Board increases planning sessions

The Student Government Board members are trading in weekend time for more of the office grind.

Board President Graeme Meyer announced at the SGB public meeting on Tuesday in Nordy’s Place that the Board will hold additional planning sessions every Sunday afternoon.. 

The Board typically holds planning sessions every Friday in the SGB office on the eighth floor of the William Pitt Union from 3 to 5 p.m. Meyer said the session was not enough time for the Board. The Board has decided to hold additional planning sessions on Sundays at 6 p.m.. The Board will determine an end time each weel. . 

“Anyone who wants to present anything to the Board can come,” Meyer said. 

During the planning sessions, the Board members often meet with administrators and student groups, Meyer said. The Board also uses planning sessions to review project updates, allocations requests with Allocations Committee Chair Nick Reslink and any additional agenda items. 

Meyer said he hopes the additional planning session will allow for more feedback for SGB from administrators and student groups. 

Reslink is also looking for some input from student groups. 

He discussed a new survey the Allocations Committee started sending out to student groups this term. 

After every month, Reslink plans to send a survey via email to student groups that made allocation requests that month. He said the survey will ask the student groups for feedback on how the committee can improve the allocations process. 

For the month of January, Reslink sent out 35 surveys and eight student groups responded. Reslink added, in the future, that he intends to advertise the surveys more at public meetings, and he plans to send the surveys to the student groups multiple times to increase responses. 

“Hopefully [the allocations process] will be more beneficial and easier for them and we can makean all around smoother and better process.” 

In other action:  

Meyer announced last night that the publication racks, a project the previous Board introduced more than a year ago, will be in place this weekend.

The Board passed Bills 027 and 028. The Board introduced both bills at last week’s public meeting and tabled them for one week. 

Bill 027 added Rainbow Alliance and Campus Women’s Organization to the Student Assembly, a collection of student groups that will work with SGB on initiatives. The previous Board introduced the Assembly and, last November, the student body passed a referendum that established the Assembly. 

Before Bill 027, the Student Assembly only included the Student Affairs Affiliated Groups. The Board intends to gradually increase the number of student groups in the Assembly, according to the bill. 

Bill 028 expands the duties of the Student Government’s Community Outreach Committe in an effort to create more collaborative work between the committee and the Office of Pitt Serves. 

For example, Bill 028 outlines the responsibilities of the Community Outreach Committee Chair, which includes serving as the Pitt Make a Difference Day Chair and spending 15 hours per week at the Office of PittServes during the summer months. 

Allocations:

Panther Judo Club requested $1,301.12 to send nine people to the Liberty Bell Judo Classic. The Board approved $1,186.20 and denied $114.92 in line with the allocations recommendation. 

MCAT Masters requested $1,917.76 to attend the annual American Medical Student Association Convention. The Board denied in full in line with the allocations recommendation. Board members Jack Heidecker, Natalie Dall and Lia Petrose agreed that the conference was a large expense for individuals, when the funds could be spent on something that would benefit more Pitt students, such as a guest speaker on campus.  

The American Marketing Association requested $5,259.80 to send four members to the AMA International Collegiate Conference. The Board denied in full in line with the allocations recommendation. Reslink said the Committee denied the request because they felt the conference was too focused on personal growth and some of the documentation in the request was inaccurate. 

Institute of Industrial Engineers requested $2,248.72 to send four people to the IEE Northeast Regional Conference hosted by Northeastern University. The Board approved $1,770.32 and denied $478.40 in line with the allocations recommendation. Board member Matt Sykes abstained from the vote because he is an active member of IEE.

Women’s Water Polo requested $1.630.95 to send 20 people to a regional conference tournament at the University of Pennsylvania. The Board approved $1,616.70 and denied $14.25 in line with the allocations recommendation.