Student Government Board denied a bill that would introduce the Frederick Honors Student Council into the governing assembly and proposed a new food accessibility ad hoc charter at its weekly meeting on Tuesday night at Nordy’s Place.
On Sept. 9, SGB Vice President Olivia Budike introduced five new bills adding new student organizations to the assembly, which is a governing body of student organizations that exists alongside SGB to debate and vote on new legislation. The proposed organizations included the Student Office of Sustainability, Frederick Honors Student Council, Latinx Student Association, Hindu Student Council and the Computer Science Club.
Board member Andrew Elliott said he felt that FHSC acts alongside SGB instead of under it and would not benefit from participating in the governing assembly.
“They [FHSC] are their own organization that are sort of like a peer group to SGB in the same way that [The College of General Studies]’s student government is,” Elliott said. “They are not one of our constituent groups that we represent.”
Elliott said FHSC has ties to administration, which he feels provides the organization with resources beyond what SGB could provide the group as an assembly member.
“They [FHSC] have a lot of really great connections to administration, which is something we provide to organizations as part of the assembly,” Elliott said. “We wouldn’t quite be able to give them the same advantages.”
SGB assembly member organizations have the ability to give the board feedback, which Elliott said he believes FHSC already receives from its administrative ties.
“With FHSC being outside that typical structure, we were unsure about giving them a vote in that process,” Elliott said. “It’s really challenging to draw the line where it needs to be, since we do represent students.”
The board approved the other four student organizations to join the governing assembly.
Later on in the meeting, Board member Rachel Smookler introduced a charter for a new Food Accessibility, Safety and Equity Ad Hoc Committee.
Smookler said the ad hoc will communicate with PittEats and Chartwells, Pitt’s on-campus food providers, to make improvements and address student concerns, if passed.
“The ad hoc will work to channel student feedback to stakeholders,” Smookler said. “Food accessibility, safety and equity are essential to providing a quality campus experience.”
Smookler said she is interested in involving a wide array of student voices in the ad hoc and expressed enthusiasm for improving student dining experiences.
“Hopefully we’ll get some underclassmen voices involved in it as well,” Smookler said. “I’m really passionate about dining and allergen advocacy for both off and on-campus students.”
The board will vote on the bill in the next public meeting.
Board member Sofia Doval announced an administrative change in the number of credits needed to receive a dual degree, which will go into effect this Friday.
“Dual degrees, as of Friday, only require 120 credits instead of 160 credits,” Doval said. “If you’re in a dual degree program, reach out to your advisers.”
Allocations:
American Institute of Chemical Engineers requested $2,492.98 to attend a conference. The board amended and approved this request to $1,976.28.
Men in Nursing requested $2,625.87 to attend a conference. The board approved this request in full.