The swearing in of new members of Undergraduate Student Government took place Monday night.

Alex Solis and David Neely, the new president and vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government, were among those sworn in.

The ceremony took place in the Falcon’s Nest of the Union. Solis and Neely were the first to be sworn in.

The first thing Solis and Neely want to do now they have officially taken office is get organized by making a chart for their cabinet.

Solis and Neely would like to have the applications for the cabinet out by Tuesday, Solis said. They really want to promote the position, telling administrators and getting the word out that they’re looking through social media. Any student is eligible to be on the cabinet and senators from within USG can apply as well.

Solis and Neely added two new positions to their cabinet: Residence Life liaison and director of communications, Solis said.

To receive the position, applicants must apply and go through an interview process just as the other cabinet members do, Solis said.

The Residence Life liaison will work with the Resident Student Association and hall councils as well as help to make on-campus decisions.

The director of communications will be in charge of social media and will be charged with the organization’s visibility, Solis said.

“They will be our connection to campus,” Neely said.

The two plan to achieve their platform with a few key steps.

“The first step is the retention team,” Solis said. “We will meet with Jill Carr and President Mazey and figure out the student leaders.”

They will outline a plan for retention and the next steps with it.

The next step is their plan to improve green initiatives, Solis said.

“Neely will meet with Dr. [Nick] Hennessey,” Solis said. “And then we will set up meetings with Mazey’s cabinet members.”

Solis and Neely plan to have the first general meeting of their administration Monday.

After Solis and Neely were sworn in, Ancinec stepped down and Solis stepped in to swear in the senate members.

The senate and Solis and Neely then went into a meeting to select the speaker and nominate the four committee heads.

Before the speaker or the committee heads were nominated, the senate nominated former arts and sciences senator, Kallie Durkit, and voted her in as a senator, she was also sworn in at the meeting.

The speaker is decided democratically by the senators and was elected by students, Solis said.

During the meeting, off-campus senator Melissa Dzienny and at-large senator Katie Post were nominated to be the speaker.

Each candidate spoke for three minutes about why they should be speaker, and then the senate deliberated for five minutes, Solis said.

The senate decided Melissa Dzienny will be the next speaker.

Dzienny said she is excited about her new position.

“This is something I’ve been working toward since my first year in the organization,” Dzienny, a senior, said.

Dzienny has been involved in USG since her freshman year and said the first thing she wants to do as speaker is get to know everyone.

“I want to know the senators and what they want to accomplish so we can make a game plan,” Dzienny said.

She also plans to work heavily with Solis and Neely, she said.

At the meeting, there were also senators nominated to be committee heads.

Durkit was nominated for academic affairs chair; Katie Post and Greg Cherry were nominated for auxiliary affairs chair; Ben Goldsberry and Lance Foster were nominated for internal affairs chair; and John Clevenger and Kathleen Schnerer were nominated for student affairs chair, Dzienny said.

Solis and Neely have a few aspects they’re looking for in committee heads.

“Someone we can communicate with easily on a daily basis,” Neely said. “Who agrees with our platform.”

Solis would like it to be someone who can be part of a team, who is willing to collaborate and who is visible.

Starting off their administration, Solis and Neely are looking forward to a few aspects of the job.

“Just getting our bearing, getting a system set up,” Solis said. “We want to keep hitting the ground running.”