The Student Government Association added nine student senators in October.

SGA president Ryan Kim noted the senators applied for the position. In previous semesters, senators have been nominated by fellow students.

“We changed it up a bit [this year] … to make it more competitive,” Kim, a second-year environmental science student, explained. “So, we had an application process.”

Kim said SGA is interviewing potential candidate for a 10th senator.

SGA requires senators to join at least three committees and help with planning of future events, Kim said.

Plus, he added, “They are… [re]presenting SGA at the school as well.”

Kim said senators earn a $200 stipend each semester.

Kim said he is excited to work with the new senators.

“Everyone’s so awesome,” he said. “I’ve been loving working with them throughout the second half of the semester.”

Some senators said they joined SGA to help serve the community.

“I’ve always loved helping people and just being a part of a community so when they told me, ‘We’re a community that basically helps other students and … advocates for college students,’ I was like, ‘This is totally for me; I really like this environment,’” Supriya Jones, a first-year biology student, said.

SGA Senator Maria Pasaylo agreed.

“I’ve always like wanted to help out and be more involved because I wasn’t [as involved] in high school” as I would like, Pasaylo, a second-year computer science student, said.