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► Document D: Section 6B
6.B SOCIETIES
(To be read in conjunction with section 7.1)
6B1 AIMS
The aims of the Societies structure shall be to give every student the opportunity to become involved in a Society, i.e. to encourage Societies of all natures, and to provide the opportunity for students of similar beliefs, origins and interests to join together to pursue their beliefs/hobbies in both active and social ways.
6B2 SOCIETIES MANAGEMENT GROUP
6B2.1 GENERAL
The Societies Executive shall be subject to the Authority of Guild Council, and its members shall normally be elected at the last Societies General Meeting of the academic year.
6B2.2 AIMS
The aims of the Societies Management Group shall be:-
(a) To ensure that feedback from Societies is taken into consideration, and to act upon such feedback if necessary.
(b) To help Societies making reasonable applications for support from the Guild, and to ensure that the financial officers of the Guild respond as best they can for the benefit of Societies.
(c) To regulate the running of individual Societies, and to guide and control them if circumstances dictate.
(d) To be, therefore, the first administrator of punishment.
(e) To co-ordinate the activities of Societies
6B2.3 MEMBERSHIP
Societies Management Group shall consist of:
Ex officio
a) The Vice President (Student Involvement) (Secretary)
b) The Vice President (Finance & Advancement)
c) Rag Officer
Elected at Societies General Meeting
d) Societies Chair
e) Societies Editor
f) Societies Events & Publicity
In Attendance
g) Student Activities Administrator
h) Guild President(for when new societies are being formed)
6B2.3.1 The responsibilities and authority of each Societies Management Group member shall be as detailed in the Societies Policy Manual.
6B2.3.2 Societies Management Group shall have the right to co-opt as many non-voting members as required.
6B2.4 ELECTIONS
6B2.4.1 The Vice President (Student Involvement) and Vice President (Finance & Advancement) shall be elected under the Provisions and Regulations governing the elections of Executive Officers.
6B2.4.2 All other officers (except (c) - to be elected by Rag) shall be elected in the second term at the Societies General Meeting of the previous academic year to the academic year in which they shall hold their posts. 7 days notice must be given of such elections.
6B2.4.3 The elections shall be by the transferable vote system, with each candidate standing against New Election.
6B2.4.4 Nominations shall close at the start of the meeting.
6B2.4.5 The President or his/her authorised deputy shall act as Returning Officer.
6B2.4.6 If any posts remain vacant after the Societies General Meeting, then nominations shall be reopened for these posts, and an election shall be held at the next Societies General Meeting. The Vice President (Student Involvement) shall have the right to co-opt voting officers to Societies Management Group, until such a time as an election can be held.
6B2.5 MEETINGS
6B2.5.1 Ordinary meetings of Societies Management Group shall normally be held every week.
6B2.5.2 The Agenda for Societies Management Group meetings shall be at the start of the meeting, and all items for inclusion shall be submitted to Vice President (Student Involvement). The format of the Agenda shall be as laid out in the Societies Policy Manual.
6B2.5.3 Societies Management Group shall inform Societies in writing of any business relating to them before the relevant meeting takes place. They shall inform such Societies of any decisions made no more than two working days after the meeting.
6B2.5.4 All meetings shall be minuted.
6B2.5.5 Emergency meetings of Societies Management Group may be called by Vice President (Student Involvement) or 3 voting members. A full report of any matters discussed shall be taken to the next ordinary meeting of Societies Management Group.
6B2.5.6 Emergency meetings shall only be called if the matter to be discussed is of such urgency, that the activities of an individual Society or of Societies in general, would be impaired by the delaying of discussion until an ordinary meeting could be called.
6B2.5.7 The Quorum for all Societies Management Group meetings shall be 4 voting members (excluding the Chairperson).
6B2.6 AUTHORITY
6B2.6.1 The Societies Management Group shall:
a) Report at Societies General Meetings on matters of new policy and budget.
b) Approve expenditure up to a level given in the Financial Schedule (10.10 of the Constitutional Regulations).
c) Prepare financial statements for the forthcoming year for approval at Guild Executive and Guild Council.
d) Control expenditure against these estimates.
e) Allocate its resources between the various Societies.
f) Exercise an overall control over the running of Guild Societies and oversee and approve budget expenditure.
g) Ensure that each Society keeps it’s expenditure within it’s budget
h) Organise the exhibitions of Societies at the beginning of the first term.
i) Advise those wishing to form new Societies on how to do so and thus to encourage the formation of new Societies.
j) Present a report of its activities to Guild Council each term
k) Have the authority to recognise new Societies
l) Approve the purchase of equipment, provided that its cost can be covered by the block grant and subject to the level set in the Financial Schedule (Document F).
m) To co-opt any extra members of Societies Management Group (to be ratified by Societies General Meeting)
6B2.6.2 The Vice President (Student Involvement) shall have the authority to rule on behalf of Societies Management Group between meetings regarding matters of urgency, but shall be held accountable by Societies Management Group.
