Constitution of the

Glasgow University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students Association

As adopted at the AGM on 21st April 2004

Contents Article 1: Article 2: Article 3: Article 4: Article 5: Article 6: Article 7: Article 8: Article 9: Article 10: Article 11: Article 12: Article 13: Article 14: Name Objectives Membership Administration of the LGBT Eligibility for election to the Committee of Management Specific COM members and their roles Honorary positions Affiliations Finance Meetings and Constitutional Amendments Elections Committee Meetings Interpretation of the Constitution Mailing List

Glasgow University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students Association CONSTITUTION Article 1: Name
This organisation shall be known as the Glasgow University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students Association. Hereinafter referred to as either the LGBT or the Association.

Article 2: Objectives
1. 2. 3. 4. The LGBT exists to provide a social, campaigning, and welfare organisation to meet the needs of the LGBT Community within the University of Glasgow. The LGBT shall work in accordance with and promote the ideals contained in the SRC Equal Opportunities Policy specifically with regard to LGBT people, though not exclusively The LGBT shall not affiliate to nor endorse any political ideologies, groups or societies. The LGBT shall organise such meetings and activities as from time to time the administrative bodies, or general meetings, shall resolve to comply with Article 2(1) above.

Article 3: Membership
1 2 3 4 5 6 Fully Matriculated students of the University of Glasgow are welcome to become full members of the LGBT. Members of University staff, students from other institutions and members of the general public are welcome to become members of the LGBT, under associate status. Associate Status does not permit such members to vote or to propose amendments to the constitution Associate members may only hold the positions of Past President, Honorary President or Honorary Vice President The Executive must ensure that associate members do not constitute more than 20% of the total membership of the Association. A person awarded the Fellowship of the LGBT as described in Article 7(5) shall not be classed as a member, unless they also fall within one of the categories described in Articles 3(1) and 3(2).

Article 4: Administration of the LGBT

1 2 3 The administrative functioning of the LGBT shall be entailed to the Executive and the Committee of Management (COM) The Executive shall consist of the President, the Vice President re Welfare and the Vice President re Administration. The COM shall consist of the Executive, a Public Relations Officer, a Mens Officer, a Womens Officer, a Corresponding Secretary and a Recording Secretary. Ex-officio members shall be the SRC Delegate and, subject to Article 6(10), the Past President. The COM and / or the Executive may employ the expertise and/or resources of any LGBT member in an ex-officio capacity as and when required. In cases of urgency, or in between meetings of the COM, the Executive may take decisions on the behalf of the LGBT. These are subject to ratification by the COM at the earliest opportunity. Any member of the COM may resign at any time, leaving their position vacant. The COM shall ensure that any vacancy is filled by way of a bye-election, to be held within four academic weeks of such a vacancy arising, at a validly convened EGM. Any such bye-election shall be held under the procedures in Article 11. The requirement of a bye-election shall not apply if the vacancy on the COM arose less than six weeks before the AGM is due to be held.

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Article 5: Eligibility for election to the Committee of Management

1 2 The LGBT remains an equal opportunities organisation and values the membership of non-LGBT defining persons. The LGBT recognises that in the past, non-LGBT defining persons have abused their membership, and have acted deliberately to undermine the aims and objectives of the LGBT as an organisation.

In recognising Article 5(2) above, any non-LGBT defining persons shall be prohibited from standing for election to the Executive, Mens Officer and Womens Officer positions on the COM. 4 Only full members of the LGBT who have subscribed to the mailing list shall be eligible to stand for election to the COM. th Note to Article 5: The LGBT membership, at its Annual General Meeting of Wednesday 16 May 2001 approved the Article Five of this constitution to avoid such attempts as defined in Article 5(2), in future.

Article 6: Specific COM members and their roles

1. The President (i) Shall be the spokesperson for policies adopted by the LGBT (ii) Shall chair meetings of the COM unless unavailable (iii) Shall co-ordinate the work and activities of the COM (iv) Shall co-ordinate Freshers Week activities 2. The Vice-President re Welfare (i) Shall co-ordinate the welfare activities of the LGBT and in particular shall work with the mens and womens officers in achieving these goals (ii) Shall be responsible for raising awareness of welfare issues with the membership, which may include campaigns, and shall liase with appropriate bodies in the interests of achieving this goal (iii) Shall ordinarily be responsible for maintaining the LGBT Student Befriendment Scheme under guidelines approved by the COM 3. The Vice-President re Administration: (i) Shall book rooms for LGBT purposes (ii) Shall maintain a record of the income and expenditure of the Association, shall be responsible for preparing the accounts and shall keep bank statements (iii) Shall maintain a confidential mailing list (iv) Shall ensure that the University of Glasgow Archives are on the aforementioned mailing list (v) Shall give copies of all correspondence to the Recording Secretary 4. The Executive as a whole (i) Shall maintain an Association website, which must include an up to date copy of the Associations constitution 5. The Public Relations Officer: (i) Shall prepare publicity for the Association and liase with the media on behalf of the Association where necessary. (ii) Shall co-ordinate persons, from the COM or otherwise, to ensure that the aforementioned publicity is suitably distributed. (iii) Shall give copies of all publicity produced to the Recording Secretary 6. The Mens Officer: (i) This post is only open to a person who identifies as male. (ii) Shall work under the auspices and direction of the Vice-President re Welfare, in furtherance of that positions objectives. 7. The Womens Officer: (iii) This post is only open to a person who identifies as female. (iv) Shall work under the auspices and direction of the Vice-President re Welfare, in furtherance of that positions objectives. 8. The Corresponding Secretary (i) Shall be responsible for drafting letters to be sent to external bodies on behalf of the Association under the direction of the Committee. (ii) Shall give copies of all correspondence to the Recording Secretary 9. The Recording Secretary: (i) Shall be responsible for compiling an agenda for Committee Meetings in accordance with Article 12(4).

