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\u2019s Place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently, Student Government Board representatives are allowed to sit on Board of Trustees Committees rather than the full Board of Trustees,\u201d said Pinsky. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Pinsky said other universities have voting student presences within their Boards of Trustees.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am hoping to advocate for a voting student member of the Board of Trustees, which is already a common practice<\/a> at many other ACC schools<\/a> and at Penn State<\/a>,\u201d Pinsky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pinsky also detailed SGB\u2019s attendance last week<\/a> at the Atlantic Coast Conference Advocacy Days event in Washington, D.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe met with the office of three representatives \u2014 Glenn Thompson<\/a>, Summer Lee<\/a> and Chris Deluzio<\/a> \u2014 and both<\/a> senators<\/a> from Pennsylvania,\u201d Pinsky said.<\/p>\n Pinsky said she advocated for more funding toward Pitt research<\/a> and student aid programs<\/a> at the conference.<\/p>\n \u201cWe advocated for the continued funding of research programs like NIH and [The National Science Foundation<\/a>],\u201d Pinsky said. \u201cWe [also] advocated for continued funding of student aid programs like Pell Grants<\/a>, TRIO<\/a> and work studies<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n SGB also discussed artificial intelligence and immigration enforcement policies with representatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe also brought up concerns around immigration, visa processing, concerns about ICE and concerns about artificial intelligence,\u201d Pinsky said.<\/p>\n Vice President Olivia Budike spoke about her attendance at Tuesday\u2019s Water Quality Town Hall Meeting<\/a> hosted by SOOS<\/a> and SGB, in which representatives from Facilities Management<\/a>, Environmental Health and Safety<\/a> and Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory<\/a> answered questions about the University\u2019s water systems.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have any concerns about the quality of your water if you live on campus, please put in a work order for facilities management<\/a>,\u201d Budike said.<\/p>\n Allocations\n<\/p>\n Political Science Student Association<\/a> requested $4,754.98 for an off-campus program. The board approved this request in full.\u00a0<\/p>\n