6B2.7 ADVICE TO GUILD EXECUTIVE
Societies Management Group shall advise Guild Executive Committee on:
a) The provision of equipment which entails capital expenditure.
b) Any major breach of Guild Policy by Societies and disciplinary action taken or requested.
c) New Societies formed
6B3 SOCIETIES GENERAL MEETINGS
6B3.1 GENERAL
Societies General Meetings and Societies Special General Meetings shall be subject to the authority of Guild Council and their aims shall be to elect the members of Societies Executive and to decide Societies’ Policy.
6B3.2 MEETINGS
6B3.2.1 A Societies General Meeting shall be held at least once every academic term.
6B3.2.2 Voting rights shall be for two representatives from each Society and for all voting members of Societies Management Group. The Quorum shall be one-third of Societies’ representatives.
6B3.2.3 If the meeting is inquorate, the meeting may be held at the discretion of the Chair. All decisions made at this meeting shall be ratified by Guild Council.
6B3.2.4 The format of the Agenda shall be as laid out in the Societies Policy Manual.
6B3.2.5 7 days notice shall be given for a Societies General Meeting. The Agenda shall close 2 working days before the meeting.
6B3.3 AUTHORITY
6B3.3.1 A Societies General Meeting shall have the same authority as Societies Management Group.
6B3.3.2 In addition, it shall have the authority to challenge and overturn any policies/decisions made by Societies Management Group.
6B3.3.3 A Societies General Meeting shall have the authority to remove members of Societies Management Group from office, and to elect replacements, with the exception of the ex-officio members, who can only be removed at a quorate General Meeting of the Guild.
6B3.4 SOCIETIES SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS
6B3.4.1 A Societies Special General Meeting may be called by Societies Management Group. Alternatively, one-fifth of the total number of recognised Guild Societies may call a Societies Special General Meeting by submitting a request to the Guild Chairperson. They must also provide him/her with written details of the matter to be discussed. The Guild Chairperson shall then ensure that Societies Management Group organise the meeting without delay.
6B3.4.2 A Societies Special General Meeting should be called to discuss a specific matter, and all Societies must be informed in advance of the matter to be discussed.
6B3.4.3 A Societies Special General Meeting shall have the same authority as a Societies General Meeting.
6B3.4.4 7 days notice shall be given for a Societies Special General Meeting
6B4 SOCIETIES POLICY MANUAL
6B4.1 There shall be a Societies Policy Manual, which shall contain all policies relating to Societies made by Societies Management Group.
6B4.2 All Guild Policies shall be automatically adopted as Societies Policies.
6B4.3 The Societies Vice President (Student Involvement) shall be responsible for updating the Societies Policy Manual and for bringing out of date or contradictory policies to the attention of Societies Management Group.
6B4.4 The Societies Policy Manual must be made available for inspection to any member of Aston Students’ Guild.
6B4.5 The Following should always have an up to date copy of the Societies Policy Manual are:
a) Guild President
b) Vice President (Student Involvement)
c) Guild Chairperson
d) Societies Chair
e) Student Activities Administrator
f) Executive Secretary
6B5 RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR RECOGNISED SOCIETIES
6B5.1 Membership of all Societies shall be open to all members of Aston Students’ Guild, except reciprocal members, subject to the conditions laid out in sections 2 to 7 of the Guild Constitution.
6B5.2 Each Society may appoint one Honorary President from outside of the University, providing they have permission to do so from Societies Management Group.
6B5.3 All Societies requiring recognition must have a requisite number of members as laid down in the Societies Policy Manual. They must have elected a Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary, and must receive a simple majority vote at a quorate Societies Management Group meeting.
6B5.4 Application for recognition of a Society is to be made in writing to the Vice President (Student Involvement), and shall include the following:
(a) The official title of the Society, which shall include the words “Aston Students’ Guild”
(b) Its aims and objectives
(c) Its constitutional arrangements
(d) Any financial arrangements
(e) The date, time and location of its first meeting
(f) Contact details of the officers of the proposed Society
(g) A list of the minimum members required needed to create the Society.
