After a gap of almost 3 years, the season of vigorous campaigning, manifestos and chapos - is back. ‘Tis the SAC election season.

As this year’s election process began on 3rd June 2022 with the candidates filing the nomination while the votes will be cast on 12th June 2022., it’s important to understand what this hustle-bustle is all about.

The Senate is the main decision-making body of IIT Roorkee. It mainly handles academic, instructional, and research-related affairs. The Senate members are required to meet at least four times in an academic year. Headed by the Director of the institute himself, the Senate consists of many subsidiary bodies.

The SAC - Student Affairs Council - comprises the Students’ senate which consists of:

• All elected members at the Institute level, i.e., the General Secretaries and Deputy General Secretaries
• All elected members of each Bhawan and Asst. Wardens (residential) of IIT Roorkee and Saharanpur Campuses

The electoral college consists of all the students of IITR (except international students and Saharanpur campus students)

This year, the elections are being held for the following posts:

1. General Secretary (Cultural Affairs)

   Eligibility:

   • CGPA >=6.5
   • Member of Cultural Council

   Roles and responsibilities:

   • Student head of the Cultural Council under which come the 14 cultural groups of the institute. The cinema club however is not included in it.
   • Responsible for the cultural activities involving students inside the campus.
   • Acts as a mediator between the faculty head and the cultural groups conveys proposals for organizing an event or for funding.

2. General Secretary (Academic Affairs, UG)

   Eligibility:

   • CGPA >=7.5
   • UG 2nd Year Onwards

   (Only UG students can vote for this position).

   Roles and responsibilities:

   • Students’ representative for academic and course work-related issues.
   • Mainly interacts with the Dean of Academic Affairs and three other associate Deans for Curriculum, Evaluation, and Admission
   • Responsibilities include introducing new provisions and solving students’ academic-related issues, suggesting institute electives, new courses, labs, etc. to Dean Academics through DOSW
   • Student Representative in Institute Academic Programme Committee (IAPC).

3. General Secretary (Academic Affairs, PG)

   Eligibility:

   • CGPA >=7.5
   • Masters 1st Year Onwards, Ph.D. 1st Year Onwards

   (Only PG students can vote for this position).

   Roles and responsibilities:

   • Masters’ and Research Scholars’ representative for research work-related issues.
   • Point of Contact to Dean Academics through DOSW.
   • Student Representative in Institute Academic Programme Committee (IAPC).
   • Student Representative in Institute Research Committee (IRC.)

   Note: All proposals related to academic studies are generally discussed by the GS Academic Affairs UG and PG with the Deans and Student Representatives following which they are sent to all departments for their approval. The proposal is discussed in the DAPC meetings and is then put forth in the Institute Academic Programme Committee (IAPC) meetings. The IAPC deliberates upon the proposal put up by the GS and recommends it to the Senate whose decision is final.

4. General Secretary (Sports Affairs)

   Eligibility:

   • CGPA >=6.5
   • Must have at least one year of experience in Inter IIT Sports

   Roles and responsibilities:

   • Student head of the Sports Council of the institute (The sports council is an independent body headed by the Chairman, wherein the Chief Sports Officer, the Faculty Advisor, the Coaches, and the GS work in tandem to look after the plethora of sports activities that the institute has to offer)
   • Responsible for sports activities involving students inside the campus. Oversees the formation, and requirements as well as monitors the progress of the student teams participating in various sports competitions.

5. General Secretary (Technical Affairs)

   Eligibility:

   • CGPA >=6.5
   • Member STC and associated activities
   • UG 2nd Year onwards, Masters 1st Year and Ph.D. 1st Year Onwards

   Roles and responsibilities:

   • Heads the Technical Council of the institute, a student body that functions independently of the SAC.
   • Responsible for facilitating coordination between various technical groups (except IMG) for the organization of institute level activities and organization and coordination of Inter-Bhawan Technical Fest in Autumn Semester under the aegis of DOSW

   Note: Though Technical groups under Technical Council may have faculty advisors separately, they only carry advisory powers. The final authority rests with Dean-SRIC. Cognizance, the annual tech fest, is independent of the GS or the Technical council.

6. General Secretary (Entrepreneurship)

   Eligibility:

   • CGPA >=7.5
   • UG 2nd Year onwards, PG & Ph.D. 1st Year Onwards

   Roles and responsibilities:

   • The major responsibility of the GS Entrepreneurship Affairs involves infrastructural improvements from building of incubation spaces to visitations of the investors whilst disseminating knowledge about startups and the entrepreneurial world.
   • Major responsibilities include working in tandem with the Training and Placement Office to help them in the “training” the students for their internships and placements and facilitating career guidance and counseling for students to help them become professionally sound.
   • Also responsible for collaboration with Institute groups like EDC, Consulting Club, Finance Club, CIG, etc. for the organization of institute-level events.

7. General Secretary (Hostel Affairs)

   Eligibility:

   • CGPA >=6.5
   • Must have one year of prior experience in Bhawan/Mess council
   • UG 2nd Year Onwards and Masters 1st Year Onwards, Ph.D. 1st Year Onwards.

   Roles and responsibilities:

   • Responsible for undertaking Inter-Bhawan Activities on the campus, coordinating with the elected representatives at the Bhawan Level as well as ensuring transparency and dissemination of relevant information at every level in all the hostels.
   • Also responsible for conducting weekly/monthly surveys for ensuring a proper check on the Bhawan level affairs, activities, and initiatives (e.g. on Maintenance Work, Quality of food, Cleanliness, Hygiene issues, etc.)
   • Member of C.C.B (Coordination Committee of Bhawan)

8. Deputy General Secretary Hostel Affairs

   Eligibility: CGPA>= 6.5

   There shall be 3 elected Deputy General Secretary Hostel Affairs, namely

   a) Deputy General Secretary Hostel Affairs (UG Boys) - Only UG boys can vote.

   b) Deputy General Secretary Hostel Affairs (PG Boys) - Only PG boys can vote.

   c) Deputy General Secretary Hostel Affairs (Girls) - Only girls can vote.

At the end of the tenure of the SAC Executive, all centrally elected members are required to submit reports of the initiatives taken by each one of them during the tenure of SAC. The reports are verified by the DOSW and displayed publicly on the intranet portal of IITR

Election Committee

The Election Commission is in charge of organizing the elections for the councils. Student representatives nominated by the DOSW are also members of the committee which supervises and conducts the elections, scrutinizes nomination forms, declares the list of candidates, arbitrates any dispute arising during the elections, and uploads and makes available the manifestos of the candidates on the intranet portal.

Generally, the SAC elections were held in March-April, but now the elections are all set to happen in the month of June with the voting and campaigning process mostly shifted to the online mode as most of the students are not in campus owing to the summer break. The introduction of three elected posts of Deputy General Secretary Hostel Affairs, especially that for girls can be seen as a new and welcome change.

For more details or contacts refer to iitr.ac.in/election/sac2022