Recruitment

By default, every student at IIT Kanpur is a member of each club, society and groups under the Students’ Gymkhana. However, to be a part of the core team of a club, i.e., both secretary and coordinator, you have to go through a recruitment process.

Secretary

As a secretary of Astronomy Club, IIT Kanpur, you will be responsible for things like:

Assist in planning and organizing club events.
Collaborating with the coordinators and helping with the execution of the plans.
Managing the club’s social media handles and website, including generating content for them.
Bringing new initiatives. An idea is dumb only until it is appreciated.
Keeping yourself and others educated about latest developments in Astronomy.
Spread awareness about the club and its activities.
Having fun on a regular basis.

The recruitment for the post of secretary of Astronomy Club, IIT Kanpur usually happens during May-June with a form released by the General Secretary of the Science and Technology Council. Students interested should fill the form ASAP. The interested students are then giving a set of tasks against which they’ll be evaluated. Shortlisted students will then be called to the clubroom for a brief interview of 10 to 15 minutes. Results will be announced shortly after that. On an average, there are 25 secretaries selected per tenure.

You don’t need to be a summer project mentee in order to be eligible to be a secretary. Just a lot of enthusiasm for Astronomy and willingness to learn and grow is required to be eligible to be a secretary.

If you’re not selected to become a secretary, don’t be disheartened! You can still be a part of the core team of the club unofficially and if the then coordinators see fit and are impressed by your dedication and quality of work, you can be ratified as a secretary.

Coordinator

The post of coordinator is a demanding one, and the highest level of responsibility in the club. Apart from the advanced version of duties as a secretary, as a coordinator, you will be responsible for things including, but not limited to:

Provoding leadership and direction to the club by overseeing its operations, activities, and initiatives.
Setting short and long term goals and strategies in collaboration with other coordinators.
Delegate tasks, manage responsibilties and ensure smooth collaboration among the core team members of the club.
Guiding, supporting and mentoring the freshers, sophomores and people who’re interested in Astronomy.
Taking the lead in organizing major club events, coordinating logistics, securing necessary resources and overseeing event execution
Utilizing various platforms for effective social outreach as the primary spokesperson for the club.
Managing the club’s finances and budgets. Updating inventory with SOTA technologies.
Regularly evaulating the performance of the club and members, and offer support.
Ensuring smooth transition of leadership roles by mentoring successors, documenting important club information and facilitating the handover process for next coordinators.

The recruitment for the post of coordinator of Astronomy Club, IIT Kanpur usually happens during February-March with a form released by the General Secretary of the Science and Technology Council. Students interested should fill the form ASAP. The interested students will be given a deadline to submit a presentation as to why they should become a coordinator, their past contributions and mission and vision for the club as a coordinator. Post this, they are then given a date and time, usually post dinner at 8 PM at which they need to be present at the clubroom for their coordinator interview. It can range anywhere from 7 to 9 hours. Results will be announced shortly after that. There are 3 to 4 coordinators selected per tenure.