6B5.5 The methods to obtain cases (a) to (g) above shall be laid out in the Societies Policy Manual.
6B5.6 At the end of each academic year, the committee of each Society shall inform Societies Management Group of the date, time and location of their first meeting of the forthcoming academic year.
6B5.7 The following information on each Society shall be filed in the Student Activities Office:
(a) The Society’s Constitution and aims
(b) Contact addresses
(c) Membership lists
All members of Aston Students’ Guild shall be allowed access to these documents, unless an application is made, to either Societies Management Group or the Guild President, for restricted access to this information.
6B5.8 Records shall be kept containing the names and signatures of all committee members of each Society. The contact list shall contain the term-time addresses of the Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary of the Society.
6B5.9 No Society shall make grants, donations or subscriptions to charities or any other outside organisations, without the written consent of Societies Management Group.
6B5.10 No Society shall be allowed to go into debt.
6B5.11 No Society may hold an event, which entails financial transactions, without first informing Societies Management Group of the event and the financial risk involved. An event is taken to mean an occasion when members of a Society come together to pursue social interests, or an outside visit organised by the Society.
6B5.12 A list of all recognised Societies shall be produced and distributed throughout the Guild. This list shall be updated and distributed as laid out in the Societies Policy Manual.
6B5.13 Societies Management Group and/or the Vice President (Finance and Advancement) shall have the right to investigate the running of and financial transactions of any Society at any time. If they find improper proceedings then they shall deal with it as laid out under “Disciplinary Procedures” (6B8).
6B5.14 Official recognition of a Society shall not entail:
(a) Any financial liability on the part of the Guild.
(b) Agreement or otherwise by the Guild with the principles of the Society.
(c) Responsibility of the Guild for the conduct of the Society’s business.
6B5.15 Societies which are officially recognised by the Guild shall be entitled to:
(a) The right to use the clerical services of the Guild staff, subject to the availability of such services, for the work of Societies.
(b) The right to book rooms in the Guild building, subject to any regulations thereof in force.
(c) The right to use Guild notice boards subject to any regulations thereof in force.
(d) The right to use the prefix “Aston Students’ Guild”
6B5.16 All Societies must seek approval from Societies Management Group before holding any joint event with external organisations
6B5.17 All Societies must seek approval from Guild Executive before or entering into any contract.
6B5.18 All Societies must adhere to the Societies Code of Conduct
6B6 FINANCIAL CONTROLS
6B6.1 Expenditure of a Society’s account shall be restricted. It shall be primarily intended for posters, newsletters, equipment, affiliation fees, social and non-social events. Any doubts in the case of an individual Society shall be verified by Societies Management Group with reference to the Societies Policy Manual. If no relevant policy exists, then a new one shall be formulated. Approval shall be in accordance with the Financial Schedule.
6B6.2 No account shall be allocated to a Society not recognised by the Guild.
6B6.3 Societies Management Group shall be responsible for allocating subsidies and grants when applied for. They should also ensure that the allocation is reviewed from time to time in the light of actual expenditure and activity during the year.
6B6.4 Societies are subject to the general controls set in Section 10 of the Constitutional regulations.
6B6.5 Any recognised Society which ceases to function as a Guild Society shall have as a first charge on its account, the repayment of its grant from the Guild.
6B6.6 All Societies applying for Capital Equipment shall submit a written application to the Vice President (Student Involvement), and must attend a Societies Management Group meeting.
6B6.7 If a Society wishes to attend a conference/visit, or invite a speaker, and a financial cost is involved, then they shall obtain prior permission from Societies Management Group.
6B6.8 If a Society makes no financial transactions for two terms and fails to inform Societies Management Group of its continued existence, it shall be assumed to have ceased functioning.
6B6.9 Any Society receiving financial support from the Guild shall be under the financial supervision of Societies Management Group.
6B6.10 Remaining funds from a dormant Society shall be transferable one academic year after inactivity and derecognition of the society to the societies' main account.
6B7 TRAINING
6B7.1 Societies Management Group shall hold training for the benefit of Societies Committees. The format of these workshops shall be as laid out in the Societies Policy Manual. The Vice President (Student Involvement) shall be responsible for the organisation of these training sessions.
6B7.2 Training shall be held at least once a year.
6B7.3 An attendance record shall be kept at all training.
6B8 DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES-
6B8.1 All disciplinary matters will be passed to the Guild Membership Committee on the recommendation of Societies Management Group.
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