UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX LGBT AND FRIENDS SOCIETY CONSTITUTION

NAME

The society shall be called the University of Essex L.G.B.T and Friends Society

AIMS

To give the opportunity for self-defining Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (Transgender, Transsexual and Transvestite) as well as Queer, Bi-gendered, polysexual, FTM, MTF, MSM, WSW, epicene, and gender queer persons to meet and get to know each other, as well as those who do not self define as any of these or who otherwise self-define, through the regular holding of social events; and furthermore to play an active role in working towards an equal opportunities environment in which the interests of our members are respected and considered.

MEMBERSHIP

Full membership of the society shall be open to members of the union on payment of an annual subscription of £3. This money shall be paid into the Union Cashiers for crediting to the Society’s account.

All members shall also be members of the University of Essex Students’ Union Societies Guild.

The society shall be open to all persons, and all members shall be treated fairly and equally, regardless of gender, ethnic or national, regional or racial origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, socio-economic background, family circumstances, health including HIV status, spent offences, Trade Union membership, age or physical appearance or any other irrelevant distinction, in accordance with the Students’ Union Equal Opportunities Policy as outlined in Schedule 10 of the Union’s Constitution.

Associate Membership of the society shall be available to individuals upon receipt of the appropriate forms and fees in accordance with the relevant regulations agreed by both the society’s Executive Committee and the Societies Guild.

i. A General Meeting of the society shall be entitled to confer honorary membership of the Society in recognition of outstanding service or as a token of esteem. Such honorary members shall not be entitled to vote at any meeting nor be elected to any Executive office.

ii. Proposals for candidates to receive honorary memberships can be made by any full member of the society. A two-thirds majority at any General Meeting shall be required to confer honorary memberships. Any successful candidates shall be informed by the President of the society in writing.

THE COMMITTEE

1 aThe Committee shall consist of;

The President

The Secretary

The Treasurer

The Social Secretary

The Women’s Officer

The Media Officer

1 bIn a case where the Society is run on a co-operative basis at least one ‘contact’ name must be supplied.

2The Committee shall be elected annually under the terms of appendix A to this constitution.

The Committee shall be responsible to General Meetings of the members of the Society and for the day to day running of the society.

The Committee shall formally meet at least twice every month.

DUTIES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

All committee members have the responsibility to act in the best interests of the members of the society as their elected representatives.

The society’s PRESIDENT shall have the following responsibilities;

Coordinate the activities of the committee and to be the first among equals.

Represent the Society at all times in matters affecting its interests or those of its members.

Ensure that all society officials do the job that they have been assigned to do at a high standard.

take the Chair at all meetings of the Society at which s/he is present, unless inappropriate that they do so.

Be the society’s main point of contact between Societies Guild, the Student’s Union and the University.

Arrange all elections within the society and Chair them in a professional and impartial manner, ensuring that each member has a fair and equal opportunity to vote. If it is inappropriate for the President to Chair elections than the responsibility shall fall to the Vice-President, and will continue to pass onwards if it remains inappropriate, in the order of Secretary, Treasurer, Social Secretary and Web Officer.

In the event that no suitably impartial chair is available then the President will appeal to the VP Sports & Societies to find an appropriate Chairperson.

Be ultimately responsible for arranging the society’s stall and promotional material at Freshers’ and Re-Freshers Fair.

Assist the Secretary with general recruitment.

Be a point of contact for all new members.

Support all other officials in their roles as far as possible.

Be responsible for the planning, coordination and running of training for new members of the society’s committee aside from the Sports & Societies Officer’s Training.

Be the members’ representative, listening to all members’ grievances, and where appropriate communicating these to the society’s committee, Societies Guild, the university and the Students’ Union.

Other duties as agreed by the society’s committee.

The Society’s VICE PRESIDENT shall have the following responsibilities;

Represent the Society in matters affecting its interests or those of its members whenever the President is unable to do so.

Take the Chair at all meetings of the Society at which the President is not in attendance or for which it be inappropriate that the President Chairs.

Ensure the administrative duties involved in the society are carried out swiftly and correctly.

Arrange and facilitate the society’s involvement with and appearances in student media and other media.

Other duties as agreed by the society’s committee.

The Society’s SECRETARY shall have the following responsibilities;

The calling of all meetings of the society or the committee, the preparation of agenda for such meetings and the keeping and preparing of minutes for such meetings.

The conduct of correspondence on behalf of the Society and keeping the VP Sports & Societies informed of the names and addresses of Officers of the Society and of any amendments to this constitution.

The upkeep and maintenance of the society’s website.

Design and distribution of posters in allegiance with the President for general recruitment.

Maintain and regularly update the society’s membership list, including email subscription lists.

General communication within the society, including a monthly newsletter as appropriate on all society activities.

