A young Student Senate was greeted by a handful of fresh faces Monday night as new directors officially took over their positions.

Student Senate directors are in charge of leading one of eight commissions, which are groups that look at more specific issues related to campus, said Student Senate President Aaron Olson.

“They are the backbone of Student Senate,” he said. “Because (Vice President DeAnna Breault) and myself, we can’t do all of this, that’s why we have directors to get things done.”

Between 20 and 30 candidates were interviewed between March 14 and 18, Breault said. Six positions were announced on March 28, while the remaining two were announced Friday, she said.

“I was glad that I was on my side of the interview because we had very, very difficult interviews,” Olson said.

A primary factor that those who were appointed had, Olson said, was passion for the type of work the given commission did.

Being passionate about government was what helped convince the new Intergovernmental Affairs Director, junior Adrienne Roach, to apply for the position.

In her new position, Roach will work as a go-between for campus and various governmental bodies including Eau Claire City Council and the state legislature.

Roach, a political science major, believes she will do well in the position because of her ability to speak to students and government officials.

Another attribute crucial for many directors to have is knowledge of the area they deal with, said Academic Affairs director Avril Flaten.

Flaten has been involved with Academic Affairs for four years, which have helped her find a comfort level with the issues they typically address.

Two of eight new directors are juniors Emily Ascher and Michelle Madsen, who ran against Olson and Breault for Student Senate president and vice president in March.

“We chose the best people that applied,” Olson said. “We did not say to ourselves we better appoint these people because they got a lot of votes. Or we didn’t say, it might look good if we put our old enemies on our new friends list.”

Students are often looking for results from Senate, Roach said. Directors can help give them those results by organizing different programs and holding events throughout campus.

Sometimes even those close to Senate might not realize how important positions are, Flaten said.

“I think the Senate people see directors giving their maybe five-minute weekly description of what’s going on or the issues facing the commission,” she said. “But it’s a lot more work than that … usually per week on average I would say probably at least 15 to 20 hours per week.”

Directors are each paid a stipend of $1,500 per year. However, with all the time they put in, Olson said the position is usually done more as a service to students.

“It is paid, but it’s really more of a volunteer position,” he said.

Olson said he is confident that each new director will make a difference at the university.

“(DeAnna and I) asked ourselves in a year, which person is going to take this commission the farthest (after interviewing candidates), he said. “We would (end) up appointing people who we thought were just great.”