Executive Committee Elections 2022-2023

APPLY for the APECS Executive Committee to help shape our organization over the next year and help influence the future of polar research! The elections for the 2022-2023 APECS Executive Committee will be held in May & June 2022 for the term from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023.

Application deadline: 23 May 2022 at 23:59 GMT

The APECS Executive Committee (ExCom) consists of five members, who are elected by the APECS Council to manage the day-to-day decisions of the organization. You can find information about the ExCom on the APECS website or in the APECS Handbook, including some general information, the list of current ExCom members, as well as summaries of their meeting notes.

ExCom Elections timeline:

• 23 May 2022 at 23:59 GMT: Application deadline
• 23 May 2022 to 30 May 2022: Review period within the APECS Council including Q&A with ExCom applicants
• 6 June - 20 June 2022: Voting period within the APECS Council
• 4 July 2022: Announcement of the 2022-2023 APECS Executive Committee
• 4 July 2022 to 30 September 2022: Transition process

For any questions, the ExCom Election Coordinators 2022 (Jilda Caccavo, Clare Eayrs, Gwen Gremion, Deniz Vural, and Sarah Strand) can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

More information about how to apply to Council or get involved in Project Groups will be announced in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, note in your calendar the following dates!

13 June Call for Council leadership candidate applications released
27 June Call for Project Group Leader applications released
04 July Deadline to submit an application to candidate for Council leadership
25 July Deadline to submit an application for Project Group Leader
22 August Call for Project Group members released
19 September Deadline to submit an application for Project Group member

Who is eligible to apply?

The Executive Committee is a rewarding, very high-paced and work-intensive committee, and its members must be willing and able to contribute actively throughout their term on a daily basis via emails (except during e.g. fieldwork, exam periods, holidays) and attend the online ExCom calls (~2 hours) every two weeks. For this reason, we require applicants to meet certain criteria:

• Eligible to apply

  You are eligible to apply for the APECS Executive Committee if you are a member of APECS and have prior experience in either ...
  ... the APECS Council (current or past); or
  ... one of the APECS National Committee leaderships.

• Eligible to apply with special permission

  You are eligible to apply with special permission from the Election Committee if you are an APECS member and do not meet the criteria above, but have leadership experience from other activities/organizations. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to see if you are eligible to apply or have questions about the position.

• Not eligible to apply

  You are not eligible to apply if you ...
  ... are not an APECS member
  ... do not meet the eligibility criteria
  ... have been a previous member of the APECS Council and have been removed from it due to inactivity or other reasons.

Please note that to be a successful member of the APECS Executive Committee, a good background knowledge of APECS’ activities, projects and internal processes is required, as one of your roles will be to mentor and advise APECS committees and Project Groups. If you have not been actively involved in APECS before, we strongly recommend that you gain some experience on our APECS Council, National Committees or Project Groups first before applying for the Executive Committee.

How to apply?

• If you have previously been part of ExCom or Council leadership

  If you have been involved in ExCom meetings (e.g. as ExCom member, temporary replacement, Council Co-chair, National Committee Coordinator, or Social Media Coordinator), you will have a good idea about the work on ExCom. You can submit your application at any time by filling out this application form by 23 May 2022 at 23:59 GMT.
  
  Please note that you have to upload a short (maximum 120 seconds) video of yourself as part of the application form. To standardize submissions, all videos are to be recorded using Zoom. This video will be made available in a “view only” folder to the APECS Council to introduce ExCom applicants to the Council for review/decision-making. Please include your name, why you want to apply for ExCom, why you think you would be suited for the role, and why the Council members should vote for you.

  Your application material (excluding the video, which will only be accessible to APECS Council members on the Council Google Drive) will be publicly posted on the Elections website after the application deadline. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions or concerns regarding the application process (e.g. accessing the Google form, recording the video in Zoom, etc.).

• All other applicants

  If you have never been involved in ExCom via the capacities indicated above, please follow these steps (all of them are mandatory to complete before the application deadline):
  
  Step 1: Contact the Election Committee to let them know that you are thinking of applying and arrange for a call with them. This call is so we can discuss with you the work that you would have to do on ExCom and answer any questions you might have. Only after that call will you be invited to submit your application.
  
  Step 2: Submit your application by filling out this application form by 23 May 2022 at 23:59 GMT.
  
  Please note that you have to upload a short (maximum 120 seconds) video of yourself as part of the application form. To standardize submissions, all videos are to be recorded using Zoom. This video will be made available in a “view only” folder to the APECS Council to introduce ExCom applicants to the Council for review/decision-making. Please include your name, why you want to apply for ExCom, why you think you would be suited for the role, and why the Council members should vote for you.

  Your application material (excluding the video, which will only be accessible to APECS Council members on the Council Google Drive) will be publicly posted on the Elections website after the application deadline. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions or concerns regarding the application process (e.g. accessing the Google form, recording the video in Zoom, etc.).

What is the process for applicants after the application deadline?

• Applications posted on the Elections Website

  Your application will be publicly posted on the Elections website, and your video will be made available in a “view only” folder accessible only by the APECS Council, so that our Council members have a chance to review your application materials.

• Review Period

  The APECS Council will be reviewing your applications from 23 May - 30 May 2022. They will have the opportunity to ask you questions via email. We will collect the questions from Council members up until 30 May, when we will forward them to the ExCom applicants. ExCom applicants will have until 6 June to answer them in writing and send their answers to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., after which point the Election Committee will pass the answers to Council. It is mandatory for all ExCom applicants to answer the questions, so please ensure that you are available between 30 May - 6 June to answer questions from the Council. Remember that you want to convince the Council members to vote for you!

• Voting Period / Announcement of Results

  The Council will be voting on your applications from 6 June - 20 June 2022.
  
  The Election Coordinators will contact you on or before 27 June 2022 with the election results.

• Transition Period

  The newly elected incoming ExCom will work with the outgoing ExCom in July, August, and September to assure that an effective transition of leadership takes place. During this time, the incoming ExCom will be invited to sit in on ExCom meetings, and one or more transition meetings will be scheduled between the incoming and outgoing ExCom. If you have fieldwork or other known conflicts during this period, please contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Further instructions will be sent to the newly elected ExCom members as soon as the election results are in.

• What happens if I do not get elected?

  ExCom applicants who are not elected will have the opportunity to apply for other APECS positions, including Council leadership (application deadline 4 July), Project Group Leader (application deadline 25 July), and Project Group member (application deadline 19 September).