Club Constitution - DRAFT v0.0.1

[carson]

The club has become quite big since I became quite invovled with it. Over the last two years especially we've seen many new faces, new equipment and more organisation. So the next logical step is to develop a constitution.

I've written up a draft version of it. I encourage everyone, especially financial members (people who have paid for memebership) to give feedback and become invovled in it's drafting.

What it will do is define the club and what it does, offers and requires. It'll define specific roles for the committee and each member will have specific responsibilities that they must adhere too. There will be a while lot of other stuff there too.

UPDATE:
For those of you without open office, you can view the constitution here

[Ares]

Quiries, suggestions for alteration, regarding the draft

8.5   'If the president is unable to attend, then a chairperson nominated by the meeting shall chair that meeting'. Does the vice-president have any role in this circumstance?

11.1.2   'The Secretary shall give at least fourteen (14) days notice of the date of the Annual General Meeting to members'. Seeing as the AGM is the most important meeting of the year, my major issue being the voting, can we set a fixed date for this every year please or replace the 3rd meet for the AGM for example, fourteen days notice may not be enough for most members of the club to be there.

11.1.4   'The quorum at the Annual General Meeting shall be a minimum of seven (7) financial members'. 7 seems hardly enough to vote on the clubs leaders for the next twelve months

General
   If unable to make it to a meeting will the minutes be available to access, either on the website or distributed to however wants them at the next club meet.

[carson]

Quiries, suggestions for alteration, regarding the draft

8.5   'If the president is unable to attend, then a chairperson nominated by the meeting shall chair that meeting'. Does the vice-president have any role in this circumstance?

This is a hard one, I would say yes on principal, but am uncertain as there may be legalease stuff which would require them to be 18+.

11.1.2   'The Secretary shall give at least fourteen (14) days notice of the date of the Annual General Meeting to members'. Seeing as the AGM is the most important meeting of the year, my major issue being the voting, can we set a fixed date for this every year please or replace the 3rd meet for the AGM for example, fourteen days notice may not be enough for most members of the club to be there.

It's 14 days minimum, it will be a set date each year. I am fairly certain that after the first AGM it will be within two months of it annually, or probably Feb-March period. I would expect it to be at lot more than 14days notice.

11.1.4   'The quorum at the Annual General Meeting shall be a minimum of seven (7) financial members'. 7 seems hardly enough to vote on the clubs leaders for the next twelve months

Given the number of members isn't gigantic at the moment, around 12. 7 is a large chunk of that 12. It just occured to me that there are more committee member seats avaliable than there would be needed for the quorum! I think we might have to look at making the committee smaller.

General
   If unable to make it to a meeting will the minutes be available to access, either on the website or distributed to however wants them at the next club meet.

Definately. I think you'll find they'll generally make their way to the forum and if requested, show up at a meet. As a financial member, you are more than entitled to request viewing of the minutes and other documents when you desire.

Thanks for the input, keep it coming!

[tyrantguard101]

does a 13 year old with a membership count as a finacial member?

[Ares]

More quiries

8.1.2.4   ’Like the Door Manager, they are able to assign financial members to the door’. Do these members need to do a Food Hygiene Course? And if they don’t do they need to bring the door manager or a warden in to serve food?

12.3.1   ‘Each financial member may nominate... another financial member for a position’. If one of the members nominated does not wish to take this position when do they make this known? And if this occurs can the person who nominated them then nominate another member?

7.2   ‘The committee shall have the power to suspend or expel any member of the club for;
7.2.3   any act detrimental to the club’. What is the process of bringing this to the attention of the committee and then how does the committee go about deciding whether the individual shall be suspended or expelled. And if the person in question decides to be difficult how will final decision be enforced.

9.1.4   ‘Adjudicate on all matters brought before it which in any way affect WDW’.  Will these matters be decided by a majority vote and is the decision final?

9.1.7    ‘Have the power to form and appoint any sub committee/s as required for specific purposes’ Can a member of the management committee also hold a position in the sub-committee? Are the positions voted for in the same manner as at a AGM?

[carson]

does a 13 year old with a membership count as a finacial member?

Yes. Anyone who pays for membership is a financial member.

Then you'll fall into a membership categorey. As you are under 16, you will be a young member. You cannot vote, nor hold any committee positions. But you get the other perks (cheap entry fees, cheaper tourney fees, etc)

[kalan1]

3. ATTAINING OBJECTS  (should be objectives) 

12.3.1   ‘Each financial member may nominate... another financial member for a position’. If one of the members nominated does not wish to take this position when do they make this known? And if this occurs can the person who nominated them then nominate another member?

you can nominate any number of people for any number of position subject to that person having only 1 position per year (thought it would be good if you didnt nominated everyone for every position). the persons nominated must be at the AGM and upon nomination and seconding they are asked if they accept the nomination, this is when they say ye or ne.

