Sports and Societies Handbook

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Sports and Societies Handbook

Sample Constitution:

The following is a template that may be used as a ‘guideline’ for the drafting of a Constitution. Needless to say, Clubs and Societies requirements will differ from club to club and society to society. The onus is on you and your members to develop a Constitution tailor-made to your specifications.

Constitution:

1. Name:

1.1 The name of the Society shall be “Dundalk Institute of Technology______Society/Club”, hereafter referred to as ‘the Society’, ‘the Club’

2. Object/Aims:

2.1 The objects/aims of the Society shall be (here you add what you wish the society’s objects to be).

Examples of aims:

To provide recreational and developmental activities for the Students of DkIT

To provide a safe place for students to mix with their peers

To promote _____ Club/Society within Dundalk IT

3. Membership:

3.1 All Registered students and members of staff of Dundalk IT shall be eligible to become members of the Society/Club.

3.2 Associate Membership is open to ______

(eg.Non-students, academic staff, union staff etc.) Upon payment of a subscription/ Insurance fee as set by the committee of the society or by the Sports & Societies Officer

3.3 At an appropriate time the committee may suggest the award of an honorarymembership to any person, subject to the approval of the Society.

4. Management

4.1 The affairs of the club shall be managed by a Committee elected annually by the members.

4.2 The Committee shall consist of the Honorary Officers and Ordinary Members

5. The Committee:

5.1 A Committee shall conduct the business of the Society/Club.

5.2 The committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting, or if necessary, at an Extraordinary General Meeting.

5.3 The full membership of the Committee shall be composed of the following:

a. Chairperson

b. Vice Chairperson

c. Secretary

d. Treasurer

e. Public Relations Officers

f. A number of other Members – e.g. Assist Secretary, Assist Treasurer, ordinary committee members etc.

5.4 Assistant positions shall be filled by co-option by the committee as the needarises. Sub-committees may be co-opted where the need arises and at thediscretion of the committee.

6. Responsibilities of the Officers:

6.1 The Chairperson: The Chairperson shall oversee the general running of theSociety and shall be answerable to the Committee.

6.2 Vice Chairperson: The Vice-Chairperson will deputise for the Chairpersonwhenever the latter is unable to fulfill his/her duties. In the event of theChairperson resignation, the Vice-Chairperson will act as a temporaryChairperson until the latter position is replaced at a general meeting of themembership. In the Chairperson absence, the Vice-Chairperson will carry outthe duties outlined in item 6.1 of this constitution.

6.3 Secretary: The Secretary will take minutes at all meetings of the Society. TheSecretary will be responsible for all the correspondence of the Society andshall keep a record of it. They are also responsible for providing the Sports Societies Officer with an annual report, not later than the 30th June.

6.4 Treasurer: The Treasurer will have responsibility for all the Society’s finances and the maintenance of accounts. TheTreasurer will provide reports to the Committee on the financial standing ofthe Society and a detailed report of the Society’s financial status at the AnnualGeneral Meeting. The Treasurer is also responsible for communicating withthe Sports & Societies Officer on financial matters including the provision ofestimates for expenditure.

6.5 The Public Relations Officers (PRO). The PRO will be responsible forpublicity relating to the Society, such as posters, leaflets, internet, social Media and othermediums used to advertise the Society’s activities. The PRO will producethese in consultation with the Committee. The PRO will also be responsiblefor all publicity outside of the College in relation to the Society’s activities,contacting members of the media and other people deemed appropriate by theCommittee.

6.6 Ordinary Members: The ordinary members of the Committee shall bedelegated any other duties by the Chairperson as are seen fit. (if these postsare already fixed in any Society, the various duties attached should be listedhere giving a job distribution – as is above).

7. Eligibility, Nomination, and Election of Officers:

7.1 The full Officers of the Society shall be elected at the Annual GeneralMeeting.

7.2 Associate members shall have the same privileges as full members, except theprivilege of speaking and voting in meetings, to hold office in the society, orto nominate or vote in elections.

7.3 Only members of the Society can vote at elections and Annual General meetings.

7.4 Candidates for election to any office must be nominated and seconded by afull/ordinary member of the Society in writing. The Secretary must receivenominations at least three (3) days before the AGM. If two or morecandidates run for the same position, a vote will be taken of the memberspresent at the AGM. All elections will be through secret ballot.

