If you are interested in running for the IAPS Executive Committee, this page will give you an idea of what to expect.
For position-specific information, click the EC role that interests you: President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership & Advocacy Manager, Events Manager, PR Manager, IT Manager, Outreach Manager and Recruitment Manager.
Do you have any big ideas that could bring value to IAPS? The EC is the highest authority in IAPS outside of the General Meetings and is, as such, your opportunity to move IAPS in the direction where you have always wanted it to go. During your service as an EC member you will also learn a lot about the world and yourself.
Before running, consider what you want to change.
Useful skills:
- Time management: Any EC position is a big commitment. There is a lot of work to do and formal EC meetings every other week. You are also expected to chair your working group(s). Nobody would blame you for prioritising your studies but having other large positions of trust at the same time is not recommended.
- Fluency in written and spoken English
- The ability to work as part of a multicultural team with common goals
- New ideas and initiative
- Treating others well: You do not need to be super charismatic but an understanding of how other people feel and how you should behave towards them is important
- Being able to discuss with others in a respectful way while keeping your head cool
- Reliability and the ability to follow agreements
- Taking responsibility for IAPS and being able to admit mistakes
- Answering emails: EC members are usually far apart so it is essential that you actually answer people that write to you – also the ones not in the EC. For non-urgent topics, roughly 2 days to answer is fine but some emails might require faster responses. All EC members should check their emails on a daily basis.
- Being honest when you need help and offering help when you can
- The ability to include and lead volunteers: Nine people aren’t enough for a worldwide organisation. Getting people to join in and make an impact themselves is the only way for us to grow. This year (2021/22) we had more working groups than EC members, some with over 30 volunteers!
- Being welcoming to new people: Related to the previous skill, many know the feeling of being new in an association and having the older members tell you that your ideas won’t happen. Nothing is more demotivating. Always remember to listen to new ideas and discuss them, even if you can’t immediately see how it can work. That new member could end up doing great things for IAPS.
- Being ready to travel: As an EC member, you will at least travel to attend two ICPSs as well as a meeting at the IAPS headquarters in Mulhouse, France. Your ICPS travel is on you but the IAPS budget always has some room for Mulhouse and other possible IAPS trips.
- The wish to make the world a better place: If you want a fancy title for your CV, there are far easier ways of doing it. What you do, you do for the world’s physics students and not for yourself. But having fun while doing it is definitely allowed 🙂
What to expect before the AGM:
- Once you send your application to ec@iaps.info, it will be put on the IAPS Cloud, visible to all voting IAPS members. This year (2022), we will also be holding a caucus event on July 31st (14:00 UTC) for you to defend your candidacy. You can choose to participate in this if you apply before July 31st.
What to expect at the AGM:
- At the end of the second day of the AGM (August 7th 2022), you will be able to defend your candidacy and the AGM might ask questions. Then members vote using IAPS’ electronic voting machine and the election results will be announced during the AGM.
What to expect after the AGM (if elected):
- A handover meeting between the new and old EC will take place, where IAPS members can ask questions and give suggestions for the new term.
- The previous person in your EC role will give you an individual handover before your term starts.
- Your term will begin on September 1.
What to expect during the year:
- Each EC member gets at an email account via Google for Non-Profits. Through this service, you will also be able to upload documents, have meetings, etc.
- The EC usually meets every other Sunday via Google Meet.
- At some point during the year, you should visit the IAPS headquarters in Mulhouse. We share our headquarters with the European Physical Society, who is always happy to host us. The Mulhouse meeting is usually held at some point before New Year’s as an extended weekend where the EC can work more focused and get to know each other better.
- Making decisions: What you are here for. Both in and out of meetings, making things happen is of course a key part of the job.
- Preparing for the Delegate Day, the Annual General Meeting, and the IAPS workshops: A lot of things happen during and around the ICPS and, as the EC, you need to prepare them.
- At the end of your term, it is important that you do a good handover to the succeeding EC, just like the EC before you did for you.
- Even after your term has ended, the EC succeeding you might have questions which they will appreciate you being available to answer.
- After your term has ended, the EC needs to close the ledger and send it to the Auditors which check whether the EC has acted correctly. Based on the Auditors’ report, the AGM decides whether you can be resolved of liability. Don’t worry, that is usually not a problem but the Auditors’ check is important for IAPS’ democracy.
How to further prepare yourself:
- Become a volunteer. We have several working group positions available.
- Attend an EC meeting. These are usually held on alternative Sundays and the Meeting Calls are received through the announcements IAPS list. Write to ec@iaps.info if you wish to attend/know the date of an upcoming meeting.
- Send questions to a current EC member. The email addresses are of the form: firstname.lastname(at)iaps.info. You can find their contact details here.
Does all this sound like a lot of responsibility? Well, it is but that comes with the added opportunities. Just remember why you do it and make sure to have fun!
We believe in you.
Note: take a look at other elected roles in IAPS that may also interest you. These are also elected during the AGM.