Student Government Board: Meeting your elected representatives

The votes have been cast and tallied. Appointments have been approved and inaugurations are… The votes have been cast and tallied. Appointments have been approved and inaugurations are legit. One issue, though, has been left unresolved.

What does Student Government Board do?

SGB and its various committees are responsible for a great deal of the activities important to Pitt students, within the campus community and beyond. Understanding SGB and what it does is one of the more difficult tasks of being a new student at Pitt, but it is also one of the most important if you want to be active in college life, or just know what makes things tick.

SGB has eight members and a president, who took office in January, as well as 10 standing committees. The election cycle for the board and presidential candidates changed last year, to follow the calendar year rather than the school year, meaning there will be an election this fall for a new board to take over next January. That board will then serve for a full year. Seats on the committees are appointed at the beginning of the fall term, and afterward, as needed, so new students have an opportunity to join a committee.

SGB’s most dominant function, as far as most students are concerned, is the distribution of funds to student organizations. Student organizations submit annual proposals to the allocations committee. The committee then accepts, denies or defers those proposals before SGB approves each budget.

Essentially, if you are a member of any student group or club, SGB and the allocations committee determine how many events and activities you can have and how big they can be.

SGB has a committee especially for freshmen, as well. Any freshman can apply to be on the Freshmen Affairs Committee to see what SGB does and how it serves the students.

The Governmental Relations Committee is another active committee in SGB. It organizes annual lobbying trips to Harrisburg, registers students to vote and brings political figures to campus for speeches and debates. Students with strong views, who plan to join campus political organizations, can expect to communicate with the GRC.

Other committees include the Environmental Committee, which researches and organizes cleaning and energy-efficient projects for Pitt; the Elections Committee, which oversees all of the elections and referenda that SGB holds; and the Academic Affairs Committee, which handles resources such as an online book swap and an online scholarship database. There are also Diversity, Judicial, Publicity and Off-Campus Housing committees, all of which have chairs and members appointed by SGB.