Southampton University Engineering Society (SUES)

Transcription

1 Southampton University Engineering Society (SUES) Constitution of the Society Name 1. The name of the society shall be Southampton University Engineering Society (hereafter SUES ). This Document 2. This constitution, without limit or restriction, is subject to any conditions, limitations, requirements or restrictions imposed upon it by the constitution of the Southampton University Student s Union (hereafter SUSU ) Society Type 3. SUES shall be a departmental society, which is fully affiliated with SUSU. SUES shall be under the jurisdiction of the Societies Department Committee (SDC). Society Committee 4. The society committee shall at all times have a minimum of a President, a Treasurer and a Secretary. 5. The society committee shall consist of additional officers detailed in article 10, and have a hierarchy as per the document SUES Committee Officers Hierarchy. 6. The Executive Committee of the society shall be the President, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President Academic, Vice-President Social and Vice-President Sport. 7. The President and Chairperson of the society shall have served a minimum of 6 months on the committee before election to this post. 8. In the event that a Chairperson is not elected, the President assumes the roles of both positions. 9. The Discipline Representative roles shall be taken by any existing member of the committee that is in that discipline, with dedicated representatives elected for all remaining disciplines. 10. Upon the election of a new committee, in part or in full, the outgoing committee is responsible for overseeing the handover of responsibilities for a minimum of two academic weeks (hereafter handover period ) following the elections. The detailed responsibilities of the outgoing officers are: a. President: i. Ensure that all other handovers occur. ii. Provide a predicted or guidance timetable of activities. iii. Provide the contact details of all sponsors and arrange an introductory meeting. iv. Arrange an initial introductory meeting between the new and outgoing president, treasurer and secretary. v. Arrange an initial introductory meeting of the new and outgoing committees. b. Treasurer: i. Coordinate and ensure the handover of bank account signatories within the handover period. ii. Ensure the preservation and correct handover of the society accounts in both electronic and physical (paper) forms. c. Secretary: i. Coordinate and ensure the change of ownership of all mailing lists used by the society. ii. Ensure the preservation and correct handover of the member list in both electronic and physical (paper) forms.

2 d. Vice-President Academic: i. Provide the contact details of any persons related to academic events, both SUSU and otherwise. ii. Provide a predicted or guidance timetable of academic events with detailed information of any trip organisation, or similar. iii. Instruct on the organisation of UCAS tours and organise an introductory meeting with persons involved. e. Vice-President Social: i. Provide the contact details of any persons related to social events, both SUSU and otherwise. ii. Provide a predicted or guidance timetable of social events with detailed information of any trip organisation, or similar. iii. Arrange an introductory meeting with the Event Manager (and team). f. Vice-President Sport: i. Provide the contact details of all sports team captains and arrange introductory meetings if considered necessary. ii. Provide a predicted or guidance timetable of sporting events with detailed information of any trip organisation, entry fees or similar. g. Chairperson: i. Provide the contact details of any persons involved in arranging meetings. ii. Instruct on the methods used to book rooms, SUSU or otherwise. iii. Coordinate with the outgoing President to arrange the initial introductory new and outgoing committee meeting. h. Bookshop Manager: i. Provide the contact details of any persons involved in the storage of the bookshop and arrange an introductory meeting. ii. Provide all bookshop records and information. i. Clothing Manager: i. Provide the contact details of clothing companies used. ii. Provide all previous clothing order information, including any outstanding. iii. Handover any unclaimed clothing. j. Publicity Manager: i. Provide the contact details of any publicity related companies or other persons that have been used in the past. ii. Provide all previous publicity related order information, including any outstanding. iii. Handover any materials, electronic or otherwise, related to the publicity of the society. k. Event Manager: i. Provide the contact details of any persons related to the balls, both SUSU and otherwise. ii. Provide a predicted or guidance timetable of the balls with detailed information. l. Webmaster: i. Provide the account details of all Internet accounts, including but not limited to, the FTP username and password for the website, the database account name and password for the website, and the Facebook login information. ii. Transfer any on-site login information to new committee members, including but not limited to, website blogging access and Facebook group administration. 11. The roles of the officers of the society shall be: a. President: i. The President is the figurehead of the society to all external interests. They are responsible for any other tasks that do not come under the jurisdiction of other officers.

