CONSTITUTION
As amended at the Annual General Meeting of September 2017
1. THE ASSOCIATION
The Association shall be called the University of Exeter Retired Staff Association.
2. MEMBERSHIP
(a) Membership
of the Association is open to all retired employees and
retired former employees of the University, in all
categories,
including semi-retired employees. Joint membership with
spouses/partners is also available. The widows, widowers and
partners of deceased employees are also eligible for
membership.
(b)
Associate membership is open to those who have retired from a
university other than Exeter and are resident in or near Exeter.
Associate
members may participate in any of the activities of the Association but
may not hold office or vote at General Meetings.
3. PURPOSE
The purpose of the Association is to enable its members to remain in touch with each other and with the University through a range of activities to be determined by the membership and arranged by the Executive Committee of the Association.
4. FINANCE
(a)
The Association shall be empowered to own financial and other assets on
behalf of its members, to open accounts with authorised financial
institutions and/or to appoint another institution to hold
and
administer its assets. The Executive Committee shall be empowered to
make such arrangements and shall, through the Treasurer, make a
report on the financial year past to the AGM.
(b)
The Association’s financial year shall run from 1 August to 31 July
following.
(c) No member shall derive direct material benefit
from the activities or finances of the Association.
(d)
The Association may raise or donate funds for charitable purposes or
other purposes of benefit to the University or the wider community.
5. PRESIDENCY
(a) The Association, at its Annual General Meeting,
will elect
from its members a President who shall hold office for one
year. The Presidency may be
jointly by a member and
his/her spouse/partner. The President shall be an
ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.
(b) The Association will also elect
a President-designate,
who will assume the office of President the following year.
(c) The President-designate and the immediate Past President
may
deputise for the
President and may also attend meetings of the Executive Committee.
6. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
(a) The business of the Association will be conducted by an
Executive Committee comprising the
Chair, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Membership Secretary, the
Social Co-ordinator, the
Newsletter Editor, the Website Editor, the President (ex-officio) and
four general members.
(b) The members of the Committee will be elected by the Annual General
Meeting. Save for the
President, they will serve for a three-year term at a time and be
eligible for re-election on completion of a term. Members may resign
from the Committee at any time on notification to the Secretary.
(c) Should the AGM be unable to fill an office or other
designated Executive Committee
position by reason of lack of nominations, the vacancy shall be filled
by appointment
by the Executive Committee for one year at a time (renewable) until the
AGM is able
to elect a replacement.
(d) The Executive Committee will have the power to fill
casual
vacancies by co-option between Annual General Meetings.
(e) The Executive Committee will also have the power to
co-opt
any Member of the
Association or invite him/her to attend one or more meetings to assist
it in carrying out its duties.
(f) The Executive Committee will have the power to appoint
sub-committees.
(g) The quorum of the Executive Committee will be five.
7. ELECTIONS
Elections to the offices of President and President-designate
and to the Executive Committee will be by simple ballot where
two candidates are nominated and by preferential ballot where
three or more candidates are nominated for a
particular position. (See Note 1)
8. SUBSCRIPTION
Members and Associate Members will pay an annual subscription to be decided by the Annual General Meeting. The subscription for joint membership will be the same as for individual membership.
9. GENERAL MEETINGS
(a) Following the Inaugural General Meeting held on
7 October
2004 to establish the
Association and elect its first officers and Executive Committee, an
Annual General
Meeting will be held in October each year. At least three weeks notice
will be given together with a call for nominations for the
Presidency and, where
appropriate, for membership of the Executive Committee.
(b) The quorum of the Annual General Meeting shall be
30.
(c) A Special General Meeting will be convened by the
Secretary,
giving at least three weeks notice, on the request of not less
than 30 members of the
Association or at
the request of the Executive Committee. The quorum of a Special General
Meeting shall be 20.
10. AMENDMENTS
(a) The provisions of this Constitution may be
amended by the
Annual General Meeting
(b) Proposed amendments, with a proposer and seconder, will
be
circulated in writing
with papers for the Annual General Meeting, but amendments to
proposed amendments may be tabled at the Annual General
Meeting.
11. DISSOLUTION
The Association may be dissolved by a resolution agreed by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee and passed by a two-thirds vote of a General Meeting, one month’s notice of the proposal having been given to members.
(a) A simple ballot requires members to place an X against the name of their preferred nominee and the nominee with the most votes is elected.
(b) A preferential ballot requires members to place nominees in order of preference by placing 1 against their first choice, 2 against their second, and so on. The outcome is calculated by scoring the preferences 1 for a first choice, 2 for a second, and so on. The nominee (or nominees if more than one place is at issue) with the lowest score is elected.