UCC LGBT Constitution

Name

1. The Society shall be known as UCC Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT Society).

Objectives

2. The objects of the Society shall be to educate, inform and offer a supportive and safe environment to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and staff of University College Cork. It shall strive to eradicate homophobia, biphobia and transphobia on campus.

Membership

3.1 Membership shall be open to all currently registered students and staff of University College Cork.

3.2 The society welcomes potential members who do not attend UCC.

3.3 Attendees shall be deemed members upon attending three meeting of the UCCLGBT society, in one term.

3.4 Voting rights shall be extended to all members, by writing their details on attendance sheets at three of the meetings in one term.

The Committee

4. The Committee shall consist of:

The Auditor,
The Vice-Auditor,
The Recording Secretary,
The Finance Officer,
The Public Relations Officer,
The Events Officer and
The First Year Representative,
Plus co-opted members.

As far as is reasonably practicable, the Committee should be balanced regarding gender and the different forms of sexual orientation and gender identification covered by the Society. The Society shall try to do this be encouraging members from a diverse range of backgrounds covered BY the society to run for committee positions at the AGM and EGM.

5. The Committee shall meet weekly during term at an agreed date and time. Quorum for Committee meetings shall be half the committee plus one, one of whom must be from the following three the Auditor, Vice-Auditor or the Recording Officer. Attendance shall be recorded in the minutes and absentees noted. Minutes shall be circulated to all Committee members within five days of the meeting. On invitation of the committee an ordinary member may be present at a committee meeting. An invitation shall be sent by the committee after voting on the proposal previously. If a society member wishes to address the committee they must e-mail the society or write a letter to the Auditor.

6. Any member of the Committee who fails to attend three consecutive Committee meetings shall be deemed to have resigned his/her post (following no notice of failure to attend), unless a majority of the remainder of the Committee votes to retain that member on the Committee.

7. In the case of a Committee member who forfeits his/her post under the circumstances outlined in article 6 above, or resigns by informing the Auditor, in writing, of his/her resignation, the Committee will co-opted a temporary replacement or, delegate the functions of the relevant committee member to a suitable committee member, the position may also be put to election through an EGM, but this is at the discretion of the committee. All committee members must be prepared to share the work of the committee equally.

8. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 6, members of the Committee may be removed from office before the completion of their term of office only by a majority decision of voting members of the Society present at an EGM or a unanimous vote of the full committee excluding the member in question. This committee meeting shall be open to the society members who may speak at the meeting but may not vote at it. A motion to remove any such Committee member(s) must be proposed and seconded by two members of the Society, and must be submitted in writing to the Committee at least three days before the date for the EGM. The member in question shall have the right to address the society at the EGM, or the committee meeting whichever route the proposal was originally mooted through.

9. All meetings of the Committee shall adopt standard committee rules and procedures as follows. Reading of the minutes of the last meeting, reports by committee members on progress in delegated areas, other relevant business, a discussion based on suggestions by committee members or society members.

10. The finances of the society shall be available to members within one week after a formal request in writing, minutes of a society meeting shall also be available within one week after a formal request in writing.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM)

11.1The AGM shall be held in the second term of every year for the purpose of electing a new committee and ratifying any amendments of this constitution. A notice shall be posted on the Society's notice board and posted on campus notice boards. Notice for an AGM/EGM shall be one week.

11.2 The quorum for the AGM and for any EGM shall be ten persons, or one tenth of the membership of the Society, whichever is the larger.

11.3 Membership shall be defined as in article three of this constitution.

12. Only members of the Society shall be entitled to vote at an AGM or an EGM, see article three.

13. The agenda for an AGM or EGM shall be set out as follows:
1. Reports:
(a) Auditor
(b) Recording Secretary
(c) Finance Officer
(d) Other officers
These reports, which should be brief, may be delivered either verbally or in writing.

Elections for all positions on the Committee

14.1.1 In order as laid out in article four of this constitution, except the First Year Officer which shall be held within the first month of the first term of the next academic year.

14.1.2 Each candidate shall be allowed to address the AGM, if he/she wishes for a maximum of two minutes prior to the election for all positions except the Auditor election for whom candidates may speak for up to five minutes. Longer speeches shall disqualify the candidature.

14.1.3 Each election shall be a secret ballot using the first past the post system of election. In all election there shall be a re-open nomination candidate (RON).

14.1.4 The votes for all elections shall be counted by not less than two tellers, chosen at the AGM and none of whom shall have any material interest in the election, invigilators for each candidate may also oversee the counting process.

14.1.5 The results from the first election shall be announced before the second election takes place, and so on throughout the elections.

14.1.6 There shall be a questions and answers session for all positions.

14.1.7 Motions may be submitted for consideration not less than five days before the date of the AGM. Any such motions must have been publicised to all members of the Society not less than three days before the date of the AGM.

14.2 Nominations for all elected positions must be submitted to the society's e-mail account or the Auditor in writing in the period before ten working days before an AGM, applications after this date shall NOT be accepted, with two society members names are nominators. A motion of no confidence in the committee or a particular member of the committee shall be announced one week before the proposed voting on the motion. Rules pertaining to the running of such a meeting shall be laid out in standing orders of the society.

