Members of the Student Association Senate will vote on one of three Senate speaker nominees for the upcoming one-year term, which begins after the last Senate session in May.

The duties of the senate speaker include leading the legislative branch; allocating the SA budget, which provides services to students, and appointing individuals such as the deputy speaker, according to the SA Bylaws. The voting will be done at Sunday’s SA Senate meeting.

The nominees are Deputy Speaker Robert Kreml, Senator Christine Wang and Senator Demone Williams, who were nominated during Sunday’s Senate meeting.

Nominees will give statements and answer questions during Sunday’s Senate meeting, after which the Senate will vote on a candidate. Senator Demone Williams did not reply to a request for comment.

Robert Kreml

Kreml, senior physics major, has served as deputy speaker since fall 2014. He was nominated for speaker by Sergeant at Arms Timothy Brandner. His experiences with the SA include being a voting member of the University Council, member of the Campus Security and Environmental Quality Committee and member of the Campus Parking Committee.

“I have a lot of involvement,” Kreml said. “I have a lot of experience and I have a lot of great ideas and not only that, I have the ability to complete those ideas and I’m already having them put in place.”

If elected, Kreml said he plans to address program prioritization issues, institute voting on the pay scale for paid positions within the SA and create a campus organization contact tree.

Christine Wang

Wang, sophomore accounting major, began serving as a senator during the last two sessions of spring 2015. She was nominated for speaker by Senator Jordan Clayton-Taylor. While serving on the SA, Wang has had experience as the vice chair of the Rules and Procedures Committee and conductor of executive reviews.

“The responsibilities of the speaker, besides the cut-and-dried stuff, is to be the spokesperson of the Senate,” Wang said. “To be that spokesperson, you need to be a role model to the students, have connections and be able to network. I think I fit all of that.”

If elected, Wang said she plans to create a culture of open discussion within the SA Senate, create a better reputation for the SA, change the election policy and address student diversity within the Senate.