7.5 All members of the Society shall be eligible for election to the committee.

7.6 No one shall be admitted to membership less than 24 hours before an AnnualGeneral Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting

8. Committee Meetings:

8.1 Meetings of the committee shall be held at least (fortnightly) during the Academic Year. All members of the committee shall be entitled to attend and vote at such meetings.

8.2 The quorum for a meeting of the committee shall be (4) committee members.

8.3 Meetings of the committee shall be convened by the Chairperson or Secretary. At least (2) days’ notice of a committee meeting shall be given by the Chairperson or Secretary to the members of the committee.

9. Meetings of the Society – Annual General Meeting and General meetings:

9.1 The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Society shall be held in______of each year.(e.g. in October of each year or the 3rd week of thefirst term)

9.2 Notice of the AGM shall be issued at least fourteen (7-14) clear days in advance.Notice should be given through posting on the Sports & Society's notice board, on theSocieties web site/Facebook page, email or otherwise publicised to the members giving the date andtime of the meeting and the fact that elections to the Committee will take placethereat.

9.3 The matters to be discussed at the AGM must be distributed to each member or otherwise publicised to members not less than three (3) daysprior to the meeting.

9.4 The AGM shall be open to all students/staff of DkIT(whoever, usually allstudents and members of the academic staff) but only full/ordinary membersof the Society shall be entitled to vote. (provision should be made here forchairing the meeting).

9.5 At the AGM officers shall read their reports of the Society's activities for theyear, and the election of a new Committee shall take place.

9.6 The committee shall meet at least twice during each term (usually thecommittees would meet once every fortnight during term). The quorum forsuch meetings is deemed to be ______(e.g. Half) the committee membersor 2/3 of the member of the society.

9.7 A general meeting of the Society may be called by the Committee or by(insert a number or percentage here) members of the Society presenting asigned petition to the Committee. Notices shall be issued at least ten (10)clear days in advance.

9.8 An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society may be called following theprocedure set out in 9.7 above for General Meetings.

9.8.1An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society may be convened to:

a)Hold an Election to fill a vacancy on the committee, should one arise.

b)Consider a proposal to amend this constitution or any other governing instrument of the Society.

c)Address any other circumstance not provided for in this constitution.

9.8.2An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be convened:

a) By majority decision of the committee; or

b) On foot of a submission to the committee of the society of a petition signed by not less than (10) members of the society.

9.8.3

No less than (7) days’ notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be given. The date and time of the E.G.M shall be notified to DkIT and advertised by public notice within the college.

10. Dismissal of a Member:

10.1 Any member found to be placing the Society in disrepute or disregarding theconstitution will be ordered to appear before an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society. If the accusations are proven then the meeting has the right to revoke the membership of the guilty party. A suspension of anylength can also be handed out.

10.2 If an Officer or a Committee member is absent from a committee meeting or a

society meeting on three consecutive occasions without supplying apologies,

he/she is deemed to have resigned.

11. Management of Finance:

11.1 The Finances of the Society shall be managed by the Treasurer and the Sports & Societies Officer

11.2 No member of the committee of the Society shall receive remuneration from the Society, or use their office for personal or financial gain.

12. Amendments to this Constitution:

12.1 This Constitution may be amended by a majority of those present at an AnnualGeneral Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting. (The Society may set thesize of a majority necessary, e.g. two-thirds).

12.2 Amendments to this Constitution shall be proposed by the Committee or by 12members of the Society, in writing to the Secretary within the time period setout in 9.7 above.

12.3 This constitution is binding as and from the date of being approved by both theClub or Society and DKIT Sports and Societies Office. All amendment mustbe approved by Sports and Societies Office before they become effective

13. Dissolution of the Society:

13.1 The Society may be dissolved by a [two-thirds] majority vote of itsmembership at a General Meeting. The Society may also be dissolved bydecision of the Sports and Societies Office. The Society shall fall intoabeyance should it fail to validly elect a committee for [two] successive

years.

13.2 On dissolution of the Club or Society, its assets shall become the property ofthe College.

Updated 2nd July 2013