THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

Transcription

1 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN SPORTS SUB-COUNCIL STANDING RULES AND ORDERS 1. Name The name of the Sub-Council shall be the Sports Sub-Council. 2. Status The Sub-Council derives its mandate from the SRC and is accountable to the SRC and is thus a Sub-Council of the SRC. The purpose of the Sub-Council is to provide a link between the SRC and UCT SSU. 3. Powers and duties of the Sports Sub-Council a) To refer the following to the relevant SRC structures: (i) all policy decisions; (ii) proposed amendments to the Standing Rules of the Sub-Council; (iii) decisions that may affect the broader student community; (iv) budgets and financial statements of the Sub-Council and (v) planned programmes of Sub-Council members; provided that the such planned programmes should, as far as it is reasonably possible to provide the following information, indicate the types of activities each member plans to organize, and the number of such activities, and should provide a summary of the contents of such activities; and provided, further, that such programmes must be submitted quarterly to the SRC. b) To implement decisions of the SRC on the relevant Sub-Council. c) To make decisions on day to day, operational and technical matters that affect its respective constituency as detailed in Article 7.6 of the SRC Constitution. d) To perform duties set out in its standing orders. e) To submit minutes of its meetings to the SRC. f) To communicate matters affecting students within its respective constituency to the SRC. g) To make representations and/or presentations on particular matters to the SRC. h) To administer funds and assets raised for its own affairs in accordance with its own Standing Rules and approved budget. i) To receive funds from the SRC via the SRC Treasury, to spend such funds in accordance with the allocation, and to account for such funds in a manner prescribed Standing Rules of this constitution. j) To convene and conduct its own meetings as set out in its Standing Rules. 1

2 k) To assist its members in the day-to-day running of their affairs, including accessing resources and venues and administrative support. l) To deploy members and representatives to the Student Assembly as set out in the Standing Rules and to make representation(s) and presentation(s) on particular matters to the Student Assembly. m) To approve the constitutions and any amendments thereto of the Sports Codes in consultation with the Constitutional Committee. n) To submit regular financial reports to the SRC on a semester basis. 4. Composition The Sports Sub-Council is to consist of: a) The Sport & Recreation Co-ordinator of the Students Representative Council (as per article 4.3 of the SRC constitution); b) 3 members of the Executive Committee of UCT SSU, one of whom must be the Chairperson of UCT SSU; c) 3 persons elected at a Sports General Meeting who are not members of UCT SSU Executive Committee, but are Chairpersons of Sports Codes; d) The Chairperson of the Residences Sports Council; e) One Day Student elected by the Day Students Sub-Council, who is not a member of the Day Students Sub-Council. 5. Term of office The term of office shall run from November of the current year to October of the following year. 6. Portfolios The Chairperson of the Sports Sub-Council shall be the SRC Sport & Recreation Co-ordinator, as per clause of the SRC Constitution. The Vice-Chairperson of the Sports Sub-Council shall be the Chairperson of UCT SSU Executive Committee, elected by the Sports Codes at the Sports AGM. The Council shall, by way of election, appoint members to fill the following portfolios: i) Secretary; ii) Treasurer. Each portfolio shall have the following duties: a) Chairperson (SRC Sport & Recreation Co-ordinator) i. Regulate the conduct at the meeting; ii. Chair all meetings of the Sub-Council; 2

3 iii. Offer guidance regarding the order of business and the time spent on each item; iv. Consider all apologies and subject them to the meeting for approval; v. Represent the Sub-Council on all related committees requiring the representation of the Sub-Council; vi. Serve as a link to the SRC and ensure alignment of the principles of the Sports Sub-Council with that of the SRC constitution; vii. Delegate tasks to Sub-Council members as procedures and agenda items demand. b) Vice Chairperson (UCT SSU Chairperson) i. To stand in for or assume the duties of the chair in his/her absence; ii. To assume the duties of the chair, as delegated by the chair; iii. To provide information when needed and advise on procedural matters; iv. To ensure that the Sub-Council observes any rules by which it is constrained. c) Secretary i. To organize the date, time and place for each meeting; ii. To ensure that the committee has the best information available on the subjects to be discussed and such information is objectively presented; iii. To ensure that the agendas and minutes are prepared and circulated to the committee members within the time frames stipulated in this document; iv. To ensure that the Committee has every opportunity to take the decisions which it is asked to take and that these are reported and carried out. d) Treasurer i. To liaise with Student Treasury regarding the administration of the funds of the Sports Sub-Council that have been allocated by the SRC; ii. To liaise with the Student Development Office concerning the budget allocation to Sports as a sector; iii. To present quarterly financial statements and reports to the Sports Sub-Council, detailing the financial activities of the Sub-Council; iv. To serve as a link between the Student Treasury and the Sports Codes Committee treasurers; v. To administrator the funds of the Sports Sub-Council. 3

