Are you a student enrolled in a Canadian post-secondary institution?
Are you passionate about space?
Do you want to make a difference for Canadian students nationwide?
The 2021-22 Board of Directors (BoD) nominations period is now closed.
The voting period for will be open until Sunday, May 2nd at 11:59 PM ET.
Only SEDS-Canada Members are eligible to vote.
If you have not received a ballot, but believe you are eligible to vote, please contact directors@seds.ca. Please note that your membership may have expired (you can check the status of your membership here).
Want to become a SEDS-Canada Member? Check out the benefits we offer our Members here.
Voting results will be released by May 5th, 2021.
Service on the Board of Directors (BoD) is a unique opportunity to impact the future of space exploration and development. You will work with SEDS-Canada staff, the Board of Advisors (BoA), students and young professionals from across Canada who share your passion for all things space! Every officer’s duties center around connecting members, staff, and alumni, working with industry to create professional opportunities, and spreading enthusiasm and knowledge about the journey into the final frontier. As an entirely student-run, volunteer organization, it is upon this leadership that SEDS continues to thrive and grow.
Duties of Officers
Each of the following offices shall be held by one or more directors of the board. *Directors of SEDS-Canada must be Canadian post-secondary students and must be able to attend weekly online meetings. In case of the absence or inability of an officer to act, or for any other reason that the Board may deem sufficient, the directors may, by ordinary resolution, delegate any or all of the powers of any officer to any other officer or to any director for the time being.
The President presides over the Board of Directors and is responsible for ensuring continuous communication among directors, members, regional representatives, advisors, alumni, and outside organizations. The President shall lead efforts to set near-term goals and a long-term vision for the Corporation. The President is responsible for administering all elections of the Corporation. Additionally, the VP Internal shall file all official documents of the Corporation as per the Act, and will specifically work with the VP Finance to ensure proper documentation and maintenance of financial records for long-term retention of the corporation. The President in collaboration with the VP External shall serve as the main spokesperson to represent the Corporation to the public, media and government. In the event a situation arises where an immediate decision is necessary, the President may make the decision on behalf of the Board, but must report all such decisions at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting, where the Board may overturn such decisions as they see fit. The President shall also preside over meetings of members (i.e. Annual General Meeting). The President shall assign duties to the Directors, and also assign duties to other officers as necessary. The President shall directly oversee top-level staff positions – including but not limited to the Chief Technologist and the Chief Recruiting Officer (CRO) – as well as any staff not under the direct oversight of another director or staff member. Overseeing the CRO entails reviewing job application forms and all required documentation to prospective applicants, and ensuring the receipt and proper completion of those application forms and documents. The President is also responsible for publishing an annual report for the Corporation that will be open to the public hosted under the SEDS-Canada Website. The President is ultimately responsible for all activities of the Corporation, and for ensuring the smooth operation thereof. The estimated time commitment for the president is between 10 and 20 hours per week.
Estimated time commitment: This is highly dependent on the year, tasks/responsibilities, and the morale you have as to how to approach the position.
The Vice President (VP) Internal serves as Secretary of the corporation, which includes the following responsibilities: writing and distributing an agenda in advance of all meetings of the Corporation, including all meetings of members, meetings of the board, committee meetings, and any other meetings designated by the board, unless another member who is presiding over the meeting opts to take on this task; taking written notes and/or audio and/or visual notes at all meetings of the Corporation and maintaining a record of those notes, or ensuring that another meeting attendee volunteers to carry out this task and is provided instructions on how to carry it out; recording those notes in easily-accessible electronic format for review by the board and others and for future use; maintaining an organized file of all current records within the Corporation; moderating the mailing lists and sending mailings to members as necessary; and understanding the by-laws and ensuring that they are followed in all dealings of the Corporation. The VP Internal is responsible for maintaining or overseeing correspondence with all student members of the Corporation, including the following tasks: answering and supporting all requests by student members for information or help, and bringing these matters to the attention of the board; notifying student members of the Corporation of any dues owed, responding to requests to extend the deadline date for payment of member fees, notifying the board of unpaid dues in time to initiate the member termination process; and developing and executing a plan for engaging the members of the Corporation. The VP Internal shall work with the VP External to ensure that membership initiatives are implemented for engaging members.