7.2   ‘The committee shall have the power to suspend or expel any member of the club for;
7.2.3   any act detrimental to the club’. What is the process of bringing this to the attention of the committee and then how does the committee go about deciding whether the individual shall be suspended or expelled. And if the person in question decides to be difficult how will final decision be enforced.

you would probably have to have evidence of this and bring that to one of the execs

9.1.4   ‘Adjudicate on all matters brought before it which in any way affect WDW’.  Will these matters be decided by a majority vote and is the decision final?

i believe it will be a majority vote as most votes are

[carson]

More quiries

8.1.2.4   ’Like the Door Manager, they are able to assign financial members to the door’. Do these members need to do a Food Hygiene Course? And if they don’t do they need to bring the door manager or a warden in to serve food?

This bit needs more work. The door is the hardest bit, it's the most important, but no one wants to do it all the time. I think having 4 people in charge is too many. We need to re-work it. They will have food hygenie certs. I think it's ok to serve food without one, for a non-for-profit organisation so long as someone has one. I remember something like this coming up while doing the course myself.

12.3.1   ‘Each financial member may nominate... another financial member for a position’. If one of the members nominated does not wish to take this position when do they make this known? And if this occurs can the person who nominated them then nominate another member?

As Kalan1 said, anyone can nominate anyone who fit the critera for a position. If you nominate someone who doesn't want hte position, then they just say they do not wish to be voted in and nominations stay open until someone else is nominated. All people nominated must have their nomination seconded by someone. If only one person runs for a position, and no one else is, they will get it by default.

7.2   ‘The committee shall have the power to suspend or expel any member of the club for;
7.2.3   any act detrimental to the club’. What is the process of bringing this to the attention of the committee and then how does the committee go about deciding whether the individual shall be suspended or expelled. And if the person in question decides to be difficult how will final decision be enforced.

As kalan1 said, you'd need evidence and bring it to the committee before a general meeting.

9.1.4   ‘Adjudicate on all matters brought before it which in any way affect WDW’.  Will these matters be decided by a majority vote and is the decision final?

Majority

9.1.7    ‘Have the power to form and appoint any sub committee/s as required for specific purposes’ Can a member of the management committee also hold a position in the sub-committee? Are the positions voted for in the same manner as at a AGM?

I think they would be voted for and you can only hold one position at a time.

[wilful]

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I have done these bureaucratic things a few times, and here's a few observations and questions.

Firstly, is it right that the club can have property and powers (S. 3 & 4). Not being incorporated, i don't think they can. Actually even when incorporated, I think the power has to rest with the office bearers.

7 - expulsion - this can be tricky. Firstly, maybe the formatting on the google doc is screwed, but put the failure to pay dues before expulsion, keep the relevant bits with each other. Secondly, need to clear up voting procedure for expulsion.

Voting for executive positions needs to be clearer, put it in 8.1

You don't need to spell out the jobs in that much detail. I wouldn't make door manager an executive role.

Don't put the AGM agenda in the constitution, that's just odd.

general meetings to be in writing? how about posted online in a  generally accepted place (e.g. this board)? In fact, the website doesn't get a mention and it should - maybe an office bearer?

The Minutes should be required to be generally available - e.g. on this board. In fact you really need to embed this board into the processes generally I reckon.

For dissolution/winding up, that doesn't allow for the auctioning of items and donating proceeds to a charity. i don't think the Red Cross want W40K terrain!

edit from carson: accidently modified your post instead of replying! stupid buttons being next to each other. Sorry.

[carson]

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I have done these bureaucratic things a few times, and here's a few observations and questions.

Firstly, is it right that the club can have property and powers (S. 3 & 4). Not being incorporated, i don't think they can. Actually even when incorporated, I think the power has to rest with the office bearers.

I'm sure the club can own things, it becomes a legal entity so I would imagine it can own equipment and what not.

7 - expulsion - this can be tricky. Firstly, maybe the formatting on the google doc is screwed, but put the failure to pay dues before expulsion, keep the relevant bits with each other. Secondly, need to clear up voting procedure for expulsion.

Note taken.

Voting for executive positions needs to be clearer, put it in 8.1

How so?

You don't need to spell out the jobs in that much detail. I wouldn't make door manager an executive role.

I think the jobs should go in to as much detail as possible. To really outline what each persons role is. I was going to remove door manager from exec powers. Just haven't had a chance to do so.

Don't put the AGM agenda in the constitution, that's just odd.

How come? I think it would be good to have an outline of the agenda?

general meetings to be in writing? how about posted online in a  generally accepted place (e.g. this board)? In fact, the website doesn't get a mention and it should - maybe an office bearer?

The Minutes should be required to be generally available - e.g. on this board. In fact you really need to embed this board into the processes generally I reckon.