4 7. Meetings a) The Secretary, in consultation with the Chairperson, shall call general meetings of the Sub-Council. b) The Sub-Council general meetings shall be held at least once every month, unless a specific decision is taken by the Chairperson and Vice- Chairperson, that the meeting is unnecessary, in which case it may be cancelled by the Secretary. c) All general meetings shall be advertised in a manner that the Sub-Council may decide from time to time. d) All Sub-Council members have to attend all general meetings. e) In the event that a Sub-Council member is unable to attend a general meeting, s/he must submit a written apology to the Secretary or Chair before the start of the meeting. f) The written apology above must reflect the Sub-Council member s reason(s) for not being able to attend the meeting. g) The meeting may decide by simple majority to either accept or refuse an apology submitted by a member of the Sub-Council. h) In the event that an apology is not accepted, the Secretary shall inform the absent member concerned of the refusal of his/her apology within a week. i) The Sub-Council member whose apology has not been accepted must then be duly warned (in writing) that failure to attend another meeting without an appropriate apology will result in the member being served with the motion of censure. j) Where a Sub-Council member fails to attend two consecutive general meetings of the Sub-Council without an acceptable apology, the Sub- Council may decide to terminate that member s membership of the Sub- Council, on a two-thirds majority vote of the full membership of the Sub- Council (i.e. 6 votes out of 9). 8. Timeframe for meetings a) Sub-Council meetings shall be not more than 1.5 hours unless there is adequate reason for a longer meeting, which should be motivated for at the start of the meeting. b) Unresolved matters at the end of the meeting shall be resolved in one of the following ways at the discretion of the meeting: i. Postpone to next meeting where the matter at hand is not urgent; ii. The recommendations in the agenda are decided upon by the Chairperson where the matter at hand is so urgent that it requires an immediate decision. c) Regular meetings require 7 days notice. d) Additional meetings require 24 hours notice via and telephone. e) Emergency meetings will follow the same rules as additional meetings. 4

5 9. Quorum a) The quorum at all Sub-Council general meetings shall be 5 out of 9 members present. b) In the event that a meeting starts as quorate but subsequently loses its quorum, all decisions taken after the meeting has lost its quorum shall be binding. c) All decisions taken at meetings, which are quorate, shall be binding to all Sub-Council members including those members who were not present at these meetings. d) All decisions taken at meetings, which are not quorate, shall not bind the Sub-Council. However, they shall be circulated to all Sub-Council members via or by letter by the Secretary and the Chairperson for approval at the next general meeting. 10. The Agenda a) The Secretary and the Chairperson shall prepare the agenda for the meetings and distribute them at least 2 full working days before the meeting. b) Members of the Sub-Council may submit items for the agenda. c) Agenda items must be submitted at least 3 working days before the meeting. d) An agenda item, which must be submitted to the Secretary and Chair, must have: i. A background report on the matter; ii. iii. A formulation of the problem plus all relevant information; A proposal for addressing the said problem for the consideration of the Sub-Council. e) It is the prerogative of the Sub-Council to decide to accept the report with any appropriate amendments or to reject it. 11. Meeting Procedure a) Sub-Council members may propose with a motivation before the start of the meeting items falling under any other business. The final decision on whether to accept an item as A.O.B lies with the meeting, by simple majority. b) An attempt must be made to allow for all Sub-Council members to address meetings taking into account time constraints and attempts to delay meetings unnecessarily. c) There should be an attempt to reach decisions by consensus, failing which, decisions shall be voted upon. 5