Estimated time commitment: On average, the time commitment is around 15-20 hours per week.
The Vice President (VP) External shares the responsibility for external public communications, for the development and implementation of an effective public relations strategy for branding of the Corporation, and for improved public awareness of the Corporation with the President. The VP External shall serve as the point of contact for government and media relations, and shall handle matters such as requests for information, requests for interviews, and invitations to meetings; the VP External shall ensure that a director of the board (or a staff member or student member, if no director is available) attends any interview, meeting, or other event at which the Corporation is to send a representative; the VP External shall answer all correspondence from the public in a timely manner. Additionally, the VP External shall oversee messaging behind the Corporation’s social media (in concert with the VP Internal), and shall create and publish press release documents to communicate to the public any news of the Corporation, developments within the Corporation, or opinions of the Corporation on developments within the space industry.
The VP External also acts as the liaison to the Board of Advisors and to alumni of the Corporation (including facilitating meetings of the Board of Advisors), and is responsible for developing and enacting a plan to promote membership in the Corporation. The VP External is also responsible for ensuring that MoU with external organizations are upheld and renewed at the discretion of the Board.
Estimated time commitment: Average of 10 hours a week, but may fluctuate from 5-25 hours depending on the time of the year.
The Vice President of (VP) Finance acts as Treasurer of the Corporation, which includes the following responsibilities: maintaining the monetary assets of the Corporation; having oversight over all financial matters that concern the Corporation; keeping an accurate account of all assets, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements of the Corporation; and leading the annual budgetary process, to budget the expected income and expenditures before the start of the year. If the Corporation is granted a tax status, it is the duty of the VP Finance to ensure that this status is maintained by the proper filing of any required forms and documents relevant to the finances of the Corporation. The VP Finance shall also lead efforts to organize fundraising and sponsorship activities for the Corporation and shall supervise those activities, and shall also work with the Projects Chair and Events Chair towards fundraising for specific activities; in this capacity, the VP Finance directly supervises the Sponsorship Coordinator. The VP of Finance is also responsible for long-term strategic planning of the Corporation’s finances.
Other Responsibilities
- Work with other personnel to set up the annual operating budget (banking and website fees, costs of business cards, travel for business development etc.)
- Keep track of expenses and revenue, separated by account (general or for a specific project), in a ledger
- Make payments as per received reimbursement requests
- Advise other personnel on financial planning and lean budgeting, more so for the general account (cut costs where necessary)
- Maintain payment and donation platforms
- Oversee the charitable status application and longevity plan for the Corporation
- Write invoices for payments to be made to SEDS-ÉEDS
- Work with VP Internal on financial aspects of maintaining good standing with Industry Canada, Canadian Revenue Agency, etc.
- Fundraising (including sponsor and donor management)
- Set fundraising categories and goals for both sponsors and donors
- Develop fundraising strategies; this includes knowing who your audiences are, why they would donate, what platforms and marketing techniques to use.
- Lead fundraising efforts, delegate tasks to other personnel as necessary
- Establish/maintain a donor management system (DMS) and Sponsorship Management System (SMS); DMS and SMS analytics can be powerful in improving fundraising strategies
Estimated time commitment: 5 hours per week normally with 10-12 hours per week at the height of crowdfunding seasons
Vice-President Communication shall preside over all media and external communications content that is made to promote SEDS-Canada. They shall oversee messaging behind the Corporation’s social media, and shall create and publish press release documents to communicate to the public any news of the Corporation, developments within the Corporation, or opinions of the Corporation on developments within the space industry. VP Communications will lead the media and communications team and ensure that graphics, video content, general website content and social media posts are generated and uploaded to the organizations outlets within a timely manner. VP Communications is responsible for creating engaging content and ensuring that any SEDS-Canada news is properly communicated to the organization’s members as well as the general public.
Estimated time commitment: On average, the time commitment is around 8-15 hours per week, depending on social media campaigns.
