University of British Columbia Debate Society Constitution Presented at the Annual General Meeting, March 18, 2008 Article 1: Name 1. The name of this organization shall be the University of British Columbia Debate Society. (UBCDS or the Society). Article 2: Membership 1. The University of British Columbia Debating Society (UBCDS) shall consist of members and honourary members. 2. Members shall be those persons who: i. are members in good standing of the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia (Alma Mater Society or AMS), and have paid the UBCDS fees for the current academic year. 3. Honourary members shall be those persons who have been designated by a two-thirds resolution of the membership. 4. Honourary members who are also members shall, for all practical purposes, be simply members without the limitations or restrictions of honourary member status. 5. All Presidents of the UBC Debating Society are considered honourary members upon the end of their term. 6. An honourary member ceases to be an honourary member of the Society upon a two-thirds resolution of the executive board. 7. Novice members, or novices, are those members who have not competed in a University-level tournament in any prior year and who have not been members of the Society in any prior year. i. A member who has debated in a university level tournament representing another debate society or high school debate team shall not be considered a novice.
Article 3: Code of Conduct 1. The rights of all members of the UBCDS and all participants in UBCDS events are to include but not be limited to i. having no reason to feel uncomfortable based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, disability, or any other characteristic, i being treated with basic human decency, and experiencing a climate of respect in the Society and its events. 2. The prohibited grounds for discrimination or harassment include, but are not limited to i. offensive language or behaviour, i iv. denigrating comments on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age sex, sexual orientation, gender, or disability, harassing, threatening, assaulting or intimidating others, damaging or destroying any property that does not belong to them, and v. the publication or speaking of any untrue statements designed to incite hatred, ridicule, or contempt, or to lower the esteem of any individual in the public eye; or vi. threatening to commit any of the aforementioned acts. 3. This code applies to i. all meetings of the Society, any Society-sanctioned event or forum, i any social event linked to the Society, and iv. any activity or conduct significantly and directly linked to the Society. Article 4: The Executive Board 1. The UBCDS shall have an Executive Board, or Executive, which shall have sole control over the affairs, finances and management of the Society subject to i. the Constitution and Policies of the UBCDS, i the By-laws and Code of the Alma Mater Society, and direction given by a resolution of the membership at a General Meeting. 2. The Executive is assumed to have the sole power to speak on behalf of the Society, except in such cases as that power is granted to others by the Executive.
3. The Executive shall be made up of nine members, consisting of the following: i. President, Vice President Internal, i Vice President External, iv. Vice President Finance, v. French Representative, vi. Communications Director, v Training Director, vi Chair of Debates, and ix. Novice Representative. 4. Only members of the Society are eligible to hold a position on the Executive, and each position may only be held by one member at a time. 5. No member shall hold more than one position on the Executive at the same time. 6. The term of office for all Executive members other than the Novice Representative shall be between the Closing of the House after they are elected and the following Closing of the House. i. The term of office for a Novice Representative shall be between their election and the following Closing of the House. 7. The President s role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. ensuring the smooth running and success of the Society, calling and chairing Executive meetings, and i managing fundraising and grants. 8. The Vice President Internal's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. administrative responsibility for the internal affairs of the Society, coordinating the activities of the Communications and Training directors, i running the regular meetings of the society, iv. ensuring that social events are planned, and v. membership outreach. 9. The Vice President External's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. preparing a calendar of tournaments, administration of tournament application and registration procedures, i engaging with UBCDS alumni, and iv. communications with other debate societies and the University.
10. The Vice President Finance's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. administrative responsibility for finances, preparing a budget in accordance with regulations of the Alma Mater Society, i making regular financial reports, iv. processing reimbursements, and v. preparing and administering finances for Society events. 11. The French Representative's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. administering the French debate program, and representing French debaters to the Executive. 12. The Communications Director's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. responsibility for all internal Society communications, recruitment of new members, and i development of and dissemination of minutes of executive meetings. 13. The Training Director's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. designing and ensuring the execution of a training program. 14. The Chair of Debate's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. responsibility for all formal debates held by the Society, planning a series of show debates, i organizing in-house tournaments. 15. The Novice Representative's role and duties include but are not limited to the following: i. ensuring the inclusion of novices in events of the Society, and representing novices to the Executive. 16. An Executive member may only be impeached by a two-thirds vote of attending members at a General Meeting which attains quorum. i. Notwithstanding Article 7 (1), an Executive member who is impeached remains a member of the Society but may not stand for re-election immediately after impeachment. Article 5: Equity Officers 1. The UBCDS shall have one or two Equity Officer(s), who are responsible for
i. ensuring that all members' rights are upheld and determining consequences for members who violate the Code of Conduct, i serving as oversight to the Executive, and being present at most Society events. 2. In the event of an issue or complaint arising, the Equity Officer(s) shall investigate i. if there was a legitimate infringement of the Code of Conduct, and what actions or sanction, if any, are necessary. 3. An Equity Officer may sanction an individual or individuals for a violation of the Code of Conduct. Sanctions within the discretion of the Equity Officer(s) include i. a private reprimand, i a public reprimand, or a public or private apology from the perpetrator. 4. An Equity Officer may also recommend that the Executive sanction an individual or individuals for a violation of the Code of Conduct. Sanctions within the discretion of the Executive include i. a prohibition from any or all Society events, i a prohibition from representing the Society, or expulsion or prohibition from joining the Society in accordance with Alma Mater Society regulations. 5. The term of office for an Equity Officer shall be between the Closing of the House after they are selected and the following Closing of the House. 6. Equity Officer(s) shall be selected between the Annual General Meeting and the Closing of the House. i. Selection shall be done by consensus of the incumbent Executive and the incumbent Equity Officer(s). If consensus cannot be reached, they will be decided on majority vote. An application period for the selection of the Equity Officer shall be announced at the Annual General Meeting and last for at least seven days. 7. An Equity Officer may only be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of attending members at a General Meeting which attains quorum. Article 6: Meetings of the Society 1. The UBCDS shall hold General Meetings, Executive Meetings and informal meetings.
