Objectives of SEDS
(Students’ For Exploration and development of Space)
SEDS-VIT which primarily started as a amateur astronomy club has expanded its domain in the fields of astrophysics and aerospace.
The prime initiative to generate and stimulate Interest amongst its members in space sciences and promotion of hobbies of astronomy, astrophysics, star gazing has taken a good stand.
SEDS nurtures its members’ innovativeness and makes them aware with the latest in space technology.
SEDS thrives to provide avenues for career opportunities and to reveal opportunities for young engineers and students hailing from various fields. It highlights career prospects & gives more insight in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics and aerospace.
SEDS delivers value to its members through constant encouragement and helps its student members in their projects related to space sciences; assisting them in their endeavors.
The organizational structure of SEDS comprising mostly of students provides an opportunity to the members to hone their Communications skills, Leadership skills and management skills.
CONSTITUTION
Name and address of the Society
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space - India
Abbreviated to SEDS-India.
Address: HQ: VIT, Vellore, 632014
SEDS-India –Mother body
Chapters: Member chapters of SEDS-India in various institutions/colleges/schools etc.
ACT: Public Societies Registration Act
Membership
SEDS-India
shall have the following categories of members:
Students:
The criteria for being a SEDS India Member are as follows:
· One must have a keen interest in Space exploration and allied fields (such as Aerospace engineering, Astronomy, Satellite communication, aerospace medicine etc.)
· One must be over 15 years of age and below 25 years of age on the date of application.
· One should be a student within the territory of India; the field of study is irrelevant.
· One should be studying in registered universities/ schools of India, and should provide a proof of the same.
Alumni:
All ex-members of SEDS-India shall be eleigible for membership to the Alumni.
Membership & Affiliation Fees
· A minimum amount of Rs.100/- will be collected from each member as membership fees.
· The member ship fees shall be revised from time to time (not beyond 20% each year).
· Membership will be valid for one year; on expiry of which the members have an option of renewing their membership
· The Membership Renewal fees for each member is around 70% of the membership fees decided for that annual year.
· No member shall refuse to pay the membership fees which will be fixed (upon due consultation with the Council of Chapters) by the Executive committee from time to time, on the ground that his personal interests are not satisfied, as the aim of SEDS-India is to promote common interests.
· The initial prescribed fees for a chapter for affiliation to SEDS-India is Rs.400/-, along with the list of executive committee and the founder members.
· Annually 20% of the annual membership fees (revised) collected by the each chapter shall be deposited into the SEDS-India account as Affiliation fees.
· The membership and the affiliation fees collected shall be spent only to the attainment of the objectives of SEDS-India.
· The total membership fees for a particular chapter shall be accounted by the treasurer of the chapter and has to be submitted to the headquarters by (date).
· The treasurer shall forward the list of members (both new and renewal) to the Director, Chapter Affairs.
· The amount collected as affiliation charges shall be transferred to the SEDS-India Account in the form of a DD (a scanned and Xerox copy of which is to be submitted to Treasurer, SEDS-India)
· Independent memberships (for members not under any of the Chapters) will be handled directly by the Head Quarters, SEDS-India.
· Membership for individual members is open any time of the year; the membership into a chapter will be decided by the corresponding Chapter . Individual membership is encouraged if there is no existing SEDS-India Chapter in the respective College/ Institution ; if exists then the mode of membership will as decided by the Chapter in the college / Institution.
Cessation of Membership:
· Members who are of 25 years of age will continue membership till the ompletion of the term after which their membership will be annulled.
· Each member will be given a notice of his cessation of membership 15 days in advance; after which any applications shall not be entertained (no penalty fees etc is to be collected)
Executive Council:
SEDS-India shall have a duly elected Executive Council consisting of a committee of 9 members and a council of chapter representatives.
· President
· Vice President
· Secretary
· Treasurer
· Director, Chapter Affairs
· Director, Outreach
· Director, Events
· Director, Projects
· Director, Public Relations
In addition to the above council a ‘Council of Chapters’ will assist the Executive committee in implementation of the decisions taken.
Election Of Executive Committee & its Functions:
· The tenure of the Executive council will be one year; after which the new Executive Council takes charge.
· The eligibility to become a member of the Executive Council is that the person is in III year of his respective course and should have the required credits to hold a post.
· The Executive Committee members will be elected at the Annual Meeting at the time of SEDS –National Conference to be conducted every year.
· Within 15 days of election of the Executive Committee the information will be intimated to the Registrar of Society.
· An report of annual list of Executive body from the date of formation of the SEDS-India or from the date of last amendment is to be maintained.
[Name , Age, Designation ,Occupation ,Address and Signature ]
· All record and documnets are to be transferred to the newly elected Executive Committee.
· The ‘Vacancies’ arising in the Executive Council due to resignation, death, or any other reason may be filled up by co-opting another member by the Executive Council for the unexpired period of such vacancy. Till then the President shall delegate those duties to the Vice President of the Executive Committee.
· The Executive Committee ordinarily meets once every calendar month or as frequently as necessary at the discretion of the Secretary.
