At its weekly meeting on Tuesday at Nordy’s Place, Student Government Board announced a new Workers United ad-hoc and changes to the allocation request process for student organizations. The board also voted to pass the single-use plastics resolution.
Board member Neal Gupta announced the charter for the Workers United ad-hoc committee, which will provide a space for on-campus student workers to address their concerns. The board will vote on the ad-hoc at the next public meeting.
“The committee will meet with student and non-student workers at Pitt to determine what issues they face and determine what actions must be taken by Student Government Board to help solve them,” Gupta said. “These actions include meeting with administration to negotiate raises and uplifting union organizing efforts.”
The committee will also work to educate student workers in order to ensure fair and safe working environments.
“The committee will serve as a resource for students to learn about their rights as workers, which will uplift labor organization efforts,” Gupta said.
Allocations chair Nicole Zheng and communications director Rachel Smooker announced that they have been working on a public web page to view allocation information to better increase transparency between the allocations committee and student organizations.
“This [page] includes allocation numbers, groups, recommended and final approved or denied accounts for fiscal year 2025,” Zheng said. “That’s up and functional and has an overview of the allocations you do not see at public meeting.”
Zheng announced changes to the request forms student organizations file when requesting allocation funding. The process will now require an in-person between club officers and a board member for high dollar-amount allocations and first-time requests.
“One major change that we’ve implemented is when organizations submit a request above $5,000 or for the first time this school year,” Zheng said. “[Those organizations] must meet with their liaison in office hours and have a discussion before submitting.”
The single-use plastics resolution, which was introduced at last week’s meeting, intends to push administration to improve on-campus sustainability and promote higher levels of wellness in the student body. The board voted unanimously in the resolution’s favor.
“[We are] calling on the University of Pittsburgh to make a commitment to reduce its single-use plastic usage with an urgent focus on single-use plastic water bottles,” Vice President Lauren Rubovitz said. “Also to introduce biodegradable alternatives and protect the health of students.”
Board member Andrew Elliot discussed student activism related to changes removing the “T” from LGBTQ+ related university resources.
“The T is remaining on the LGBTQ safe spaces on campus thanks to wonderful efforts from community leaders and activists,” Elliot said. “If you have any concerns about vulnerable groups that might be affected by federal guidelines or school policy please reach out.”
The anti-hate ad-hoc committee is continuing to outreach and address issues related to underrepresented communities on campus.
“We’ve been emailing clubs this past week to get more people involved,” board member Evan Levasseur said. “We’re going to continue to do this and continue working with DEI chair Lauren Lopez in hopes of increasing membership.”
Allocations:
Engineers Without Borders requested $19,111.18 at the last public meeting and the board postponed until the next public meeting. The board amended and approved the request asynchronously to $10,996.66 at its Friday meeting.
The Songburghs requested $3,466.39 to fund a musical production. After debate, the board denied this request in full.
Panther Racing requested $5,300 to attend a competition. The board amended and approved the request to $2,000.
Men’s Ultimate Frisbee requested $5,063.97 to attend a tournament. The board amended and approved the request to $3,778.02.
Club Powerlifting requested $4,146.56 to attend an event. The board approved this request in full.
Health Occupational Student Association requested $4,402.80 to attend a competition. The board funded this request in full. Board members Mercy Akanmu and Evan Levasseur abstained from voting due to personal conflict of interests.
Pittsburgh Cadet Group requested $2,994.04 to attend a conference. The board approved this request in full.
The allocations committee approved $12,354 last Thursday at its private meeting. The committee heard 15 requests for a total of $14,430.94.