Aberystwyth University Liberal Democrats Constitution
1) General
1.1) The name of the society shall be the ‘Aberystwyth University Liberal Democrats’ and abbreviated to ‘AULD’.
1.2) All previous Constitutions are hereby null and void.
2) The Mission
The mission for AULD shall be to promote and be a venue for the ideals of liberalism as displayed by the Liberal Democrats, Welsh Liberal Democrats – Democratiad Rhyddfrydol Cymru, Ceredigion Liberal Democrats and Aberystwyth Liberal Democrats, as well as IR Cymru, into the student world. We shall also seek to promote ourselves and our beliefs through the Aberystwyth Guild of Students.
3) Guild and BOS rules
The society shall be up to date, and in compliance with all rules and regulations concerning Aberystwyth Guild of Students, and the Board of Societies within the Guild. This includes both Guild and BOS constitutions.
4) Membership
4.1) Membership of AULD will adhere to the membership rules of the BOS constitution (section 3).
4.2) Cost of membership will be set according to Liberal Youth and IR Cymru Guidelines.
4.3) Associate membership of AULD is available to non-Aberystwyth University students, who are affiliated with an individual society, and thereby BOS, on the basis of them having:
(i) Expertise in a relevant area; or
(ii) Honorary membership as determined by the Societies Officer;
Or
(iii) Some other ground which the Guild deems appropriate
4.3.1
The society has the ability to grant honorary membership to previous members of the society through a simple majority vote. Each member is elected individually through a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote.
(i)This must include the consent of the nominated individuals.
(ii)Honorary members can refuse or revoke this title at any time.
4.3.2
(i)A list of honorary members will be established.
(ii)This list will be voted on at the AGM at the end of each academic year.
(iii)The society can vote to remove specific members from this list by a simple majority vote
(iv)There is no limit to the number of honorary members .
(v)The secretary will maintain the list of the honorary members.
(vi)The list of honorary members will be found in the Appendix of this constitution.
4.4) Anybody who does not fulfill the above criteria of ‘member’ will be prohibited from participating in Guild society events. Societies who do not enforce this practice may be subjected to financial penalties or have Guild privileges removed.
5) Committee
5.1) The Committee shall be made up of the following positions: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Social Secretary, Treasurer and Campaigns Officer.
5.2) The general and financial business of AULD shall be directed by the committee, subject to this constitution, the input from other members at fortnightly meetings and the decisions made at General Meetings.
5.3) Upon any vacancy occurring outside of normal election procedure, the Committee can vote on another member of the Committee to temporarily hold the vacant post, for a maximum of 6 weeks with the exception of the Summer period, until a by-election is held and the results confirmed.
6) Elections of the Executive Members and others
6.1) All members of AULD have the right to vote in such an election. Elections shall take place in accordance to this constitution and through the manner of the Alternative Vote system held by a secret ballot.
6.2) Elections to be held in the latter half of the second semester
6.3) The election shall take place no less than 14 days after the notification has been sent out to all members of the date and time. Upon the notification being made to all members, the nomination process shall begin, usually lasting seven days. Nominations shall be sent to the Returning Officer by email. After the close of nominations, email ballots shall be sent out to the membership by the Returning Officer. The valid period for voting shall begin immediately after candidates announced and usually lasts seven days.
6.4) The election of Chair shall be held separately from the rest of the committee as a means of increasing competition. It shall be held at least two weeks previous to the elections for the rest of the committee positions. The date the Chair election shall be called will be decided by the committee, but a date prior to the Easter break is recommended to allow time for people to decide on standing.
6.5) The Returning Officer shall be a senior Ceredigion Liberal Democrat who is not a student. The Returning Officer shall be an honorary member of the society.
6.6) The term of office for every committee member shall be one whole calendar year, or as appropriate based on the timing of committee elections.
6.7) The Committee will organize a by-election should a position become vacant before the annual elections and apply the same procedure used in the annual elections.
7) General Meetings
7.1) The Annual General Meeting shall be held on the last Wednesday before revision week.
7.2) The business of the AGM shall be:
a) To receive reports from all the officers on their activities in the last
year;
b) To receive a financial report. This shall include: the accounts of the
previous financial year and a budget for the current financial year;
c) To consider any motion, which has been submitted by any two
members to the secretary or Chair in time for circulation with the
notice of the AGM;
d) To formally handover the elected positions from the outgoing
committee to the incoming committee;
e) For any constitutional amendments to be ratified, and the constitution
to be approved as accurate for the forthcoming academic year;
f) Any other business
7.3) The Secretary shall give all members at least 14 days e-mail notification of the date, time and place of the AGM.
7.4) Notice and minutes of all Meetings and Committee Meetings shall be kept by the Secretary. They shall be available through email to all members.
8.) Finance
8.1) The Treasurer is responsible for managing all matters regarding the society’s finances. This includes working with the chair in directing the appropriation of spending, earnings and also organizing finances for society events. This will ensure that the society has a centralized governor of its finances.
8.2) The Treasurer will also work closely with the chair in organizing funds for conference and other trips. This will ensure that there is an executive role established to manage the society’s expenditure when members attend conference or other Liberal Democrat events.
8.3) The Treasurer shall submit the accounts of AULD to the AGM
8.4) AULD shall maintain all of its funds within the Guild Finance Office, in the understanding that they will make the process hassle free. All monies received from members and other sources shall be paid into the society account within the Finance Office in accordance with the Guild rules and within two days, unless circumstances arise, of the finance office being open for business after the monies are collected. All outgoing funds must have the approval of the Chair and the Treasurer.
8.5) All financial actions undertaken by the society must be in accordance with the Guild and BOS financial rules, regulations and Constitutions.