(ii) (iii)

Shall keep minutes of AGMs, EGMs and Committee Meetings. Shall send copies of the minutes of the AGM, EGMs and Committee Meetings, Constitutional Amendments, Accounts, Correspondence, Publicity and generally liase with the University of Glasgow Archives to ensure a permanent record of our Associations activities exists.

10. The members of the COM shall not be wholly bound by the limitations of the descriptions of their roles in the above articles. It is expected that they work as a coherent whole to further the cause of the Association. Consequently, they may exchange responsibilities with other members of the COM where both parties agree and may delegate tasks to other members of the LGBT where appropriate and provided the COM do not disagree. 11. The SRC Delegate: (i) Shall be a member of the Students Representative Council (SRC) (ii) Shall ordinarily be the SRC LGBT Officer (iii) Shall communicate the interests of the LGBT to the SRC and the wider LGBT student population on campus (iv) May be another person from the SRC, nominated by the COM where either the position has remained vacant or the COM finds the LGBT Officer to have consistently and or grossly worked against the interests of the LGBT. 12. The Past President shall: (i) Be the last person to have held the officer of President before the current incumbent of the office. (ii) Advise and assist the COM. (iii) Be entitled to sit on the COM until another person becomes eligible to be Past President (iv) A President removed from office under an Art.10(5) motion shall not eligible to sit on the COM as Past President (v) The Past President shall only be entitled to vote at meetings of the COM held between the dissolution of the AGM at which they became Past President until the dissolution of the subsequent AGM, unless removed from the COM by an EGM

Article 7: Honorary Positions

1 2 There shall be one Honorary President and up to three Honorary Vice Presidents. All members are eligible to be nominated for Honorary Vice President except for current members of the COM. Nominees shall be those who have contributed to the furtherance of the objectives of the LGBT within the University of Glasgow. Only individuals who are not full members of the LGBT are eligible for the position of Honorary President. Nomination for the above honorary positions shall be taken at the AGM and/or general meetings. Election shall be in accordance with the procedure in Article 11. A person who, in the opinion of the majority of those voting at a duly convened AGM, has acted consistently in the best interests of the Association may be awarded the Fellowship of the LGBT. A person awarded the Fellowship of the LGBT may reject it at any time after being awarded it and it may be removed from any person if the majority of those voting at a duly convened AGM so vote.

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Article 8: Affiliations
1. 2. The COM shall affiliate the LGBT to the Students Representative Council and the Queen Margaret Union and / or Glasgow University Union annually. Affiliations to other organisations are permitted, provided that they do not infringe the principles of this constitution.

Article 9: Finance
1 2 3 The Executive shall be responsible for the Association finances.. The Executive should get a budget and/or proposals relating to spending ratified prospectively by the COM. In the event that the COM have not prospectively approved spending, the COM may reject actual spending and refuse to remunerate such spending from Association funds.

The signatories on any bank account of the Association must be elected members of the COM. At least two such signatures shall be required to withdraw funds from such a bank account. Ordinarily, the authorised signatories shall be the three members of the Executive.

