Rocketry Administration
While definitely not the most glamorous part of the job, a major part of my role as a captain for NCSSM Rocketry is administrative work. I would honestly say I probably spend 4-5 hours a week on rocketry administration in addition to the probably 8-10 hours of actual rocketry work I do.
Budgeting & Acquisitions
A significant amount of time in the beginning of the year is allotted to figuring out our budget and proposed funding sources. Part of this is writing proposals for funding from the school. In addition to figuring out the budget is actually executing the budget, and another significant portion of time is spent identifying potential vendors with care given to both cost and quality.
Long & Short Term Planning
I spend way too much time making charts. Thankfully this does allow much greater ease when setting deadlines and goals. On the short term, I spend time figuring out weekly and daily schedules and meeting plans. Over the long term, I spend time identifying key objectives and how to shape our broad schedule to complete important deliverables. Also, I try and mix in educational trainings to better ensure the high skill and confidence required for rocketry to be a success.
Coordination of Captains, Team, and Support
There are a lot of people involved with rocketry. As such, it is a constant task to make sure that everyone is on the same page. I have to make sure the other captains understand our current objectives. I have to make sure the team knows the plan and knows what they need to do. Lastly, I have to make sure our "support" (faculty sponsor, school, other partners) know what we need from them to accomplish our tasks.
Vetting Schematics and Designs
One last aspect of administering the NCSSM High Power Rocketry team is making sure we build things that work and are safe. This borders the actual rocketry work I do as captain, but I include it here due to the paperwork requirement I instituted as captain. I now require (and hope it will continue to be required) a initial paper proposal for any project with the rocket. If the initial idea passes muster, a project team then has to create a comprehensive "feasibility report" where they outline what, why, when, and how they plan to complete the project. So far, this has had fantastic results in ensuring a high quality crop of payload ideas being made by capable people. Additionally, this allows us to better understand how to help those who need it with their project.
