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 The University of Arizona on November 12-15th.

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 at chapter-affairs@seds.org)

Head on over to the platforms page to read all candidate platforms.

Election Procedures and Important Dates

  • November 1st - Candidate Platform Deadline
    For those interested in running for a position you must submit a platform no later than November 1st. You can submit platforms online at http://seds.org/elections.php?p=submit_platform The platform must include:
    1. Chapter
    2. Year in School
    3. Contact Information (email address and phone number)
    4. Position you`re running for
    5. Short autobiography (400 word limit)
    6. Description of your goals and plans for the following year (500 word limit)
    All platforms should be submitted no later than November 1st.
  • November 12th-15th -- 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 November 15th.
  • Instatement of New Officers
    Elected candidates will be instated at the close of business on the day the elections are finalized, at which time the term of the outgoing officers ends. 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

  1. Chair: The Chair presides over the Executive Board and oversees the decision-making and electoral processes. The Chair is responsible for ensuring the continuing communication among Board members, chapter representatives, chapters, advisors, alumni, and outside organizations. The Chair is the chief representative of SEDS at official functions.
  2. Vice-Chair: 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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. This person should also have access to a Bank of America since this student will have to go in person to sign signature cards.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Director of National Projects: The Director of Special Projects will supervise and manage all SEDS National level projects and coordination.
  10. 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.
  11. Secretary: The secretary is responsible for taking meeting transcripts from SEDS Executive Board meetings.