SGB invites PPC to join Assembly

Seeking student feedback, Pitt Student Government Board has invited an 11th student group to join its student assembly.

SGB introduced a bill at its weekly public meeting Tuesday to invite Pitt Program Council to the assembly. The assembly, which meets on the first and third Monday of every month, is an initiative SGB President Nasreen Harun started in February to allow student groups to work more closely with SGB.

Harun said Tuesday the Board will table the bill and post it on its website for students to review for one week and vote on it next meeting.

The assembly acts as a lower governing body to SGB, with the ability to introduce and vote on bills and resolutions it can then pitch to the full board.

Currently, the Assembly includes all eight student groups affiliated with Student Affairs, including the Resident Student Association, the Interfraternity Council and the Nursing Student Association. The assembly also includes the Rainbow Alliance and the Campus Women’s Organization.

With the addition of the PPC, the Assembly will have 11 total members.

Though PPC isn’t an official member of the assembly until SGB votes on and approves the bill, PPC’s executive board director, Iris Matijevic, began attending its meetings last week.

The assembly works to establish communication between student groups, Harun said.

“The idea is to create a voice for more of the student body,” Harun said.

Along with delegates from the 10 member organizations, SGB Executive Vice President Everett Green serves as an ex officio member and speaker of the assembly, and Harun serves as a nonvoting ex officio member. Board member Natalie Dall also serves as speaker pro tempore.

So far, Harun said, the assembly has not introduced or passed any bills or resolutions, and has been focusing on networking and working out ways the groups can partner and collaborate on events and initiatives.

At the last meeting, for example, Green said members of the Asian Student Alliance mentioned they were planning a cultural event and asked if anyone wanted to help.

Though no one spoke up immediately, interactions like that, Green and Harun said, are the spirit of the assembly.

“I mean, we’re students, but we’re in it for the students,” Harun said.

Because each group SGB invited into the assembly plays a role in a significant portion of Pitt’s student body, it also disseminates information about important campus events. To facilitate this, Green said he is setting up a Facebook page for the assembly where members could post information about its members’ events, programs and projects.

“It’s a communication piece that may have been lacking before,” Green said.

At last week’s assembly meeting, Matijevic, a senior European Union, German and Political Science major, said she used her time there to inform members about upcoming PPC projects and events.

“It’s beneficial to everyone involved because it opens up lines of communication between them,” Matijevic said.

Allocations:

Lady Panther Lacrosse Club requested $10,000 to attend the Santa Barbara Shootout in Santa Barbara, California. The board approved the request in full.

The Club Golf Team requested $8,086.49 to attend a national tournament. The board approved $5,601.49 and denied $2,485.

The Quidditch Club requested $1,234.43 to attend a tournament. The board approved the request in full.

Editor’s Note: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story said the Pitt Program Council will be the 10th organization to join SGB’s Student Assembly. PPC will be the 11th organization. The story has been updated to reflect this change.