SGB amends allocations manual

By amending its manual, the Allocations Committee of Pitt’s Student Government Board is working to give a competitive edge to non-athletic clubs.

Nick Reslink, chair of the Allocations Committee, proposed a bill on March 1 to amend the Allocations Manual, which dictates how the group doles out money to student organizations. One major amendment in the bill, which the Board voted to pass Tuesday, adds an exception to funding caps for non-athletic clubs to the Allocations manual to compete in national tournaments.

Currently, the cap to compete is set at $5,000. Now, the Committee will judge allocations beyond the cap for these groups on a case-by-case basis when groups are invited to nationals.

“The amendment establishes the Committee and the Board can allocate more for nationals if the group has been good about shared responsibility,” Reslink said.

According to Reslink, the groups typically only have one-time expenses. According to Reslink, the exception would apply only to groups that have demonstrated shared responsibility, meaning they have fundraised to share the cost of their activities.

“[The old policy] was disproportionately hurting them, so we thought it was appropriate to make the amendment because [nationals] is such a big deal,” Reslink said.

The bill also includes more than two dozen other amendments to the Allocations Manual, many of which change grammar or update outdated sentences in the code.

Reslink said he proposed the changes, which are largely syntax and style issues, in order to make the allocations process between the Committee and the Board smoother.

According to Reslink, one of the major amendments limits what the groups can change for additional requests between the Allocations Committee vote on Thursdays and the Board’s vote at Tuesday’s public meeting.

According to Reslink, the Board faced logistical issues when groups changed requests between the meetings, which forced the Board to vote on things that were not necessarily a part of the Committee’s recommendation because they had not had a chance to hear or discuss the changes.

“[The group] has to take the changes back to the Committee so the vote is truly a recommendation of the request,” Reslink said.

Now, during the interim period between the Committee vote and the Board’s vote, Reslink said groups can remove expenses or give documentation that may have been missing to the Board. Groups must propose all other requests to the Committee before they propose to the Board.

The Committee also announced Madeline Guido, a first-year biology major, will take over as Allocations chair beginning on April 30.

Reslink, Board President Nasreen Harun, Board member and future Board President Natalie Dall, Allocations Vice Chair Max Kneis and Allocations Committee member JJ Petti sat on a task force on Sunday, March 20, to interview two candidates.

Harun said SGB keeps the candidate’s name confidential because all the interviews and meetings are private.

According to Reslink, the applicant pool for Allocations chair is always small because it is limited to people who have already served on the committee.

“When you shrink down seniors who are graduating, the potential pool of candidates is always small,” Reslink said. “It’s also an intense job. There are few people looking to take on the challenge.”

Reslink said he is excited for Guido to take over his position.

“It’s been three semesters since I’ve become [Committee chair],” he said. “I’m ready to pass on the torch.”

Guido said she wants to continue her work on the Committee with the positive changes the Committee has implemented this year, including the club sports policy, which limits the amount of money for club sports so that other groups have a better chance at receiving funding.

“Before we gave out a lot of money to [club sports], but now it’s more tailored,” Guido said. “The cap makes it a lot more specific and now that we have those funds more organized, we want to open [allocations] up to more groups who thought they couldn’t use [the funds].”

Allocations

Reformed University Fellowship requested $1,763.68 for a conference in Florida. The Board approved the request in full.

Pittsburgh Fencing Association requested $1,345.40 for a national competition in Florida. The Board approved $316 and denied $1,029.40.

Some of God’s Children Gospel Choir requested $2,225 for a spring concert. The Board approved the request in full.