The Events Chair is responsible for facilitating the planning and execution of SEDS-ÉEDS events, alongide the Director at Large of Events. These include our annual Canadian Space Conference, quarterly workshops, and/or partnered events (e.g. NASA Space Apps, Act in Space, etc.). Duties include, but are not limited to, the following, whether directly or through oversight of staff members and other directors:
- Hiring/offboarding of events-related staff
- Securing a venue or hosting platform (virtual events)
- Contacting and confirming speakers
- Soliciting necessary funding (working with the VP Finance and Sponsorship Coordinator)
- Organizing food and accommodations
- Ensuring publicity via social media advertising, web advertising (including a conference website)
- Print/poster advertising, and any other formats
- Developing and printing a program and name tags
- Troubleshooting any problems that arise during the events.
The Events Chair shall also plan social events for the Corporation that specifically take place in conjunction with the above conference/workshops. The Events Chair may put together and lead a committee of members or nonmembers of the Corporation to assist in planning and running these events; even in this case, the Events Chair retains full and ultimate responsibility for all aspects of the events. The Events Chair directly oversees any staff members hired to assist with these events, as well as other staff members in regard to tasks pertaining to these events. The Events Chair has ownership of the Canadian Space Conference and NASA Space Apps while the Director at Large Events has ownership of Act In Space, SGAC Speaker Series, and new events undertaken by the corporation. However, both the Events Chair and the Director at Large Events are expected to attend meetings and be involved with all events.
- During major event planning: 15 – 20 hours per week
- During general events assistance: 5-10 hours per week
The Projects Chair is responsible for overseeing the administration of and improving current SEDS-ÉEDS projects*1, for developing new projects, and for organizing events related to current projects. The Projects Chair should solicit funding for current projects (with the VP Finance and Sponsorship Coordinator), liaise with Project Managers to ensure all projects are running smoothly, attend meetings regarding all projects, and aid Project Managers as necessary throughout the course of the projects. The Projects Chair should oversee the continual improvement of each ongoing project; this could include removing barriers to entry (application templates, Q&A sessions for applications, example applications), extending the reach of project advertising, and proper tracking of project metrics (including participant & applicant numbers, participant & applicant location, gender, background, etc.) to aid in future funding or other initiatives related to projects. The Projects Chair should also be capable of envisioning and elaborating on new potential projects, find partners for those projects, and hire staff members as necessary to further develop and run those projects. Lastly, the Projects Chair is responsible for facilitating the planning and execution of all aspects of events related to projects (such as on-campus Q&A sessions and awards ceremonies), either directly or in conjunction with staff members, and includes but is not limited to the following: securing a location; soliciting necessary funding (working with the VP Finance and Sponsorship Coordinator); ensuring publicity via social media advertising and any other formats; inviting media and government officials to attend (working with the VP External, if necessary); and troubleshooting any problems that arise during the events. The Projects Chair directly oversees any staff members hired to assist with the above-mentioned projects.
*Current (ongoing/annual or biennial) Projects include the Canadian Stratospheric Balloon Experiment (CAN-SBX) Design Challenge, the Canadian Reduced Gravity Experiment (CAN-RGX) Design Challenge, and the Young Space Entrepreneurs (YSpacE) competition.
1 Note that projects usually last several months and aim to provide student teams with technical and project management skills. Any short-term events, such as weekend hackathons, conferences, seminars (i.e. events that last for one to few days) are classified as events and fall under the Events Chair portfolio (unless these events are a part of the above mentioned long-term projects).
Estimated time commitment: The typical time commitment is 8-10 hours a week.
Each Director at Large shall act at the direction of the President, other Directors or officers and assist the board and staff of the Corporation in any way deemed necessary. In the past, Directors at Large have assisted in applying for government grants, organizing external events, or working towards expanding membership. Directors at Large should inform the Board of any tasks they would like to carry out or projects they would like to work on in line with the annual strategic goals. The duties of the Director(s) at Large will vary depending on the needs of the Corporation or at the discretion of the President, and may change throughout the year.
Estimated time commitment: The typical time commitment is 5–10 hours per week.
*To be eligible for a Board of Director position, you must be a Canadian post-secondary student.
Disclaimer: If nominated and elected as a Board of Director member, you will not be eligible to participate in SEDS-Canada projects as a participant (but you will have an opportunity to help shape the future of the project)!
For any questions or queries, please feel free to contact us at directors@seds.ca or we’d be happy to chat one-on-one about specific positions on the current Board of Directors (BoD).
Associate Professor