9) Descriptions of Responsibilities
9.1) The Chair shall be the main contact point for external communications with all the external groups and individuals. This includes the Guild. They are also responsible for coordinating the relationship between AULD and IR Cymru and are the representative of the Society to IR Cymru. They are further responsible for chairing and for the smooth and effective running of the Committee meetings and the society, and shall be the final settler of disputes amongst the committee. They are responsible for creating the best environment for the Committee and other members to operate in. They must ensure the general Health and direction of the society is in accordance with the views of its members. They must carry out duties that are listed elsewhere in this Constitution.
9.2) The Secretary is responsible for organizing meetings, events, and all aspects to do with the society. They are responsible for recording the minutes of all meetings, and are the main contact for receipts and outgoing administrative details of all events with regards to members and external organizations. This includes the Guild. The Secretary is bound to carry out all other duties stated elsewhere in this constitution. Their other responsibilities include:
- Writing the weekly email,
- Taking minutes of meetings, which shall be sent to all members via email,
and only one paper copy if the ‘minutes of last meeting’ shall be taken to
meetings,
- Deals with society correspondence,
- Is responsible for electronic communication including administration of the Facebook group, and liaising with Information Services.
- Organizing of attendance at conference and other events
- Organizing appropriate accommodation for conferences
- To be a point of contact for first year students
9.3) The Social Secretary is responsible for the organization of all social events and activities. This includes:
- Organizing the weekly social after meetings
- Organizing any social activity when other regional liberal democrats visit e.g.: Liberal Youth
- Organizing the venue, refreshments, food and funding of any night out e.g.: the Christmas meal.
9.4) The Campaigns Officer is responsible for coordinating the campaigns of the society. They must relay information about campaigns between AULD and Ceredigion Liberal Democrats; they must lead the student voter registration campaigns and be the primary contact point for Ceredigion Liberal Democrat campaigns that directly affect any and all of the student population of the greater Aberystwyth Area. Their other responsibilities include:
- Organizing of Fresher’s fair stand and literature for the stand – Organizing and coordinating Focus production and delivery,
- Organizing and coordinating any poster campaigns,
- Proposing ideas for campaigns,
- Working with the constituency campaigns committee,
- Working with Secretary to increase membership, participation and involvement
- Reporting on campaigns activities to the membership,
- Motivate members to take an active role in campaigning,
- Liaising with Lampeter University Liberal Democrats.
9.5) The Treasurer is responsible for managing all matters regarding the society’s finances. This includes working with the chair in directing the appropriation of spending, earnings and also organizing finances for society events. This will ensure that the society has a centralized governor of its finances.
The Treasurer will also work closely with the chair in organizing funds for conference and other trips. This will ensure that there is an executive role established to manage the society’s expenditure when members attend conference or other Liberal Democrat events.
The Treasurer will be responsible for the order and purchase of society materials. This includes the responsibility for raising funds and ordering campaign supplies such as badges, hoodies and t shirts. This will ensure that a recognized role is in place in the event that the constituency party stipulates that the society order campaigns items.
Other members will come to the Treasurer when they necessitate funding for their individual offices. The Treasurer is also obliged to share these discussions with other executive and society members at the fortnightly meetings. This will ensure that all society expenditure is discussed with the whole society before it is approved or denied by the Treasurer and the rest of the society.
9.6) Vice Chair – In the absence of the chair, the vice chair will fulfill the role of society manager and act as head director of the societies executive. This will ensure that the society will have clear and concise leadership at all times. This will also guarantee that society has a chief executive to seek council from at all times.
In the event that the chair is no long able or willing to fulfill their duties, the Vice Chair will automatically succeed the chair until a later election. This will ensure that there is always a successor to the chair and that the society is protected from any loss of leadership.
9.7) Non-executive members of the society may be deputized by any of the committee to aid in the execution of their duties. These deputies should have their responsibilities outlined to them and their appointment should be announced on the weekly email, and then ratified by a vote at the weekly meeting a fortnight later.
9.8) Voting representatives to Federal Conference and Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference shall be selected by majority vote in a meeting as assigned by the relevant bodies.
10) Constitution and interpretation
10.1) Amendments to this constitution shall happen in the following fashion. The proposed Amendment must be submitted to the committee not within 14 days of the AGM. The committee will then publicize this via email to all members in time to review the amendments before the AGM (minimum of a week before). The proposed amendment is then proposed at the AGM where it must be ratified with a 60% majority of all members present.
10.1.1) Under extenuating circumstances, a change to the constitution may be proposed at any time. An EGM must be called following the same procedures as an AGM, purely to discuss the proposed amendment(s). If an amendment is passed, the changes may be enacted immediately; however any amendment(s) must be ratified at the next AGM.
10.2) Any changes to this constitution shall only come into force after the close of the AGM unless otherwise stated in the amendment.
10.3) This constitution, after any votes on amendments have taken place at the society AGM, must be approved by a 60% majority of all members present in order to stand as a true and accurate authority of the members of the society until the next AGM.
10.4) A copy of this constitution shall be kept by the Secretary and distributed to members upon request. The Communications and Societies Officer shall also hold a copy which must be submitted annually in a paper format. A copy shall also be put on the website.
10.5) In the event of any question of interpretation arising, the Committee shall have the power to act accordingly to its interpretation of the constitution. Then a constitutional amendment should be presented by the Chair at the next appropriate interval.
10.6) This constitution and successful amendments shall come into force fully at the end of the current AGM providing it is ratified by a 60% majority of all members present after a debate on it, after it has been proposed in full by the Committee to the members.
10.7) Should there be any dispute over the constitution between the Welsh version and the English version, the English version shall take precedence.