3 ii. The President shall endeavour to maintain and improve upon any sponsorship. iii. The President shall be a joint signatory on the society s bank account. b. Treasurer: i. The Treasurer shall maintain the accounts of the society and have them available for examination at the AGM. ii. The Treasurer shall be a joint signatory on the society s bank account. c. Secretary: i. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of society meetings which shall be available to the Southampton University Student Union (SUSU) s Societies Department Committee (SDC) and members of the society via the society website or on request. ii. The Secretary shall upkeep a list of society members that shall be available to all committee members. iii. The Secretary shall upkeep a mailing list of society members and shall handle all communication to those members. d. Vice-President Academic: i. The VP Academic shall organise the academic activities available to members as per, but not limited to, article 16. e. Vice-President Social: i. The VP Social shall organise the social activities available to members as per, but not limited to, article 16. f. Vice-President Sport: i. The VP Social shall organise the sporting activities available to members as per, but not limited to, article 16. g. Chairperson: i. The Chairperson shall organise committee meetings as often as necessary, but with a minimum of one meeting every three weeks. ii. The Chairperson shall have no vote in any committee decision, with the exception of the induction or expulsion of committee members. iii. In the event that the Chairperson has more than one role on the committee, excluding the role of President, the inability to vote detailed in article 10(g)ii supersedes the voting rights of that position. iv. The chairperson acts as a neutral party in disputes or debate within the committee. h. Bookshop Manager: i. The Bookshop Manager shall maintain the bookshop. i. Clothing Manager: i. The Clothing Manager shall organise the ordering, production and distribution of society clothing. j. Publicity Manager: i. The Publicity Manager shall organise the ordering, production and distribution of society membership cards. ii. The Publicity Manager shall maintain the society notice board. iii. The Publicity Manager shall coordinate all other publicity of the society and provide a means for all society events to be publicised to members. k. Event Manager: i. The Event Manager shall aid the VP Social in their role. ii. The Event Manager shall organise and coordinate the summer, and winter balls. iii. The Event Manager may organise a team of up to three other individuals from within the University of Southampton to aid them in the organisation of social events. This team will have no vote on the committee and will be the responsibility of the Event Manager.

4 l. Webmaster: i. The Webmaster shall maintain and moderate the society s Internet interests including, but not limited to, the website and the Facebook page. m. Discipline Representatives (Aeronautical, Civil, ISVR, Mechanical, Ship Science): i. The discipline representatives shall act as an additional point of contact for the society members within their discipline. n. Project Representatives (see article 16.x) i. The project representatives shall act as a point of contact for the sub-societies within the main committee. Society Membership 12. Life-time membership is open to any registered student or alumni of the University of Southampton upon payment of the life-time membership fee as set by the society s committee. 13. Year membership is open to any registered student or alumni of the University of Southampton upon payment of the year membership fee as set by the society s committee. 14. The year membership entitles the owner membership to the society until the end of the academic year in which the membership was purchased. a. Year membership is to cost less than half the cost of lifetime membership. 15. All members to be issued with membership cards of the committee s design. a. Membership cards should include the name of the society, a contact address of the society and if provided for year membership: the academic year for which such membership is valid. Society Objectives and Aims 16. The society s primary objective is to help all students studying (but not restricted to) any engineering or engineering science discipline at the University of Southampton (UoS) via the following aims: i. Provide an interaction platform for all students and staff of the Faculty of Engineering. ii. Work in conjunction with the Electronics and Computer Sciences Society (ECSS) to maintain links with the engineering students covered by SUES prior to the 2010 faculty division. iii. Invite the President of the Electronics and Computer Sciences Society (ECSS) to SUES committee meetings where appropriate as per article 6.iii. iv. Work in conjunction with the Maths, Engineering and Sciences Societies (MESS) to maintain links with the other disciplines from within the former Faculty of Engineering, Science and Maths (FESM) after the 2010 faculty division. v. Work in conjunction with the Nursing and Midwifery Society (NAMSOC) in social events to provide a balance to the gender bias present within SUES and NAMSOC. vi. Invite the President of the Nursing and Midwifery Society (NAMSOC) to SUES committee meetings where appropriate as per article 6.v. vii. Improve relationships between students and staff by expressing views on student s behalf. viii. Unite all students and staff from the disciplines within the Faculty of Engineering through social events. ix. Provide assistance and better understanding in careers with aids from various leading engineering companies and connections. x. Investigate and support any feasible project for members to gain hands-on experience. a. Provide support for the University of Southampton Motor Racing Team (USMRT). b. Provide a representative position on the SUES committee for USMRT. c. Provide support for the Toastrack vehicle renovation project.

