By SHANNON O. WELLS
A resolution the Bylaws and Procedures Committee recently approved defining new parameters and language for affinity groups seeking a voice in the University Senate includes an amendment that a group must be assigned such status.
The provision emerged from a suggestion that the requirement would allow the Senate Executive Committee to keep track of which affinity groups — informal committees comprising faculty, staff, students or other Pitt community members that share a “common goal, purpose or ideology” and who want to participate in the Senate — are which.
“Not that we really anticipate a thundering herd of affinity groups, but we have built in, I think, a reasonable regulatory framework that makes it easy to create an affinity group,” said Nick Bircher, committee co-chair and faculty member in the schools of medicine and nursing. “We had previously looked at the (Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) requirements for creating an affinity group, which are actually quite extensive as compared for what we’re asking for here.”
The resolution also addresses how established Senate-related affinity groups can be abolished if they fail to remain active after two years of inaction.
“We have left … a little bit of leeway by specifying that groups that do absolutely nothing for two years may be abolished by the Senate Executive Committee,” Bircher said. “But if we’re going to give them that latitude, (the committee) ought to provide reasonable warning to the affinity group in question regarding that they are supposed to be doing something.
“That would be one year after approval, either at the Faculty Assembly level or the standing committee level,” he added.
Bircher led a discussion related to affinity groups at the Bylaws and Procedures Committee’s May 31 meeting. The committee approved the amended resolution, which it plans to be present to Faculty Assembly at a meeting this fall.
Pitt’s Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, describes Pitt Communities — “organizations within organizations” — as staff and faculty affinity groups linked by a common purpose, ideology or interest that “play a vital role in ensuring an inclusive environment where all are valued, included and empowered to succeed.”
Affinity groups seeking a voice in the University Senate must include at least one member of either the Faculty Assembly or a standing committee to serve as group spokesperson.
The Bylaws and Procedures committee intends the resolution to embody Pitt community principles including:
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Representing all members of the Pitt community as a matter of University-wide concern.
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Diversity, equity and inclusion are considered among the most fundamental principles of social justice.
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Offering additional opportunities for effective communication being an “important step in creating a more inclusive University Community, especially for historically underrepresented groups.”
- Seeking to balance increased representation with continuity of governance, preserving review of affected sections of the bylaws to ascertain the success of that balance.
The addition of Section 11 to the bylaws’ Article IV establishes or clarifies that affinity groups:
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May be formed under the auspices of the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion or separately.
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If seeking liaison with the Faculty Assembly shall formally communicate their interest and a description of their focus in writing to the Senate Executive Committee.
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If seeking liaison with a standing committee shall communicate their interest and description to the chair of the committee in question, and Bylaws will discuss the committee’s request.
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May self-abolish through a two-thirds majority vote. Groups that don’t meet for more than two years may be abolished by the Senate Executive Committee, with the rule communicated to the group point of contact one year after the group’s creation if no meetings occur.
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If not subject to the OEDI mechanism, may elect a chair and secretary.
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Will set their own meeting schedules, with at least one scheduled meeting required per academic year, and submit minutes from their meetings to the Senate office.
- Will establish a liaison with a Senate officer determined by the Senate Executive Committee, and — if it requested — an administrative liaison, to be appointed by the chancellor.
Based on suggestions from Sheila Alexander and committee Co-Chair Cecelia Yates, both associate professors in the School of Nursing, the term “minorities” was removed from language in the policy preamble describing affinity groups as focused on “historically underrepresented groups.”
This change, Yates noted, “won’t exclude anyone from thinking that they can form a group, but it will include everyone,” she said.
The committee passed the resolution unanimously and plans to present it to Faculty Assembly, possibly at its Sept. 11 meeting.
In other Bylaws and Procedures business, Bircher affirmed, with the committee’s approval, that he and Yates will serve as committee co-chairs for the 2024-25 academic year. Amy Flick, teaching associate professor in the Department of English, will serve as secretary, replacing Ben Bratman, professor in the School of Law, who will continue to serve as a committee member.
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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