Electing a New Committee

One of the main tasks at the AGM is the election of a new committee to take UKSEDS through the forthcoming year. Each committee position is up for election, even if the individual currently holding that position wishes to remain. We encourage anyone who wishes to be a part of the committee to nominate themselves for a particular role. At the AGM, votes are counted for all nominees wishing to take up each position and the "winner" is sworn in.

Below are brief descriptions about each committee position, including responsibilities and key skills required to maintain the position.

If you are interested in joining the committee for the year of 2009-2010, then contact us at committee@uk.seds.org.

Chair

The main role of the chair is to chair the meetings of the executive committee, general meetings and the AGM, casting the deciding vote where appropriate .The Chair is essentially responsible for running UKSEDS and delegating all the necessary tasks to the executive committee. The Chair is also responsible for external relations, including the association between UKSEDS and the British Interplanetary Society.
The Vice-chair normally proceeds to the office of chair without the need for further election. In order to fulfil this role you must be able to keep in contact with all the committee at all times throughout the year. You have to be organised and able to keep track of the progress of UKSEDS projects.

Vice Chair

The role of the Vice-Chair is to support and assist the chair in delegation and organisational duties, assuming these duties where it becomes necessary.
The Vice-chair normally proceeds to the office of chair without the need for further election. In order to fulfil this role you must be able to keep in contact with all the committee at all times throughout the year. You have to be organised and able to keep track of the progress of UKSEDS projects.

Membership and Branches Secretary

The key roles of the membership and Branches Secretary is to manage membership applications and organise membership renewals; create and maintain relationships between branches, universities and UKSEDS; and work with the general secretary to manage these responsibilities.
In order to fulfil this role you must be able to keep in contact with all the committee at all times throughout the year. You have to be organised and have good communication skills when contacting and liaising with Universities and Branches.

Secretary

The main role of the secretary is to prepare the agenda for meetings of the Executive Committee and for the Annual General Meeting and subsequently write up the minutes. This also includes being responsible for the arrangements of the meetings. Other roles include coordinating the central filing system and archiving. The Secretary's roles can often overlap with those of the Membership Secretary.

In order to fulfil this role you must be able to keep in contact with all the committee at all times throughout the year. You have to be organised and able to keep the archives in order.

Treasurer

The main role of the treasurer is to monitor money in and out of the UKSEDS bank accounts. This includes being responsible for issuing invoices, paying received invoices and issuing receipts. At the start of each financial year, the treasurer is responsible for seeking ESA funding. The treasurer is also one of the three signatories on the bank account and typically looks after the cheque book.

In order to fulfil this role, you must be very well organised, meticulous and willing to commit on a regular basis throughout the year. Knowledge of Excel (or any accounting programme) is desired.

Education Officer

The role of the Education Officer is quite broad and it is essentially up to the officer as to how they may steer their role for the benefit of UKSEDS members, school children, the general public etc. The sole purpose of the Education Officer is to make developments when it comes to any educational-related aspects.

This role does not require any specific skills other than lots of enthusiasm for the job, lots of ideas to develop the Educational role and an open mind in order to develop this area of UKSEDS.

Technical Officer

The main role of the technical officer is to maintain and update the UKSEDS website. This comprises many sub-roles, which include: maintaining site content; developing new functionality; bug-fixing and enhancing existing functionality; managing the back-end site databases, including the database that contains membership records; basically anything associated with the society that involves anything remotely technical.

In order to successfully and effectively fulfil this role, any candidates MUST have a basic set of skills: experience with HTML, PHP, SQL and Javascript languages as well as database implementation for website development; an understanding of the basic mechanisms of email transfer (Pop3, SMTP); basic unix commands would be useful, but not essential; and most importantly, commitment towards the responsibilities that come with being the technical officer. Because the website is our first point of contact, and as first impressions always count, the up-keep of the website is a top priority.

Publications Officer

The main role of the publications officer is to produce and publish the UKSEDS magazine, Aurora, in the form of a magazine and an online pdf. This is generally a small publication of approximately 12-16 pages long, which includes articles written by yourself, other UKSEDS members or people within the space industry. You will be responsible for ensuring that the magazine is successfully completed to a high standard and to produce approximately 3 issues per year.

The role requires good knowledge of publishing and design software like QuarkEPress, Publisher and Photoshop, good English skills and a creative mind. Good communication and organisational skills are also required when dealing with the printers and the process of digital proofing and final issue.