Student Government Board presented a new initiative for a student member of the Board of Trustees and recapped its attendance at the ACC Advocacy Days conference at its weekly meeting Tuesday night at Nordy’s Place.
President Marley Pinsky announced she would soon be meeting with Chancellor Joan Gabel, Vice Provost Carla Panzella and Provost Joseph McCarthy to discuss adding a voting student member to the Board of Trustees.
Pinsky explained the positions students currently hold within the Board of Trustees and hopes to push for student voting power to enable student body representation.
“Currently, Student Government Board representatives are allowed to sit on Board of Trustees Committees rather than the full Board of Trustees,” said Pinsky. “They do not have voting power on these Committees, and they are not allowed to talk about [the events of Committee meetings] with the broader student body.”
Pinsky said other universities have voting student presences within their Boards of Trustees.
“I am hoping to advocate for a voting student member of the Board of Trustees, which is already a common practice at many other ACC schools and at Penn State,” Pinsky said.
Pinsky also detailed SGB’s attendance last week at the Atlantic Coast Conference Advocacy Days event in Washington, D.C.
“We met with the office of three representatives — Glenn Thompson, Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio — and both senators from Pennsylvania,” Pinsky said.
Pinsky said she advocated for more funding toward Pitt research and student aid programs at the conference.
“We advocated for the continued funding of research programs like NIH and [The National Science Foundation],” Pinsky said. “We [also] advocated for continued funding of student aid programs like Pell Grants, TRIO and work studies.”
SGB also discussed artificial intelligence and immigration enforcement policies with representatives.
“We also brought up concerns around immigration, visa processing, concerns about ICE and concerns about artificial intelligence,” Pinsky said.
Vice President Olivia Budike spoke about her attendance at Tuesday’s Water Quality Town Hall Meeting hosted by SOOS and SGB, in which representatives from Facilities Management, Environmental Health and Safety and Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory answered questions about the University’s water systems.
“If you have any concerns about the quality of your water if you live on campus, please put in a work order for facilities management,” Budike said.
Allocations
Political Science Student Association requested $4,754.98 for an off-campus program. The board approved this request in full.
Club Powerlifting requested $9,659.20 for a competition. The board amended and approved this request to $8,762.67.
Club Swimming requested $3,197.56 for a competition. The board approved this request in full.