Seven candidates running for Associated Students Inc. elections this year participated in the third of six candidate forums held in the University Union’s Summit Room at Sacramento State on April 9.

Candidates described their platforms to constituents at the Thursday forum, which were for the positions of director of Business Administration, director of Engineering and Computer Science, and director of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies.

There are three candidates running for director of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies. All three shared their desire to represent their major.

Joseph Johnson was the first candidate representing SSIS, and he shared the importance of listening to his constituency if elected.

“My number one priority would be to receive feedback from the students, cause what my priorities may be may not be the priorities at all that the SSIS college students have,” said Johnson. “The only role the director of SSIS should be is to represent the voices of the students of their college.”

Another of the three candidates for the director of SSIS was George Lopez, who shared his belief in the utilization of internships.

“I want to identify professional development opportunities,” said Lopez. “A lot of the internship opportunities are really scattered, the availability of internships is not universal.”

The last candidate for the director of SSIS was Aryn Fields. Fields said providing academic opportunities is the most important thing if elected.

“My number one priority is to provide the best academic opportunities for SSIS students both on and off the campus,” said Fields. “On the campus, I really want to focus on working with clubs and reinvigorating the SSIS Joint Council, and off the campus, internships, they are extremely vital to the experience that we have here. I don’t think that you can just have great academic experience just inside of the classroom and in a classroom setting. You need to be able to branch out and experience what it is like to work in your field of study.”

The only candidate for the director of Engineering and Computer Science is Diana Vega, who wants to highlight student engagement and class availability within their major.

“My number one priority for the college of ECS would be to help students find the reason why they are pursuing their degree in the first place. and I would do that by advocating increased involvement with clubs,” said Vega. “I also want to make it my priority to advocate for funding at the state level because I know it’s really hard to get into the prerequisite classes to even go to their major classes, and I think that’s really important for students to graduate in at least four to five years.”

There are three candidates running for the director of the College of Business Administration position. All three candidates shared their desire for students to take advantage of opportunities on campus for business students.

The first candidate and current director of Business Administration, Jesus Esquivel, wants to focus on work opportunities for business students.

“I want to let our business students know what resources are available to them in order for them to perform better academically,” said Esquivel. “I want to invite companies that haven’t come to get our students. There is a lack of representation of Sac State students at like Wells Fargo, Google, Ernst and Young, Deloitte, and fortunately for me, I know those people and what I want to do as your next director of business is encourage them to come over here and recruit not only for business students but for everyone at Sac State.”

Daseul Song, another candidate for the same position, wants to make sure students are aware of what resources are available to them.

“My number one priority if elected is to tell everyone in the business major what is available to them,” said Song. “In the business services department, I think a lot of students don’t know that they offer I think almost $100,000 in scholarships for just business students.”

The last candidate for the position was Chris Saenz, who said he wants to focus on alleviating impaction in his major.

“If elected, my number one priority for the college of business is to maximize classroom availability,” said Saenz. “I feel like a lot of students can’t graduate on time because they cant get the classes that they deserve and need.”

ASI elections will be held April 21 and 22.