Support the President with arrangements for Freshers’ and Re-Freshers Fayre.

Maintain an accurate and up to date list of all former members of the society that wish to be kept aware of the society’s status and send information to Alumni as they wish.

Other duties as agreed by the society’s committee.

The society’s TREASURER shall have the following responsibilities:

All the society’s expenditure in accordance with the Student Unions’ regulations and shall be responsible to the Committee and the society membership for this.

Handling the Society’s petty cash and shall prepare estimates of expenditure under the general direction of the Committee at such times as shall be required by the Union’s VP Sports & Societies.

Other duties as agreed by the society’s committee.

The society’s SOCIAL SECRETARY shall have the following responsibilities:

the planning, organisation, advertising and carrying out of social events for the Society.

The upkeep and maintenance of the social pages of the society’s website.

Other duties as agreed by the society’s committee.

7The Committee may allocate to members such duties as it sees fit, but retain overall responsibility and accountability for the conduct of the society.

REMOVAL OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

1 A serving member of the Committee can be removed from office through a vote of no confidence if it is deemed that they have breached this constitution or the trust of the society’s membership to such severity as to warrant their retention of the position untenable.

2 Gross misconduct by an elected representative, including for example, although not exclusively, corruption, fraud, theft, physical violence, threatening behaviour, persistent harassment, intimidation or bringing the society into serious disrepute will give rise to a vote of no confidence at a General, Emergency General or Annual General Meeting.

3In order for a member of the society to call for a vote of no confidence the signatories of 50% plus one of the membership must be handed to either the President, the Vice President, or the Secretary of the society.

4 A committee member can be removed from office if the following procedure is followed;
i. They have been offered the option of resignation by the committee.
ii. They are called to defend their case to a General, Extraordinary General, or Annual General Meeting of the society’s membership.
iii. A vote of no confidence is carried with a two-thirds majority in favour.

5 A committee member shall be considered to have resigned if they miss three consecutive committee meetings without adequate apologies.

6A Committee member may resign by sending a letter to the Secretary or President of the society.

FINANCE

The finances of the society shall be conducted in accordance with the relevant sections of the Union Constitution and with any other instructions laid down from time to time by Union Council, the Societies Guild or the VP Sports & Societies.

The Society’s accounts shall be available for inspection at all times by the VP Finance & Services, the VP Sports & Societies or persons appointed by these.

The Societies Guild or the VP Sports & Societies can only allocate funds to societies whose constitution has been ratified by the Societies Guild.

The PRESIDENT, TREASURER, or named person under section 4.1b shall be responsible for the finances of the society and shall be held to account by the membership of the society and the Societies Guild.

MEETINGS

Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Appendix B to this constitution.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

Any member may have the right to draw to the attention of the VP Sports & Societies any irregularities in the running of the Society and ask them to investigate the matter.

The Society may accept the decision of the VP Sports & Societies on any matters referred under 8.1 above or else appeal to the Societies Guild or Union Council.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

1. All complaints relating to the society, its activities and its procedures shall be addressed initially to the President through verbal means, who shall respond within ten days.  If initial response is unsatisfactory, a written complaint should be made to the President and the Secretary jointly.

2. The President and Secretary shall respond to all written complaints within ten days. If the response received is adjudged to be unsatisfactory, or if the complaint is about the President, or it is otherwise deemed inappropriate to be addressed by the society’s committee then it may be addressed to the President of the Societies Guild (Vice President Sports & Societies). If the response remains unsatisfactory then a further written complaint should be sent to the President of the Students’ Union in accordance with Schedule Eight of the Union’s Constitution.

3.If none of the above has been deemed effective, and the actions of the VP Sports & Societies or the Union President has not been satisfactory then the complaint may be brought before Union Council, the sovereign body of the Students’ Union with responsibility for holding the Union Executive to account.

REPRESENTATION OF THE SOCIETY AT SOCIETIES GUILD GENERAL MEETINGS (SGGMs) AND SOCIETIES GUILD FEDERAL MEETINGS

Two Full Members of the Society shall be responsible for representing the society at General Meetings of the Societies Guild and at Federal Meetings of the Societies Guild. In the event that either of the representatives is unable to attend they should inform the President who shall be responsible for appointing a replacement.

AMENDMENTS

This constitution and Appendices may be amended at an Annual General Meeting, a General Meeting or an Emergency General Meeting of the Society providing that two thirds of the members present and voting agree and provided that the notice to call the meeting contains a statement of the proposed amendment.

Any full member of the society may propose amendments to this constitution. Proposed amendments should be received by the secretary a minimum of 5 working days before the meeting at which the amendments will be discussed.