· It will be responsible to approve `the expenditure and the activity if the society from time to time.
· To interpret, whenever, any interpretation is necessary to the bye – laws and rules.
· To review the work done in implementing the work done in implementing the earlier resolutions.
· In case of Resignation of any the Council member , the concerned person should intimate the committee well in advance ; and can resign from post only after transfer of all documents , contacts and clearance of debts if any.
Powers of the President:
· The President shall be in administrative charge of the Society, its activities and affairs.
· The President shall preside over the Executive Council meetings and have the power to control the conduct of the meetings. In case of a tie, he shall have a deciding vote.
· President shall approve the minutes of all executive committee meetings.
· The President can also set up enquiry committees(limited to his term) after due intimation to the Executive members.
Functions of the Vice President:
Shall assist the President in his work .In the absence of the President, the Vice President will chair the Executive Council meeting and attend to his functions.
- Taking the position of President in his absence.
- Overlooking the activities of the Board of Directors.
Functions of the Secretary:
· The Secretary shall be responsible for General Administration of the Society subject to the control of the President.
· The Secretary shall :
§ Have custody of all books/files and registers of the society.
§ Arrange for holding the meetings of the Executive Committee
§ Convening of all meetings, preparation of agenda and minutes for approval by the President.
§ Make available the minutes of each meeting to all executive committee members for further reference.
§ Endeavour to implement the decisions of the Executive Committee
§ Arrange annual audit of accounts of income and expenditure in correspondence with the Treasurer and shall put up to the Council for approval.
§ He shall deal with all correspondence connected with the Society.
§ Make the official intimation of the General/ Special General body meeting with the Specific Agenda, Date and Venue along with acknowledgement from the Executive committee members.
Functions of the Treasurer:
· The Treasurer shall arrange the collection of the membership fees and affiliation fees from the member chapters and maintain the accounts for the same.
· Treasurer should submit to the Executive committee a statement of accounts and shall keep the accounts open for scrutiny at all the Executive Committee Meetings.
· The funds of the society shall be deposited in a scheduled bank in the name of the Society. The Account is to be operated by the Treasurer jointly with either the President or the Secretary.
· Have access to draw money from the Bank account, with the authorization of President and due correspondence with the Secretary; along with the proper account of all receipts.
· The Treasurer shall have a maximum of Rs. 500/- as petty cash balance; any amount above the maximum limit is to be deposited with the bank, all cash payments should be made through vouchers counter signed by either the President or Secretary.
· Treasurer shall arrange for the accounts to be audited by a certified accountant prior to its submission to the Annual Meeting during the Conference
Director, Chapter Affairs
- Overlook all affairs related to chapters – correspondence, continuation and closure of chapters.
- Work towards inducting new chapters into SEDS-India
- Promote co-operation between chapters of SEDS-India
Director, Outreach and Expansion
- Create unique outreach initiatives for SEDS-India
- Overlook their working and implementation
Director, Events
- Overlook the SEDS-India National Conference, in association with the host chapter
- Overlook the events undertaken by SEDS-India
Director, Projects
- Implement projects undertaken by SEDS-India
- Study new project proposals and overlook their implementation
- Hold events related to projects undertaken
Director, Public Relations
- Responsible for the content on the blog and website
- Responsible for interaction with media sources
Council of Chapters
· The council of chapters will comprise of all the Vice Presidents of the various chapters.
· The Council shall report to the Secretary, SEDS-India.
· The suggestions of the council shall be enlisted and decide upon by the Executive council.
· The decisions/action plans by the Executive council will be put forth before the Council of chapters for a review and their feasibility in their respective chapters
· The feasibility of a new project or an event in each of the chapter and their requirements to carry out the action plans shall be put forth by the Council at the earliest.
Annual General Body meeting
· Intimation of the General/ Special General body meeting with the Specific Agenda, Date and Venue along with acknowledgement from the committee members shall be done by Secretary, SEDS-India.
· The Secretary shall notify the date of holding the meeting at least 15 days in advance of the date of the meeting
· Representation of at least one executive committee member from each chapter is a must for the Annual General Body meeting (held during the SEDS-India National Conference )
· Each Chapter Head shall submit a report of all events, projects and initiatives undertaken by the respective chapter in the meeting.
· In case of Voting , each chapter can exercise only one vote i.e one vote per chapter.
· Any SEDS-India chapter wanting to host the Annual Conference shall put forth a letter of intent for the same and a feasibility report for conducting the Conference, during the meeting. The final decision will be taken by the Executive Committee.
· Minutes of the meeting should consist of total members on the date of Meeting , the number and their signatures
· The audited annual accounts of the preceding year , report on the previous activities and appointment of an auditor to audit the accounts will be approved in the meeting.
Accounts:
· The Accounting Year is the period commencing from Feb to Feb of every year unless otherwise decided by the executive committee
· The Treasurer, SEDS-India in correspondence with the treasurer shall keep all accounts of the membership fees and the affiliation fees from each chapter.
· All transactions are to be made in the form of Demand Drafts (DD) only.
· Half-early accounts (Balance sheet) should be submitted by each chapter to Treasurer, SEDS-India.
