Minutes of meeting 2019-04-30

Ordinary General Meeting

Meeting opened 13:25

Attendance

[MLG] [FVP] [PJA] [JGM] [MPT] [NTU] [TAY] [GOZ] [DBA] Wil Leyland [042] [TEC] [AJT] Nadia ALangton Alex Sheldon Lewis [LE@] Aiobinn Daniel Finley Max

Reports

-[FVP] proc motion to skip reports -[MLG] seconds, unanimous

President's Report

Vice President's Report

Treasurer's Report

Secretary's Report

OCM Reports

Elections

• Disussions on who would like to be RO
• Nick nominates himself, mpt seconds
  • Unanimous

Secretary

• [PJA] nominates [MLG], seconded by [JGM], accepts
• [FVP] nom donald, declines
• [FVP] nom alistair, declines
• alex nom [FVP], declines
• [MLG] nom [FVP] again, [PJA] seconds, decliend
• alistair nom aiobhin, declined

• [FVP] nom alex, alistair secodns, declines

• Nominations close

• [MLG] wins by default
• Speech: tried to get on 2 and 3 years ago, wore ths shirt, curse lifted
  • Will do an average job

Other Positions Arising

• Not relevant

General Business

Life Membership - [SJH]

• [MPT] reads motion
  • [NTU] put forward [MSH] before, but [SJH] is also des
  • In some ways good that it's completely separate
  • [MPT] thanks [SJH] for her input
  • [NTU] concern raised before over whether we still see this person, in this case, yes
  • Have relatively
  • [MPT] Seconds
  • [FVP] speaks in favour
  • From her contributions that have been evident and what I have heard of her contributions to CS I believe it is well deserved
  • [TAY] and [GOZ] and [DBA] enter 13:37
  • Liam Spence : Q how many? 10
  • Any special privs? [MPT]: No except honour
    • [NTU] actually takes, cause not financial -VOTE: 16:0:3
  • [FVP] would like to welome [SJH] as a life member

Constitutional Amendments

• [FVP] proposed amendments for compliance with the Associations act

• 13:47 Wil Leyland arrives

• Rationale: Update the references to the new Act to 2015,

• [TAY]: What is the motivation for exec to have to be members of the club
  • [GOZ]: Does SOC requirements mean that all full time students have to be allowed to join
  • [TAY]: No, as long as it's not discriminatory
• [TAY]: seems unnecessary

• [MLG]: problem engaging with the member base is the issue with people getting elected that aren't a good fit, not a problem if good attenance at ordinary meetings

  • [JGM]: enters 13:53
  • [FVP]: moving AGMs to the end of the year might benefit this problem
  • [042]: on the topic of club culture
  • [TAY]: limit discussion to constitutional change

• Exec requirement

• Changing common seal requirement
  • Has barely been used
  • Other: Could you change what it means -[JGM]: The motivation for removing it?
  • [MLG]: It isn't useful
• Payments to committee members
  • [MPT] motivations for differentiations
  • [TAY]: payments to normal members often go to committee
  • [FVP]: already a restriction on payments to members, need to clarify how this happens to committee
  • [MPT]: I think the clause just needs to clarify that committee are subject to the same restrictions as to other members
  • Explicitly include committee in the payments to members section, is there a reason not to?

[TEC] leaves 14:02

• [NTU] does any of these need to be made now?
  • About people being not a member, will this happen?
  • [TAY]: go through them one by one
• [FVP] Some changes aren't needed
  • Need typo fix
  • Need the payments to committee
• [GOZ]: Constitution doesn't bind us by soc, wouldn't satisfy the act
  • Named the two proposed motions with the tr
• [NTU] believes we are already in compliance
• [TAY] doesn't believe you should be required to be a member for 6 months, but nominating while not a member seems stuffed
  • Lewis: Case of returning member, might be fully qualified but not meet 6 months rule
  • Wil Should address culture with other policy
  • [FVP] Happy to not include 6 months provision in this vote, needs further discussion
  • [JGM] Don't think the constitution needs to clarify
  • [TAY] Seems to be jumping around, please go through them one at a time
    • [TAY] Procedural motion to separate the constitutional amdms out
      • Alistair seconds
      • Vote: 15:0:3

[THA] [PJA] leaves 14:15

[AJT] leaves 14:17 (lost quorum)

• [FVP] will read out each change and its wording

[AJT] returns 14:19 (regained)

-[NTU] can we do some sort of indicative vote on the broad before discussing the details

Nadia enters 14:20

• Amending 1987 2015 ([FVP], seconded [TAY])

  • All-1:0:1

• Section 6, defining when membership starts and ceases -[TAY]: 6.6 seems weird -[NTU]: I believe this can be worded much better given time

  • Could be turned into an exhaustive list
  • Would like to word this better
    • JGM Speak on the wording, everything seems to be on a subscription model, think about how memberships will be run in the future
      • [GOZ] that's not how subscriptions
  • [FVP] Making our constitution clear and concise is a long project
  • [GOZ] are these changes requried for compliance? -[MPT] Yes.
    • [NTU] needs to be clarified, this stuff is implicit
    • [MPT] this is stated clearly that needs to be explicit
    • [GOZ] This is about whether we want to be implicit or explicit -[FVP] please keep opinions on the goodness of the constitution to outside the meeting -[JGM] would object to giving discretion to committee?
    • [GOZ], [TAY]: Yes

  • GOZ Putting it in is a bit gross, but things won't go wrong. Things could go wrong if it's not in there

  • [MLG] can we vote on this now?

