SGB suggests new distribution of activities fee

The Student Government Board passed a resolution on Thursday to request an adjustment of… The Student Government Board passed a resolution on Thursday to request an adjustment of the percentages that accompany the Student Activities Fee, if the fee itself is changed.

The move by SGB arrived on the heels of a resolution the Board passed in late February to request an increase in the fee, a fee paid by all undergraduates in the School of Arts and Sciences that supports student organizations.

The fee has previously been divided among SGB, the Pitt Program Council, Student Volunteer Outreach, the Student Media Board, Telefact, Panther Prints and WPTS-FM. While every group involved — with the exception of Telefact and SGB — would receive a decrease in the size of its allotted percentage; because of the increase in the overall size of the fee, the Student Media Board is the only organization that would actually lose money.

Board President Brian Kelly said he and members of the Board met last Wednesday with every group involved regarding the fee division to listen to their concerns. According to Kelly, the biggest point of contention between Board members involved PPC. He said the Board eventually settled on the 33 percent figure as a compromise between two camps.

Kelly said the Student Media Board would no longer receive any portion of the fee directly because it used money for a luncheon for non-students.

Both requests, the one for an increase of the fee and the one for an adjustment of the percentages that govern the distribution of the fee, must still be approved by the University’s Board of Trustees to take effect.