Board exceeds Allocation Committee caps

When it comes to matters of money, the Allocations Committee has caps the Board can brush off. 

At last night’s public meeting, the second of the new Board’s term, the Board allocated more money than the Allocations Committee recommended in two of the six allocations requests. In both requests, the Board went above the conference cap of $2,000, listed in Section 3.04 of the Allocations Manual. Allocations chair Nick Reslink said the manual establishes caps to ensure the Committee equally distributes funds to student groups. 

The National Society of Black Engineers requested $2,000 for airfare to attend a conference in Anaheim, Calif. The Allocations Committee approved $1,950.80 and the Board allocated $2,072 to the group. The American Chemical Society requested $2,180 to attend a conference in New Orleans. The Allocations Committee approved  $1,628 of the ACS’s request, denying $552 — the cost of one extra flight ticket — and the Board allocated $2,052. 

The Committee could not approve the flight ticket, as it’s total cost was $52 more than the cap.

Board President Graeme Meyer said the Allocations Committee cannot recommend more than the cap, but the Board can, as the Board does not have to follow the Allocations Manual.

Reslink said that the Allocations Committee is “bound strictly by the [Allocations] manual.” 

Because the requests weren’t for amounts much more than the cap allowed, the Board amended the allocations recommendations.

Meyer said the additional funds werent “that much” in “the grand scheme of things.” Meyer added that the Board can override the cap if they feel a student organization has “contributed financially,” through club dues and fundraisers to raise money on their own for the group’s request. 

Executive Vice President Nasreen Harun said the Board doesn’t go over the Allocations cap “too often.” 

Harun said it is hard to determine how often the Board goes over the cap, adding “if it’s a minimal amount then we’ll make an exception from time to time.”

In other action:

The Board appointed committee chairs for the term. 

Kyle Hoch will serve as the Judicial Committee chair, Naomi Stoll will serve as the Academic Affairs Committee chair, Joseph Streets will serve as the Environmental Committee chair, Rohit Anand will serve as the Facilities and Transportation Committee chair, Patrick Corelli will serve as the Governmental Relations Committee chair, and Jasmine Butler will serve as the Wellness Committee chair. 

The Board has yet to appoint the Elections Committee chair and the Community Outreach Committee chair. 

The nominating task force for Elections Committee chair — which consists of the outgoing Committee chair and board liaison, as well as Meyer, Harun and Vice President of Cabinet Natalie Dall — has decided to re-open the application online. Only one student had previously applied for the Elections Committee chair position, and ultimately could not accept the position.

A member of the nominating committee for Community Outreach chair could not attend interviews on Sunday, Meyer said. The Community Outreach chair interviews will take place this week.

The Board approved Bill 026, which amends SGB’s governing code to make grammatical and formatting changes, as well as clarify statements made in the Governing Code, for example, by adding defintions and deleting redundancies.

Allocations

Pitt Men’s Ultimate Frisbee requested $2,672.20 for registration, lodging and transportation for 23 people to attend their first tournament of the year. The Board approved $2,667.47 and denied $4.73 in line with the allocations recommendation.

Pitt Mens’ Rugby Football Club requested $5,203.98 to pay for airfare, ground transportation and lodging for 12 people to attend the Las Vegas 7’s tournament. The Board approved in full in line with the allocations recommendation.

The National Society of Black Engineers requested $2,000 for airfare to attend a conference in Anaheim, Calif. The Board approved $2,072 after amending the allocations recommendation because of an increase in airfare since NSBE filed the request. 

Panther Lacrosse requested $2,400 for practice facility rental fees for 12 practices. The Board approved $2000 and denied $400 in line with the allocations recommendation. 

Nrityamala requested $7,427.68 for airfare and lodging for 15 people to attend a dance conference in Seattle. The Board approved $3,907.68 and denied $3,520 in line with the allocations recommendation.

American Chemical Society requested $2,180 for airfare and ground transportation to send four members to a conference in New Orleans. The Board approved $2,052 after amending the allocations recommendation to allow for four people to attend the conference.

Gamma Iota Sigma requested $1,500 to pay their chapter charter fee to become recognized by the grand chapter. The Board approved the request in full in line with the allocations recommendation.

The Board has allocated $24,284.90 this year.