Executive Board Elections
The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS)
organization is holding elections for its executive board during the
national conference
being held at MIT on November 11-14th.
To be eligible to hold a national position you must be a student
member of a SEDS chapter in good standing (If you are not sure if your
chapter is in good standing please email our director of chapter affairs
<rechenma@uiuc.edu>.
The candidates' platforms are posted. Head on over to the
platforms page to read them.
Election Procedures and Important Dates
- October 20th - Candidate Platform Deadline
For those interested in running for a position you must submit a platform
no later than Wednesday October 20th. The platform must include:
- Chapter
- Year in School
- Contact Information (email address and phone number)
- Position you're running for
- Short autobiography (400 word limit)
- Description of your goals and plans for the following year (500 word limit)
All platforms should be emailed to the webmaster Kevin Welch
<kevin@seds.org>
by no later than October 20th.
- November 11th-14th -- National SEDS Conference
For the weeks between the Candidate Platform Deadline and the national
conference SEDS members will be able to review the platforms on
http://www.seds.org
and ask the candidates questions regarding their goals. Candidates will
be voted upon at the national conference. Each chapter in good standing will
receive one vote for each office. If your chapter is not sending any members
to the conference, your chapter representative may send an email to the
director of chapter affairs as an absentee ballot. This absentee ballot
must be returned no later than Friday November 12th.
- February 1st -- Instatement of New Officers
Elected candidates will be instated at the beginning of the spring term
(February 1st). The time between the elections and the date of instatement
the current officers will help bring the incoming officers up to speed with
everything that they have been doing for the past year, and will slowly
delegate tasks to the new officer to help in this transition.
National Executive Board Elected Positions
- Chairman: The Chairman presides over the Executive Board and
oversees the decision-making and electoral processes. The Chairman is
responsible for ensuring the continuing communication among Board members,
chapter representatives, chapters, advisors, alumni, and outside
organizations. The Chairman is the chief representative of SEDS at official
functions.
- Vice Chairman: The Vice-Chair acts as the Alumni Liaison and the
Board of Advisors Liaison. The Vice-Chair shall coordinate the site selection
for the annual National conference. In the event that the Chair resigns or is
removed from office, the Vice-Chair will assume the Chair's position, and an
"unscheduled" election for a new Vice-Chair shall commence.
- Director of Chapter Affairs: The Director of Chapter Affairs has
the responsibility of working with all of the chapters through their chapter
representatives. The Director of Chapter Affairs is in charge of organizing
all Council of Chapters votes, including the election of a new Executive
Board each year. The Director of Chapter Affairs is also responsible for
answering and supporting all requests by individual chapters for information
or help. The Director of Chapter Affairs is charged with the task of informing
the Executive Board about special concerns brought to his/her attention by the
chapters. If feasible, the Director of Chapter Affairs is to contact each
chapter twice a year in order to find out how the Executive Board can better
serve the needs of the individual chapters.
- Director of Educational Outreach: The Director of Educational
Outreach is in charge of making and compiling educational materials about
space. Of special emphasis are materials for high school teachers interested
in sponsoring SEDS chapters. Emphasis on educational materials or projects
that can be done in a classroom setting is of the highest priority.
- Director of Chapter Expansion: The Director of Chapter Expansion
is in charge of recruiting new SEDS chapters. The Director of Chapter
Expansion's job shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
- distribution of chapter starter kits
- response to requests for information
- advertising SEDS in other forums
- helping individuals start new chapters
- set the groundwork for future SEDS expansion
by working closely with other space interest
groups, especially those targeting students
who are younger than the high school level.
- Director of Finance: The Director of Finance keeps financial records
of all SEDS-USA activities, controls all legal, financial, and tax matters,
monitors expenditures of the Board Members and notifies the Chair when any
chapter becomes delinquent in paying dues. The Director of Finance is also
responsible for coordinating the fundraising activities of SEDS-USA. The
Director of Finance must make monthly reports to the Executive Board regarding
the financial status of SEDS, including a list of all disbursements made and
monies received.
- Director of High School Affairs: The Director of High School Affairs
shall be a high school student and shall work closely with the other directors.
Special emphasis shall be placed on helping the other directors with work that
directly involves high school chapters or individuals.
- Director of Publications: The Director of Publications is responsible
for all of the mass publications created by SEDS. These include, but are not
limited to, the chapter starter kits, the National newsletter, informational
flyers about SEDS-USA, and other official SEDS-USA documentation. The Director
of Publications is in charge of deciding the format, layout, length, and theme
of the National newsletter.
- Director of Special Projects: The Director of Special Projects will work
any one-time projects as needed by the Executive Board. Currently the Director of
Special Projects is in charge of Alumni Relations. This entails keeping all
alumni informed of current SEDS-USA activities and keeping an active contact list
for all alumni. Also, this position is responsible for planning an alumni banquet
at next year's conference.
- Webmaster: The webmaster is in charge of all material and content that
goes on the official SEDS website. All announcements will go through the webmaster.
Design and layout of the site will ultimately be the choice of the webmaster.