5 xi. xii. xiii. xiv. d. Provide a representative position on the SUES committee for Toastrack. e. Provide support for the Southampton Students for Exploration and Development of Space (SoSEDS). f. Provide a representative position on the SUES committee for SoSEDS. Provide a bookshop as a platform for members to sell/buy old textbooks at an affordable price. Organise industrial trips to various companies (one trip per discipline if possible) during termtime. Organise sports teams and sporting activities, events and/or competitions (including intramural) for members of SUES. Provide a platform to inform members of society activities and other happenings via the SUES notice board (currently located in building 5), website ( and social networking technologies (e.g. Facebook). Rules Governing Society Actions 17. All actions of SUES and its representatives to be approved by the SUES committee with a minimum of 50% of committee members voting for the action. Committee members are collectively responsible for all the society s actions. 18. In the event that the committee is unavailable to vote on a decision that if not made will catastrophically affect the society or its image by rendering it financially insolvable, legally in fault, or risk the health or safety of a member or non-member, that decision may be taken by the President in agreement with at least one other member of the Executive Committee. 19. Payments to committee members must be approved by a majority at a quorum committee meeting and should not exceed 50 per year per person, unless the committee member performs a service that would otherwise have to be purchased commercially at a higher cost. 20. All major decisions involving sums over 50 must be approved by a majority at a quorum committee meeting in advance. If this is not possible the committee should authorise one or more committee members to take that decision on its behalf. 21. The President of the society casts the deciding vote at all meeting if the vote on any issue is drawn. 22. The committee may appoint or dismiss committee members by a two-thirds majority at a quorum committee meeting. Committee members to be dismissed must have been informed of the vote at least five days in advance. 23. Committee members wishing to resign must inform the President five days in advance of putting a letter of resignation before a committee meeting. That committee member is no longer responsible for the society s actions after the presentation of that letter. 24. Should the President resign, an acting president is to be elected from within the executive committee by at least a two-thirds majority of the entire committee. This election should be confirmed by an emergency general meeting of members within six academic weeks of the appointment (excluding exam periods). 25. If the President is unavailable due to illness or similar and is expected to return within three weeks, his or her responsibilities will pass to the Vice-Presidents for that period. If it becomes evident that the President will not return, and election of an acting president should be called as stated in article Society accounts must be balanced after every statement, signed by the President and Treasurer, and presented to the Dean of the Faculty at least once an academic year. Full accounts for the year must be presented at the Annual General Meeting. 27. Quorum committee meetings must not contain less than half the current serving committee members as approved at the previous AGM unless members are appointed or dismissed in between. 28. An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held once a year, by the end of April. 29. The AGM shall be advertised to society members at least four academic weeks in advance.

6 30. Elections for society committee members shall be held at the AGM. Nominations shall be advertised at least four academic weeks in advance and invited at least 2 academic weeks before the meeting on provided nomination forms. 31. Elections shall be advertised to all society members. 32. The President shall chair the AGM for all items excluding elections, where the Chairperson shall take over. 33. Elections shall be carried out by a show of hands or secret ballot as decided by the Chair of the meeting. Should the result be tied, the Chair may vote in favour of one of the candidates or declare the post unfilled. 34. If a post on the committee is not elected for any reason, the existing member(s) of the unfilled post(s) shall continue in those role(s) until such time as a new candidate is elected. If the existing member(s) is unable to continue for any reason, then the role falls to the next highest post as given in the hierarchy. 35. General actions of the committee should be guided by the SUES Past Practices document. Constitutional Amendments 36. The society committee shall first approve any amendments to this constitution. 37. Once approved by the committee, any amendments to this constitution shall be approved by the members of the society at a general meeting. 38. Once approved by the society, any amendments to this constitution shall be submitted to the SUSU Societies Officer for consideration and approval by the SDC. Last Edited on 12 March 2013 by Stephen Lewis (Chairman) Approved by Committee on 12 March 2013 Approved by Society Members on 12 March 2013 Approved by SDC on [Unapproved]