The minutes will be taken at every meeting and we will have a digital copy and a hard copy of each. The minutes will be avaliable upon request always.

I am not sure how to approach the website, as far as I know i'm the most tech savvy with webpages and I have managed the clubs website since it's inception. Plus the website is hosted on a server of mine.

For dissolution/winding up, that doesn't allow for the auctioning of items and donating proceeds to a charity. i don't think the Red Cross want W40K terrain!

I think much like the Moe club brought their stuff to us, our stuff will end up at another club, but note taken and i'll write it in the next revision.

[carson]

Given that I have realised that we don't have a huge number of members, I am thinking of making the committee a bit smaller (otherwise more than half the club will be in office)

So here is a proposed revision to the committee positions.

8. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
8.1 Management of the club shall be vest in the Management Committee elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and consisting of executive roles and non-executive roles;
8.1.1 EXECUTIVE ROLES: Executive roles can only be held by financial members who are over the age of eighteen (18+) years old.
8.1.1.1 PRESIDENT: The President of WDW's role is to make sure that all the Management Committee staff are doing their jobs correctly, make sure the direction of the club is moving towards it's best interest. The President is also responsible for the club as as a whole. The President is expected to take a First Aid Course within four (4) months of being voted in to office, the costs of which will be paid for at the expenditure of the club.
8.1.1.2 SECRETARY: The secretary is required to take minutes at each meeting. The secretary also acts as correspondence between clubs, manages publications, and other clerical duties. It is also the role of the Secretary to hold all records of the club. The Secretary must complete a First Aid Course within four (4) months of being voted in to office, the costs of which will be paid for at the expenditure of the club.
8.1.1.3 TREASURE: The treasurer is responsible for all club finances. It is their duty to keep track of all incoming and outgoing finances. They are required to fill out profit/loss sheets for each meet, manage the club bank account and sign cheques when purchases are approved.
8.1.2 NON-EXECUTIVE ROLES: These roles may be held by any financial member of the club who is aged sixteen (16+) years old or over.
8.1.2.2 VICE COMMITTEE/DOOR MANAGERS: Consisting of two (2) members, the Vice Committee will fill two roles. Firstly they will be there to assisst the Executive Committee members when required at meetings and at any other point in time, secondly they will be in charge of the operations of the door (i.e. serving of customers, sale of food/drink, signing in of members, etc) and will have the power to recruit any financial member over the age of sixteen (16) to manage the door for one (1) hour at any one meet within resonable notice. They will also be required to take a Food Hygienie course within three (3) months of taking office.

Typos aside, I know that some younger people want to get invovled and what not, but I think a smaller committee might be a better solution. I also think it might make sense to have a smaller non-executive committee that has a broader job description and can manage their own non-executive power needing responsibilities. I think without being able to do executive stuff, the vice president, et al, kinda seems a bit redundant.

I think it will also be fair to give the vice committee people the power to manage a roster for the clubs door and that every financial member should be obliged to man the door at least 6-8hours a year (1hour at 6-8 different which would help a lot) and they also have the ability to step in when needed and have a say on the committee.

Thoughts?

[wilful]

definitely make it more manageable with a smaller committee.

Also, there's no power specified in the constitution to make bylaws.

If you want to put the AGM minutes into something, you could put it in a bylaw. Together with the powers of the officeholders, and the door duties. That is a more appropriate place. That way they can be amended by committee, while the constitution should only be able to be amended by a full meeting of the club, with more than half of all financial members approving a change.

if you send me the constitution as a .doc, I'll make some track changes notes and comments. w i l f u l a t g m a i l d o t c o m

[kalan1]

if you send me the constitution as a .doc, I'll make some track changes notes and comments. w i l f u l a t g m a i l d o t c o m

just copy and paste into word or notepad from the link provided in post 1

[carson]

The google doc has only minor formatting issues.

I'll upload it as a doc later today adding some revisions I've made.

If you can wait till then and post any revisions you make in a post so we know that'd be fantastico.

[Youngy]

You are fine to serve food as long as someone who is there has the correct food handling certificate. But that person must be supervising them, so for us this would be checking up on the person who is serving to make sure they are doing it right.


Also missing three weeks before they are expelled from the committee?

Realistically, most people will be away on holidays for one meet, any students will miss one due to exams. During the school holidays we lose a lot of people (You saw the turnout over the last two weeks). Also most of our younger adult members are juggling part time jobs on weekends as well to pay for our lives, which was easy enough once a month, but I know I wont be able to (the boss needs me) or even afford to miss these days of work which I was scheduling around it.

I understand why this has been placed in there, but who has actually been there every week?

Probably yourself. And that is it.

I don't know if this is as bigger deal as I have made it, but it just seemed a bit too few.