UNITED KINGDOM INFRA-RED TELESCOPE BOARD RULES OF PROCEDURE

Transcription

1 UNITED KINGDOM INFRA-RED TELESCOPE BOARD RULES OF PROCEDURE Article 1 - Definitions (Version: Jan 2000) 1.1 In these Rules of Procedure the following terms shall be used in the sense in which they are defined in this Article: 'The Board': the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope Board (UKIRTB); The Executive Agency : the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC). Article 2 - Terms of Reference 2.1 The Terms of Reference of the Board are set out in Annex one. Article 3 - Membership of the Board 3.1 The Membership of the Board shall be made up of: 5 members appointed by the Executive Agency; 1 member appointed by the UH; 1 member appointed by the Executive Agency from amongst its staff who will act as its representative. 3.2 The member representing the Executive Agency will have the power of veto over items relating to financial matters 3.3 The Executive Agency shall designate a member of its staff as Secretary to the Board. The Secretary will be provided at the expense of the Executive Agency. 3.4 Expenses of members of the UKIRT Board will be provided by the body which has appointed them. Article 4 - Chairman 4.1 The Chairman of the Board shall be appointed by the Executive Agency from amongst the members of the Board. 4.2 The Chairman shall normally hold office for three years, with appointments being for an initial period of two years with an option to extend for one year. 4.3 In the absence of the Chairman at any meeting the Board shall appoint one of its members to act as Chairman for that meeting. 1

2 Article 5 - Meetings of the Board 5.1 The UKIRT Board shall meet at least twice a year, and shall receive reports from the on-island UKIRT budget holder which shall include a report on operations on Hawaii, developments and any other aspects of the management of the UKIRT installation and its associated facilities, as the UKIRT Board may require. 5.2 Additional meetings may be called by the Chairman or at the request of any three members. 5.3 UKIRT Board members shall be given reasonable notice of meetings and an agenda and papers shall be circulated in advance. 5.4 Proper minutes of meetings shall be kept and shall be circulated to all members. 5.5 Closed sessions may be called by the Chairman or at the request of any two members of the Board. Article 6 - Decisions of the Board 6.1 The Board shall take decisions in its meetings only if at least three members are present, one of whom must be the representative of the Executive Agency. 6.2 The UH appointed member shall have voting rights as a member of the UKIRT Board on matters of scientific policy. The UH appointed member shall not have voting rights on matters concerning finance and manpower, the setting of annual budgets and forward estimates, the review of the value of the contribution of each Party to the programme, the allocation of telescope time or the appointment of the Chairman. For matters in which the UH appointed member does not have voting rights the UH appointed member shall be accorded observer status. 6.3 Decisions on the annual budget, finance, manpower and its disposition the arrangements for the allocation of telescope time and all other decisions shall require a quorum of three members present at a UKIRT Board meeting, including the Chairman The Chairman shall not hold a casting vote. Article 7 - Attendance at Meetings 7.1 The meetings of the Board are attended by: (v) the duly appointed members; the on-island UKIRT Budget holder; the Head of UKIRT Operations; persons invited by the Chairman of the Board to attend specific items on the agenda of the Board relevant to the responsibilities of those persons, or for the efficient administration of the Board's business; the Secretary to the Board. 2

3 Article 8 - Agenda of Meetings 8.1 The Secretary lays down the draft-agenda for the meetings of the Board. 8.2 Any member of the Board may introduce items on the draft-agenda for a meeting of the Board. The Secretary must be notified thereof at least three weeks before the aforesaid meeting will take place. 8.3 The Secretary will provide the members with the draft-agenda and papers attached to it at least two weeks before the meeting will take place. 8.4 At the beginning of each meeting the Board shall agree the agenda, taking into account the draft-agenda. 8.5 The minutes of each meeting shall be drafted by the Secretary, circulated to all members of the Board and shall be approved during the meeting following the meeting they record. Article 9 - Sub-committees 9.1 The Board may set up Sub-committees as it considers necessary to advise it on any matter within its competence, the members of which need not be members of the UKIRT Board. 9.2 The Board decides upon a written draft regarding: the membership of the Subcommittee(s); the task and/or Terms of Reference of the Subcommittee(s); the time during which the Subcommittee(s) shall be active; the method of reporting by the Subcommittee(s) to the Board. 9.3 The expenses of persons attending meetings of the Subcommittee(s) shall be met by the bodies inviting them to attend. 9.4 During each meeting of the Board the Secretary shall provide the Board with information about the progress in the Subcommittee(s). Article 10 - Consideration of Business by Correspondence 10.1 The Board, on the request of any member of the Board, may decide to consult the members by correspondence on items of business which have to be settled between meetings The Secretary shall provide the members with a well defined proposal concerning the aforesaid item(s) and shall allow at least two weeks for a written answer by the members. 3

4 10.3 Consultation by correspondence is regarded as equivalent to a formal decision of the Board only if all members agree with the proposal mentioned in paragraph 9.2 of this Article The results of the consultation by correspondence shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting following the consultation. Article 11 - Consideration of Urgent Business by the Chairman 11.1 In the event of business arising requiring an urgent decision, and which for reasons of time scale cannot be dealt with under the correspondence procedure laid down in Article 9, the Chairman shall take the decision in consultation with the representative of the Executive Agency The Secretary shall provide the Chairman with a well defined proposal concerning the aforesaid item(s) The Chairman shall approve the minimum action necessary to deal with the item(s) satisfactorily until the next Board meeting, in such a way as to minimise prejudice to any subsequent action the Board may consider The Secretary shall write to Members to inform them of any decisions taken under the Urgency Procedure Decisions taken under the Urgency Procedure shall be reported to the Board at its next meeting. Article The UKIRT Board shall have a full access to all such information as is required to enable it properly to carry out its functions. Article The UKIRT Board shall abide by these Rules of Procedure unless and until such rules are varied by further decision of the Executive Agency. 4

5 ANNEX 1 UKIRT BOARD RULES OF PROCEDURE TERMS OF REFERENCE The Executive Agency has, with effect from 1 October,1996, set up a UKIRT Board to oversee the operation of the UKIRT installation, to foster and develop collaboration between astronomers in the use of the UKIRT installation, and to endeavour to maintain it in the forefront of world astronomy. In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing objectives, the UKIRT Board shall: (v) (vi) (vii) be the body with overall budgetary and policy control over UKIRT; provide guidance to the on-island budget holder for UKIRT on the content of his/her management plans; approve a management structure for Operation following proposals by the on-island budget holder for UKIRT and the job descriptions and appointments of key UKIRT staff; agree the programmes for the operation, maintenance and development of the UKIRT installation and for the use of common facilities as provided by the on-island budget holder for UKIRT; approve annual budgets and forward estimates covering both money and manpower for the programmes as provided by the on-island budget holder for UKIRT; determine the policy and procedures for the allocation of Observing Time, which shall be based on peer review; make arrangements to take into account the views of users of the telescope in its operation, maintenance and development; (viii) comment on grant applications submitted to the Executive Agency which relate to UKIRT and provide advise on these applications to the on-island budget holder and the Executive Agency; (ix) produce an annual report to the Executive Agency; The Board should meet at least twice per year and should report at least once per year in writing to the Executive Agency on the operation and financial position of UKIRT. 5