2. General Meetings shall be held to conduct important business of the Society. A resolution passed at a General Meeting which has attained quorum is binding upon the Society and the Executive. i. General Meetings shall be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order and chaired by the President if possible. 3. All members have the right to attend General Meetings and move, second, speak to and vote on motions made at such meetings. Honourary members have the right to attend and speak to motions made at General Meetings. 4. Quorum for General Meetings shall be defined as one-third of all members. 5. A General Meeting may be called by the Executive, an Equity Officer or a petition of at least fifteen members, and requires notice to be given to the membership fourteen days in advance. 6. The UBCDS shall each year hold an Annual General Meeting in the first two weeks of March, which shall contain the elections of the Executive except for the Novice Representative. 7. Executive Meetings shall be held to conduct the regular business of the UBCDS and must be held at least once every two weeks during the academic year. A resolution passed at an Executive meeting which has attained quorum is binding upon the Society. 8. Members of the Executive alone shall have the right to move, second, and vote on motions made at Executive meetings. All members of the Society have the right to attend and speak to motions made at such meetings, except when in camera. i. With the exception of budget-related issues and other issues mentioned in the Constitution and Policies, a majority vote of present Executive shall be necessary and sufficient to pass a resolution. A two-thirds vote shall be necessary and sufficient to pass a budget-related resolution. 9. Quorum for Executive meetings shall be one half of the members of the Executive plus one. 10. The UBCDS shall hold regular informal meetings for the purpose of i. making announcements to Society members, providing show debates or training workshops, and i holding practice rounds of debate for the development of members. 11. The UBCDS shall hold an Opening of the House that serves as the first informal meeting of the Society of an academic year. This meeting shall occur in late September or early October and shall contain i. a presentation of the budget for the year, a show debate, and
i an introduction to the Society from the Executive. 12. The UBCDS shall hold an Closing of the House that serves as the last informal meeting of the Society of an academic year. This meeting shall occur in late March or early April and shall contain i. a reflection on the previous year by the President, i a show debate, and the transfer of the Society into the hands of the incoming Executive. Article 7: Elections of the Executive 1. Any member of the Society shall be eligible to vote in any election of an Executive member and stand for election to any Executive position except the French Representative and Novice Representative. i. Any member who has practiced at an informal meeting in French, helped with the regular activities of the French debate program or represented the UBCDS at a Frenchlanguage tournament shall be eligible to vote in an election of the French Representative and stand for election to this position. Any novice member shall be eligible to vote in an election of the Novice Representative and stand for election to this position. 2. Any member may nominate themselves or accept a nomination to stand for election at any time prior to the start of an election. 3. Any election of an Executive member or members must be announced to the membership fourteen days prior to the election. 4. For each election of an Executive member or members, the incumbent Executive shall select two Returning Officers to conduct the election. i. The Returning Officers shall not be eligible to run for any position in that election. i iv. The Returning Officers shall not have any real or perceived conflict of interest and shall act without bias toward or against any candidate or member of the Society. The duties of the Returning Officers shall be to enforce all election rules, preside over the election, count members' votes and announce election results. An individual's status as Returning Officer does not affect their eligibility to vote in an election. 5. All elections shall be conducted by secret ballot. i. In the event that a candidate does not attain a majority of votes, a run-off ballot will occur wherein the candidate with the least votes is removed from the list until a majority
is obtained by a single candidate. In the event of a tie in a vote between only two candidates, a coin toss shall determine the winner of the election. 6. In the event that a candidate is standing for election unopposed, there shall be a yes/no vote for that candidate. 7. In accordance with Article 6 (6), the general executive elections shall be held at the Annual General Meeting. i. All Executive positions except the Novice Representative shall be up for election in the order presented in Article 4 (3). Notwithstanding paragraph 1, a member may run for a maximum of three Executive positions during the general executive elections. 8. The regular election of the Novice Representative shall take place less than twenty-one days after the Opening of the House and shall be announced at the Opening of the House. 9. If an Executive position or positions are vacant, the Executive shall call a by-election for that Executive position(s). i. If the Executive is unable to do so because it cannot reach quorum, the Equity Officer may call an election for the Executive position(s). Article 8: Amending Formula 1. Amendments to this Constitution may only be made at a General Meeting which attains quorum and require a two-thirds vote of members assembled. 2. Adoption of or amendments to any UBCDS Policy pursuant to this Constitution may only be made at a General Meeting which attains quorum and requires a majority vote of members assembled.