THE UNION CONSITUTION

This constitution, however it shall be amended, shall at all times comply with the relevant sections of the Union Constitution and its Appendices, moreover, no section of this constitution which conflicts with it shall be valid. If in cases of conflict the Union Constitution takes precedence.

SAFEKEEPING OF CONSITUTION

One copy of this constitution and its Appendices, howsoever amended, shall be kept by the Secretary and shall be available for consultation by any members of the Society at reasonable time.

One copy of this constitution and its Appendices, howsoever amended shall be deposited with the Students’ Union’s VP Sports & Societies.

In the case of dispute the copy of the constitution and its Appendices described under section 14.2 above shall be deemed to be the authoritative version.

APPENDIX A

ELECTIONS

The Committee shall be elected in the final term of the academic year and shall take office on the following day to hold office until one year later, or until they are removed from office under 9 below, or until such time as they are no longer registered students, whichever be the earliest.

A member elected to fill a casual vacancy shall take office immediately and hold office until the next annual election, or until they are removed from office under 9 below, or until such time as they are no longer registered students, whichever be the earliest.

Members of the Committee must be full members of the Society.

The meeting at which the annual elections take place shall be referred to as the Annual General Meeting.  A quorum for this meeting shall be:

MembershipQuorum

20 – 3010

31 – 5015

51 – 7520

76 – 10025

101+30

Minutes and a list of members present shall be delivered to the VP Sports & Societies not more than one week after the meeting for ratification by the Societies Guild.

The President shall stand as an impartial Chairperson for any election (unless inappropriate), and shall be responsible for the free and fair conduct of the election or vote. In an event where it is inappropriate for the President to Chair elections then the responsibility shall fall to the Vice-President, and will continue to pass onwards if it remains inappropriate, in the order of Secretary, Treasurer, Social Secretary and finally Web Officer. In the event that no suitably impartial chair is available (such as all the above are either absent, running for re-election or election to another position, or the position is vacant) then the President will appeal to the VP Sports & Societies to find an appropriate Chairperson.

Notice of elections shall be posted and sent by the SECRETARY to all members at least ten (10) working days before the AGM and shall contain;

The date, time, place of the AGM

The posts for which nominations are invited

The form nominations shall be received in

The closing date for nominations

The person(s) to whom nominations shall be delivered and the mode of delivery

5.Nominations shall be in writing and include the name of a proposer and seconder who shall be members of the Society and a signed statement by the person being nominated stating that s/he agrees to the nomination.

6. If in the event that no nominations are received before an AGM for any particular position(s) then nominations, proposers and seconders will be taken from the floor.

6.No person shall propose or second more than one person for the same office nor may any person nominate any other person for a post for which s/he is standing.

Elections shall be by single transferable vote.  In the case of a tie a second vote shall be taken between the tying candidates.  A second tie shall be resolved by an additional round of speeches followed by a final vote, if there remains no victor then the winner shall be drawn by lot.

In all elections there shall be the option to vote for ‘RON’ or Re-Open Nominations. This serves as a ‘none-of-the-above’ option. If the candidate with the highest number of votes receives less votes than RON than that candidate shall not take up office and another election will be called for at the nearest available opportunity.

Only members of the society defined under 3.1 of the constitution shall be entitled to vote in society elections, and there shall be no proxy voting.

A by-election to fill a casual vacancy shall be held within three weeks of term of the post falling vacant.

Complaints about the conduct of elections or the actions of candidates or others which might be considered to be detrimental to the fair conduct of the election may be made by any member of the Society, in writing within seven days of the election to the VP Sports & Societies who may order a re-election if they are satisfied that the conduct of any person was such that the results of the election may have been affected.

APPENDIX B

MEETINGS

Annual General Meetings, Emergency General Meetings, General Meetings and Committee Meetings shall be called by the Secretary on the instructions of the President except under 2 below.

The Secretary shall call an Extraordinary General Meeting on receipt of a request to hold one, signed by ‘n’ members of the Society (‘n’ being the number of members required to hold a quorate AGM) specifying business to be transacted at such a meeting.

The President shall stand as a Chairperson for all meetings (unless inappropriate), and shall be responsible for the conduct of debate at said meetings. In an event where it is inappropriate for the President to Chair meetings then the responsibility shall fall to the Vice-President, and will continue to pass onwards if it remains inappropriate, in the order of Secretary, Treasurer and finally Social Secretary. In the event that no suitably impartial chair is available (such as all the above are either absent, running for re-election or election to another position, are a subject of business at the meeting, or the position is vacant) then the President will appeal to the VP Sports & Societies to find an appropriate Chairperson.

All members shall be informed of the date, time and place of meetings a minimum of three working days beforehand.

At least one General Meeting of the society’s membership shall be held per term. The society’s committee shall be subject to the direction of these meetings.