SGB revamps website, announces new adviser

Pitt’s Student Government Board unveiled a new website and a new adviser at last night’s public meeting.

In its third public meeting of the semester, SGB announced Associate Dean and Director of Residence Life Steve Anderson as the new SGB adviser, as well as an overhaul of the Board’s previous website. The website now includes more relevant information such as information on the history and structure of SGB, as Board President Graeme Meyer said he wanted to “create more of an informational hub for the student body.”

Anderson, who will continue in his previous role as well, said he’s looking forward to “learning about what the Board wants to accomplish.”

According to Executive Vice President Nasreen Harun, the adviser assists Board members in their projects, provides feedback and helps Board members get in contact with University administrators.

Anderson fills the position after former SGB adviser Kenyon Bonner assumed Kathy Humphrey’s vacant seat as provost and dean of students. Chancellor Patrick Gallagher promoted Humphrey to senior vice chancellor of communications and chief of staff two weeks ago. Anderson was appointed to the position by Bonner.

“The biggest benefit with Steve is he’s an associate dean in student affairs, and he can connect us to the rest of the administration,” Meyer said.

Anderson attended SGB’s planning session last Friday to learn more about what the Board members hope to accomplish.

“I’ll be listening to them and [I’ve been] listening to what their platforms were,” Anderson said.

Meyer also said Anderson will be a great asset because many Board members have initiatives that relate to residence life. According to Pitt’s website, Anderson manages, directs and implements programs and events for students to create a positive living-learning community for residence hall students.

Board member Everett Green is working on a guest pass initiative. Green said he met with a representative from Panther Central to talk about the current system of signing guests into University housing and the differences in policy for student and non-student guests. According to Pitt’s Housing Services website, the current system requires guests to provide proper photo identification to guards to scan before gaining entry to the building. 

“More specifically, we spoke about what we could do in the future to streamline the process for guest sign-in,” Green said in an email.

Green also said he would be meeting with the Panther Central representative again after she comes back from a conference in February.

Vice President and Chief of Cabinet Natalie Dall is working on a gender-neutral housing and bathrooms initiative. Dall said she is currently researching policies at other ACC schools, as well as other schools who already have policies for gender-neutral housing and bathrooms and schools currently in transition. 

Meyer also said that the Board discussed increasing the number of living-learning communities on campus in a planning session, but added that the Board currently hasn’t started working on the initiative yet. 

Overall, Meyer said he’s looking forward to working with Anderson in his new role.

“We’re really excited to work with him on everything,” Meyer said. “He’s really, really committed to understanding the operations of SGB and the student body as best he can.” 

Regarding the new website, Meyer said that it is “much more user-friendly” and “inviting.” 

“We’re adding in quite a few new pages that didn’t exist on the old website. We want it to be a one stop shop with all information about SGB,” Meyer said.

Some of the new features on the website, which Meyer created, include information on the history and structure of SGB. The Board will dedicate a section online to Student Assembly, which the previous Board introduced and students passed in a referenda. 

The site also includes a projects page, which Meyer said will take a few more days to update, and will include updates on Board members and committee members’ initiatives. 

Meyer also plans to add a “What to Fix Pitt” page, where students can submit recommendations for changes they’d like to see made on campus.

Meyer said the website is not yet completed, but he hopes to finish everything by this weekend. 

Allocations:

Free the Planet requested $5,500 for honorarium airfare and lodging to bring Joel Salatin to speak at a symposium on April 6. The Board denied the request in full in line with the allocations recommendation.

Strong Women, Strong Girls requested $1,542.71 for funds for ground transportation to their 10 mentoring sites. The Board approved the request in full in line with the allocations recommendation.

Mastana Fusion Dance Club requested $1,912.69 for registration, ground transportation and lodging for a national competition at the University of Wisconsin. The Board approved the request in full in line with the allocations recommendation.

Pitt Musical Theatre Club requested $2,587.45 for royalties, performance rights and costume and prop materials for their performance of “Big Fish.” The Board amended the allocations recommendation to approve $2,310.87 and deny $276.58, due to revised documentation showing shipping costs that weren’t present in the initial allocations request. The Allocations Committee recommended approving $2,091.11 and denying $496.34.

The Board and the Allocations Committee have allocated a total of $38,900.14 this semester.