6 d) All members of the Sub-Council have full voting rights, and in the event of a tie, the matter shall be decided by way of a Principal Circular. e) There shall be no voting by proxy, except where two-thirds of the Sub- Council members present in the meeting agree and a procedure has been identified. f) When a point of order is called, the Chairperson shall interrupt the recognized speaker and listen to the point of order. g) The Chairperson shall decide to over-rule or sustain the point of order on its merits and applicability. h) The Chairperson s ruling on any point of order or point of exigency or procedure shall be final. i) Where a point of order raised, is upheld by the Chairperson, the recognized speaker shall discontinue speaking at the point on which the point of order was raised. j) Voting in Sub-Council meetings shall be by a show of hands unless a member of the Sub-Council requests a secret ballot, in which case the vote shall be by secret ballot. k) Secret ballots shall be tallied by the Chairperson and checked by the Vice- Chairperson. In the case of a query from a member of the Sub-Council, the result shall be checked by an independent member of the SRC. 12. Conduct in meetings a) All Sub-Council members must respect the authority Chairperson in meetings. b) All Sub-Council members must refrain from disrupting the meeting, which shall include refraining from: i. Arriving late to meetings; ii. Speaking when one has not been recognized by the Chairperson; iii. Leaving the meeting without the permission of the Chairperson; iv. Leaving the meeting as a form of protest without having followed the procedure for resolving disputes; v. Answering mobile phones; vi. Delaying the meeting unnecessarily by repeating what has already vii. been said; Delaying the meeting in a deliberate attempt to prevent the meeting from progressing; c) If Sub-Council members persist in disrupting meetings, the matter may be resolved by referring the problem to the SRC Disciplinary Committee. d) The Sub-Council members should attempt to develop respect for each other by learning to listen to each other s points of view and by tolerating opinions, which differ from their own. 13. Minutes 6

7 a) Minutes of the Sub-Council general meetings shall be available to the Sub-Council members within 3 working days after the meeting. b) The minutes of meetings should be drafted as soon as possible after the meeting and submitted for comment to the Chair of the meeting. c) A copy of the agreed meetings should be placed in Minute Book/File for confirmation and signature at the next meeting of the committee. d) A copy of the minutes should be marked Secretary s Action Copy and items marked accordingly where action is necessary. The minutes should state clearly, where action is expected, by whom it should be carried out and by when as well as how, as stipulated in the meeting. e) All minutes should contain the following features: i. The date, time of commencement and place of the meeting; ii. The names of those attending the meeting and the capacity in which they attended i.e. members, observers, and people invited for specific items and secretariat; iii. Apologies and absentees without apology must be clearly recorded; iv. Each topic separately documented with an appropriate heading, which usually corresponds to the heading of the agenda item, together with any reference to any supporting documents, copies of which will be filed in the Minute Book/File; v. Where appropriate, the relevant background to the discussion that will often involve brief reference to circulated papers; vi. A clear and unambiguous record the decision reached and, if appropriate an indication of the individuals/bodies responsible for taking any subsequent action. 14. Urgent General Meetings a) Urgent general meetings may be called by the Secretary, in consultation with the Chairperson, at least two days in advance of the date of the meeting. b) Urgent general meetings may be called for important issues that require an urgent resolution. c) All general meetings must be advertised via or letters to individual members or by a prominent notice, or a combination of these methods. d) Sub-Council members should attempt to make themselves available for the urgent general meetings. 15. Student Assembly The Sports Sub-Council shall be represented, by all nine members, on the Student Assembly, in accordance with the requirements set out in the constitution of the Student Assembly. 7

8 16. Finances and Funding a) The Sports Sub-Council shall receive funds from the SRC for its administrative needs and general functioning, which shall be allocated at the beginning of its term according to the financial policy of the SRC on such matters. b) The Sports Sub-Council shall decide on a budget at the outset of its term and submit this to the SRC. Any amendments to this budget must be officially approved by the Sub-Council and communicated to the SRC immediately. c) The Chairperson, along with the Treasurer, shall be responsible for the accounts and for the final financial report to be submitted to the SRC at the end of the term. d) The Chairperson and Treasurer shall be the signatories of the account allocated to the Sub-Council by the SRC. 17. Standing Rules and Orders a) The standing rules and orders of the Sports Sub-Council must guide the general functioning of the Sub-Council. b) The Sports Sub-Council may by a two-thirds majority vote of the full membership of the Sub-Council, adopt, amend, or repeal standing rules to regulate its activities. c) Any amendments to the standing rules must be approved by the SRC before they can be officially adopted. 18. Termination Of Membership A member shall cease to be part of the Sub-Council if a member: a) Ceases to be a member of the respective council from which s/he was deployed; and/or b) Ceases to be a registered student. 19. Definitions For the purposes of this document: a) SRC refers to the Students Representative Council of the University of Cape Town. b) UCT SSU Executive Committee refers to the democratically elected governing body of the Sports Codes of the University of Cape Town. 8