for student input,” Mayer said. 

Board member Shanthi Bhaskar announced the finalization of SGB’s civic engagement fellow interview process. 

“We finally got to onboard our new civic engagement fellow, Elaina Tamba, so a big congratulations to her,” Bhaskar said. “I’m excited to start working on civic engagement fellow-related things with her. It’ll be exciting.” 

Tamba, a first-year student, will be responsible for organizing the New Student Organization Civic Collective, an initiative to “bridge civic engagement efforts between student organizations,” according to SGB’s social media. 

The board passed a bill that will change the name of SGB’s Facilities, Transportation and Technology Committee to the Campus Operations and Innovations Committee. 

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

Facilities, Transportation and Technology Chair Olivia Budike expressed her thoughts on the bill, saying, “I think this is a great name change, and I’m so glad we finally went through with it.”

Allocations Chair Nicole Zheng provided a report on the total funds allocated by SGB so far this year. 

“Allocations has approved $330,807.13 in supplemental requests,” Zheng said. “This, combined with the March 2024 budgets of $80,000, totals to $411,511.48 of fiscal year [2025] spending. This is across 176 supplemental requests this year.” 

Allocations:

Scene at Pitt requested $49,590.26 for new equipment. The allocations committee recommended denying the request, but the board amended and approved it to $20,000.

Pitt Ski and Snowboard requested $14,200 to cover transportation costs for a trip. The board postponed voting on the request to a later date. 

Pitt Ski and Snowboard also requested $2,400 to cover transportation costs for another trip. The board denied the request in full. 

Asian Student Alliance requested $12,500 to hold an event. The board postponed voting on the request to next week’s meeting. 

Interfraternity Council requested $2,058.16 to attend a conference. The board approved this request in full. 

National Student Speech Language Hearing Association requested $2,684.23 to attend a conference. The board amended and approved this request to $2,139.96.