· A copy of all accounts should be duplicated to the Secretary, SEDS-India.
· An Auditor appointed annually with remuneration as fixed by the Executive Council shall be responsible for checking the account books and for certifying the accuracy of receipts and expenditure.
· The audit report of each year has to be maintained by the Treasurer, SEDS-India.
· A copy of the audit report of the preceding year (along with the list of the new executive committee members) shall be presented before the Registrar.
Working Hours of SEDS-India
Official work and business shall be transacted on all working days between 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. The records will be open to the Registrar of Society or his/her nominee for inspection on any working day at an appointed time.
Obligations of Members
· All members should abide by the objectives of SEDS-India and the rules and regulations laid down in the constitution.
· The authorized acknowledgement of membership shall be done on the SEDS-India website.
· All members are obliged to pay the yearly assessments approved by the Council to meet the expenses in organizing and conducting the events, workshops, seminars etc.
· The members are encouraged and welcome to put forth their ideas for the betterment of the SEDS-India.
· It is mandatory for each member to carry his/her SEDS identity card (if provided by the respective Chapters) to all the organized events.
· Each member can take part in all the events organized and are entitled to attend all General Body meetings held.
· A member shall reimburse promptly any expenditure incurred for the proper cause for conducting any event etc. by providing the related bills to the Treasurer of the concerned chapter.
· The reimbursement of expenditure of a member is a ‘Chapter’ Affair. The Treasurer of that particular Chapter is responsible for all transactions regarding this.
· If a members is not happy with the functioning of his/her Chapter he is obliged to contact the Office of Chapter affairs which will act accordingly.
Alteration of Memorandom
· The policies, objectives and directives of the memorandum shall be amended only in the Annual General Body meeting.
· The memorandum can only be amended by 2/3rd majority votes of the members.
· The approved and amended memorandum must be attested by all members of the Executive Council.
· Any change in the memorandum of SEDS-India, the Registrar shall be intimated and the alteration shall not be made effective unless confirmed by the Registrar.
Alteration of the Rules
· Alteration of the Bye laws shall be put forth in the Annual General Body meeting in the presence of both the incoming and the outgoing Executive committee. The addition, amendment or repeal of any of the bye laws can be done only if 2/3rd majority of the members present approves.
· All alterations shall keep in view the objectives of SEDS-India.
· Only clauses proposed for amendments should be shown, in the proposals. When there are no changes in clauses, it need not be shown in the proposals
· The approved and altered bye laws must be attested by all members of the Executive Council.
· When there is any change in the bye laws of SEDS-India , the Registrar shall be intimated and the alteration shall not be made effective unless confirmed by the Registrar.
· The confirmed change in the bye –laws will come into effect from the new term and shall be intimated to all the chapters, which shall act accordingly.
Procedure for Dissolution of Chapter
· If a Chapter’s functioning is dormant for whatever reason, a notification of its dissolution will be issued .One year time is given for the Chapter to revive its functionality after which its affiliation to SEDS-India will be withdrawn..
· A clearance certificate should be obtained by respective chapter by paying all dues, if any.
· In case SEDS-India has to be wounded up, the property and the funds of SEDS-India shall be transferred to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
Addendum of Chapters:
· Universities /Colleges/ Institutions /Societies /Schools can apply for starting SEDS Chapters in India, keeping in norms with the Membership constraints.
· If a college/institution has at least 15 individual members, the institution will be intimated to start a Chapter under the Directorate of Chapter Affairs , keeping in view the interests of the members.
· Each Chapter should consist of not less than fifteen (15) members (including the committee members).
· The homogenous Chapter Council Structure required to start a chapter of SEDS-India is given under the section “SEDS-India Member Chapters”
· More norms of the functioning of the Chapters is provided in the section “SEDS-India Member Chapters”
· The financial terms of affiliation have been stated under the “Membership and Affiliation Fees” section.
SEDS-India : Member Chapters:
· The Chapter must preferably (not necessarily) have a Staff coordinator from the host institution to provide guidance to the students and help maintain the functioning of the chapter.
· Each Chapter of SEDS-India must have the following post occupied individually by chapter members for a periodic term:
§ President
§ Vice President
§ Secretary
§ Treasurer
· The functions of the above post are in line with those prescribed for the council of SEDS-India, but with lesser authoritative power.
· The Chapter Executive council can have members apart from the above mentioned compulsory set depending upon the nature of responsibilities being shared by the Council.
· The activities of the Chapter and its working towards student projects must be approved by the Host institution or the concerned department.
· The Directorate of Chapter Affairs is responsible for coordination and communication between the various Chapters of SEDS-India.
· Each chapter is responsible for the following:
§ Registering the chapter with the Directorate of Chapter Affairs, SEDS-India.
§ Submitting Half yearly Chapter activity reports.
§ Presenting the Chapter’s Achievements /Activities at the Annual General Body meeting
§ Receiving and distributing Recognition Certificates, Awards etc. From SEDS-India.
· The Directorate of Chapter Affairs shall maintain regular contacts with all chapters and would synchronize their working towards the common objectives of SEDS-India.