14.3 An EGM of the Society may be called by any ten members of the Society or ten percent of the society presenting to the Committee a signed petition stating clearly the purpose of the requested EGM. Notice for an EGM shall be as provided for an AGM in article 10.1

15. An EGM may consider only the items announced.

16. Candidates for election to the Committee must be current members of the Society as well as current registered students or staff of University College Cork, and each candidate must be nominated and seconded by two current members of the Society. Candidates for Auditor must have attended one third of meetings. Candidates for auditor, vice-auditor, PRO and finance officer must be registered student during their period of office.

16.1: In the event of the resignation of the auditor in the first term, to be eligible to stand for election to this position at this time in an EGM, candidates must have attended one-third of the previous year’s meetings, as well as one-third of the current year.

17 At the discretion of the Committee, a student may be appointed Ex-officio, to act as consultant for the good running of the society. It shall also be at the discretion of the committee how involved the ex-officio shall be in the day to day running of the society.



The Officers

18. The Auditor shall oversee the general running of the Society and shall be answerable to the Committee, and chair all meetings of the Committee and the AGM and any EGM which shall take place. Should the Auditor wish to contribute materially to a discussion at an AGM or EGM he/she shall relinquish the chair to a substitute agreed by a committee meeting for the duration of that discussion.

19. The Vice-Auditor shall preside over committee and society meetings in the place of the Auditor. He/She is answerable to the committee in his/her role as Vice-Auditor. Upon the resignation of the Auditor during the first academic term, the Vice-Auditor shall assume the role of the Auditor until an election can be held for the position after which he/she will return to his/her original position. If the Auditor resigns during the second term the Vice-Auditor shall assume the duties of the Auditor and there shall be an election for a new Vice-Auditor.

20. The Recording Secretary shall Keep all the correspondence of the Society, and shall keep a written record of all such correspondence; take and record the minutes of all meetings of the Committee; be answerable to the Committee; compile an archive of all members through use of the register.

21. The Finance Officer shall be responsible for all the finances of the Society, including the formulation of the annual budget, preparation of capital grants and special application. He/ She is answerable to the committee.

22. All cheques and withdrawal forms from the Society's bank account shall be conducted by the Finance Officer who must notify one of the following designated officers, namely the Auditor, Vice-Auditor and Recording Secretary. If the Finance Officer is unable to conduct his/her role two of the three above designated officers shall be allowed to conduct financial transaction on behalf of the society until such time as the Finance Officer can return to his/her duties.

23. The Public Relations Officer (PRO).The PRO shall be responsible for the functions of public relations. He/She shall deal with the media, put up posters and more generally make the University aware of the existence of the Society.

Ordinary Members

24. The Ordinary Members of the Society shall assume any duties as agreed by the Auditor and the Committee and the member is question.

Confidentiality

25. Confidentiality and respect for the society and its members is of utmost importance. Anyone who breaches this provision will face discipline by the committee. Details pertaining to members of the Society shall be held in strictest confidence by the committee. Committee business in the interest of a smooth running society shall be held in strictest confidence; committee members who break the article shall face disciplinary action by the rest of the committee.

Expulsion and suspension

26. The Auditor with agreement of the committee by a majority, shall be entitled to suspend a member from any or all his/her rights for a period not exceeding four consecutive meetings of the society for behaviour detrimental to the good running of the society. Expulsion from the society shall only be agreed if 2/3 of the membership or 20 voting members whichever is larger vote in favour of a motion proposing it.

Voting

26. Each member, except the Auditor, has a single vote on each issue. In the case of an equality of votes cast the Auditor has a single casting vote, therefore in such a case the Auditor or chair of a meeting may have two votes. The Committee bears collegiate responsibility for all its actions. Thus, if a matter is agreed by majority vote, each member must give that decision full public support, regardless of private feelings.

Co-option

27. The Auditor may exercise his/her discretion to nominate suitable candidates to the committee. Such candidate shall have the title as decided on by the committee. A candidate is suitable if his/her nomination is supported by a majority of the committee, not including the Auditor. However in the case of an equality of votes the Auditor has a casting vote.

28. Such a co-option may be overturned by a quorum of the members of the society within two meetings of the announcement being made to the society of the co-option.

Sub-Committees

29. A sub-committee shall be formed on any issue that the committee feels necessary for the effective running of the society. The Chair of the sub-committee shall be a member of the committee and shall report back to the committee on the actions of the sub-committee. If at any stage the society or the committee are dissatisfied with the progress of the sub-committee, the sub-committee, being answerable to the society and the committee, may be abolished by the committee or the society by a simple majority vote.

Referenda

30. This constitution may be amended only at an AGM or EGM.

31. A plebiscite (non-binding resolution) of the Society may be called with two weeks notice, supported by 10 members to debate a specific motion. The motion is deemed passed if over half of the member's present vote in favour, however this is subject to a quorum of members being present. The motion whilst not binding on the committee must be respect as the opinion of the society and carry weight as such. The committee must strive to follow the motion.

32. This constitution shall be freely available to all members of the Society upon request to a committee member. It shall also be available on the website of the Society.

Communications

33. If any society member approaches a committee member about serious society or committee business, it must be in written form and the committee member must bring the issue up at the next committee meeting.

34. Committee members must make it clear when they are communicating as committee members and when they are not.

Interpretation

35. If there is ambiguity over a matter in this constitution the committee by a majority vote interpret in the matter.

36. If a Society member approaches a committee member over a serious personal matter the committee member shall and must refer them to an appropriate body.