Article 10: Meetings & Constitutional Amendments

1. 2. There shall be no less than 15 general meetings of the LGBT during the academic year The AGM (Annual General Meeting) must be convened either before the end of the relevant academic year, or in the event of this not being possible, for circumstances beyond the control of the COM, no later than week three of term one the following academic year. AGMs and EGMs must occur during the academic year Fourteen days notice by Email shall be given by the COM of the AGM or of an EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting). An EGM may be called upon the request of 5 members of the LGBT or, at the COMs discretion. An EGM must be called by the COM at the earliest practical opportunity if 5% of the Full Membership so request. EGMs can be used to remove members of the COM. AGMs or EGMs can be used to remove members of the LGBT, to make constitutional amendments and or to disaffiliate from external and internal organisations. This shall be done by upon decision of 2/3rds of votes cast. The Quoracy of an EGM or AGM is 20 full members, or 12.5% of the full membership that has subscribed to the mailing list, whichever is the lesser. In the event of being unable to convene the AGM before the end of the relevant academic year, Article 10(7) shall not apply to the subsequent AGM held in accordance with Article 10(2). The purpose of an AGM is ordinarily to enable all members of the society to discuss the previous years strengths and weaknesses, to discuss the future direction of the association, to make any constitutional amendments, to carry out any other business and to elect persons to positions on the COM and to Honorary Positions as detailed in this constitution, insofar as reasonable time constraints allow. General Meetings of the LGBT shall be chaired by the President, whom failing the Vice-President re Welfare, whom failing the Vice-President re Administration, whom failing the Public Relations Officer, whom failing the Womens Officer, whom failing the Mens Officer, whom failing the Corresponding Secretary, whom failing the Recording Secretary, whom failing a member elected by the General Meeting. No person may occupy the chair who is not a matriculated student of the University of Glasgow. Votes on all motions at an AGM or EGM shall be by simple majority on a show of hands unless specified otherwise in this constitution, however, if one third of full members present so request, a secret ballot shall be held on a particular motion. The Chair shall not be entitled to vote on a motion, but shall have a casting vote in the event of a tie. The Chair must temporarily stand down to propose any motion covered by Article 10(6) Articles 10(12) and 10(13) are without prejudice to the separate rules in Article 11 which cover the specific situations of elections to the COM and elections to Honorary Positions

3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

10.

11. 12.

13. 14. 15.

Article 11: Elections

1. 2. 3. Only full members of the LGBT shall be entitled to vote in elections. The Chair and the Impartial Persons as described in Article 11(7) shall be entitled to vote provided that they are full members. Elections shall be by secret ballot Where one seat is available in an election the vote shall go to a second round where no candidate has a majority of total votes cast. In such a case, the leading two candidates from the first round shall be presented for election. The candidate achieving the majority of votes cast in the second round will assume the seat. Where two leading candidates cannot be discerned, re-ballots shall be held until they can be. In the election for the Honorary Vice-Presidents, after all persons to be nominated for such a position are named, the Chair shall call for a vote, by show of hands, on each in turn. Each candidate must achieve a majority of those voting to be elected. In the event that there are more than three candidates are elected, the three candidates achieving the most votes, after all candidates have been voted on, shall win. In the event of a tie in Article 11(3) or Article 11(5), the result shall be determined by the toss of a coin by the Chair. The Chair must temporarily stand down to be eligible to stand for election Votes shall be counted by two impartial persons who are not standing as a candidate for election at that General Meeting. They shall be nominated for the position at the General Meeting and shall be allowed to fulfil this role provided that not more than five full members present object to their appointment.

4. 5.

6. 7. 8.

9. 10.

Each candidate shall appoint a representative to oversee the count. Newly elected members of the COM shall take up office at the adjournment of the General Meeting.

Article 12: Committee Meetings

1. 2. 3. 4. The President shall determine the dates and times of meetings of the COM and shall intimate these to members of the COM at least one week in advance of such a meeting. There shall be at least one meeting of the COM between September and December and another between January and April of each year, all months inclusive. A member of the COM shall be deemed resigned if they fail to attend two consecutive COM meetings and do not give apologies for either. Members of the COM shall submit items for the agenda of a Committee Meeting to the Recording Secretary at least one day before such a meeting.

Article 13: Interpretation of the Constitution

1. If a dispute as to the interpretation of this constitution arises during a validly convened AGM or EGM, then the interpretation of a particular provision shall be determined by the full members there present, by a simple majority vote. 2. If a dispute as to the interpretation of this constitution arises in a circumstance not covered in Article 13(1), then the constitution shall be interpreted by the COM. 3. Any interpretation as described in Article 13(2) must be ratified by a simple majority vote at the next validly convened AGM or EGM. 4. Articles 13(1) and 13(2) must be read to be consistent with the underlying principle that in all circumstances, words are given their ordinary literal meaning. 5. In the event of a member being dissatisfied with an interpretation given to a part of the Constitution, they may appeal the decision to the Students Representative Council.

Article 14: Mailing List

1. The Vice President re Administration shall maintain a confidential mailing list as per Article 6(3)(ii). 2. This mailing list must not be disclosed to any organisation or person outwith the Executive. 3. Notwithstanding Article 14(2), the mailing list can be disclosed to another person insofar as it is necessary to set up a confidential email list. 4. In the event that the Students Representative Council rescind the LGBT Students Association members right to anonymity, necessary steps shall be taken by the Executive to ensure that the society maintains funding. 5. Under no circumstances can a members email address or identity be disclosed to any other person or organisation without that members express prior consent. 6. Article 14(5) has precedence over all other parts of this Article, however shall not stop actions pursuant to Article 14(3).

Signed President 2004-2005

EMMA SMILLIE