  • [NTU] as for gaining membership, we need to look at our policy of adding new memberships - should be reviewed at a next committee meeting or similar -[TAY] Not allowed to deny current students membership except for explicit reason -[JGM] Proposes temporary membership idea

    • [TAY] seems like an overcomplication to me
      • could cause issues with oday grants
    • [FVP] could we keep discussion to the indiviual amendments, or propose of your own
      • [NTU] and [JGM]'s proposals will change the procedure of the club, and that's what this is about
    • [NTU] this motion does change the function of the club, there are previous
      • Propose an amendment to allow us to vet applications in some way
      • [JGM] my idea is to remove the explicit burden on committee to approve, just will allow rejection within a reasonable timeframe
    • [TAY] [NTU]'s problem can be solved by making expultion permanent
    • [GOZ] Change "receipt" to "receipt and acceptance" and leave acceptance explicitly vague
      • 16:2:0

ALangton leaves 14:46

• Motion as amended read

  • [NTU]: Wish to make a minor change to .6

    • Make it an exhaustive list
    • [GOZ] seconds "..1 Resignation ..2 Non-payment ..3 Cancellation of membership under sec. 20"

    -Vote: 15:0:2

    -[NTU]: "A person may leave the club or resign a particular post they hold, at any time, by stating so publicly" - [TAY] Think being in writing is important - [JGM] A number of people have made statements about resigning and would have counted under this - Would create a management nightmare if it's not submitted to the club - [NTU] Not ruling out writing, in fact encourages it - No seconds - [NTU] "A person may leave the club or resign from a particular post they hold at any time by providing written notification to the secretary" - Seconded by [JGM] - [TAY] Would leave the constitution in conflict? - [FVP] just an amendment to the previous motion - Vote: 13:0:4

• Sheldon enters 15:00

• [NTU] Do you believe that removing 16.1 will also satisfy this

  • [MPT] resiging as a member does not require resigning as an exec with the current requirements
  • [JGM] this is important to get right
  • [FVP] resigning as a member

-[FVP] Motion to amend the motion to include the Vacancies.Resignation changes -[GOZ] seconded - [TAY] Rationale for removing notice period? - [FVP] absurd to require times for volunteer positions - And handover can take place without being in the position - [TAY] and are you aware that this would shorten the deadline for the OGM afterwards by 2 weeks? -[FVP] yes - Vote: 15:0:1

• [FVP] any other comments to make on the special resolution before vote?

  • Unanimously passes

• [FVP] Voting the common seal isn't necessary now, withdrawn

• Procedural motion to adjourn for 5 minutes

• Here after adjournment: 17

• [FVP] Vacancies.Cessation and Acceptance of Other Positions

  • [TAY] Should be as an eligibility requirement but not as a vacancy
  • [GOZ] I think it's an elegant solution
  • Seconds
  • [TAY] Does what's needed, will vote for it
  • Vote: Unanimous (16)

• [FVP] Require executive members to be members of the club as well

  • [GOZ] seconds
  • Text here
  • Lewis: Clarify: Loophole on financial members of the club -[GOZ] reccomend changing to "financial members"
  • [JGM] shouldn't exclude life members
    • [TAY] LM's are allowed to be financial, allowing this would allow exec that can't vote a general meetings
    • [TAY] seconds
    • Vote: 15

[NTU] leaves 15:36

• [FVP] rereads the motion

  • Vote: 15:0:1

  • [FVP] Motion to add Elections.7: requirement of holding at most one position

• [GOZ] seconds

• Vote 14:2:0

  • [FVP] Motion to change Duration of office
• [JGM] should end midway through the AGM
• [TAY] not specified but this is what happens
• [MPT] this is a legal requirement
• [MPT] how to word it?
  • [TAY] Upon election
• [GOZ] Seconds
• Vote 15:0:1

-[FVP] Motion to change Finance.6 to include ", including to a member of the committee," - [MPT] seconds - [MPT] No cost, affirms our compliance - [GOZ] Constitution is already a mess, let's do it - Vote: 14:1:1

[AJT] reenters 15:48

• [FVP] motion to require a full review of all group memberships

  • [MLG]: We don't need to vote on this to allow the committee to do this, don't think we need to force the committee to do it
  • [JGM] Against this
  • [LE@]: Why?
  • [FVP]: Don't feel like there's an agreement amongst those who this will affect
  • Want to seek a mandate from the member base to see if this is something that the club wants
  • [GOZ] remove the deadline if all you want is a mandate
  • [JGM]: please explain to the meeting why this is something we should support?
  • Can't say I have full confidence in everyone on every group
  • Feel like this is something that should be done regularly
  • [TAY]: Constant discussion since 2014 amongst members and committee to do but hasn't been done yet still
  • [GOZ] currently, chain of trust is long in wheel, endorse anything that can shorten the chain of trust
    • [LE@]: Have you proposed this as a method of "getting back" at a specific member [FVP]?
    • Nadia: You could vote of no confidence
    • [LE@] don't believe it rises to that level, but have been disgusted at some of the machinations following the AGM
      • Should this be withheld?
    • Aiobinn: Someone with a conflict of interest should abstain, this is something that is done as a committee as a whole
    • [GOZ]: Should only speak if you're trying to sway someone
    • [LE@]:
    • Wil: This is to increase trust
    • [JGM]: Inherantly touchy, shouldn't be addressed directly
      • [TAY]: New regs, no-one has been reassessed since then
      • I have to trust people appointed by committees from before I was born currently
      • Should be a standard procedure, which is what other clubs do
    • Lewis: Unigames: we were storing member addresses (as only committee), decided even that was an unacceptible risk
    • Daniel: Not very involved, but see what's going on
      • If people haven't done anything wrong, there's no isssue
      • Wil: Issue here is transparency. Committee represents the members of the club. -[MLG]: Risk of losing valuable older members of the club, who still contribute to the club (i.e. online)
      • [FVP] responds, concerned that people will feel like there is hostility
    • [TAY]: That's separate, if someone has expressed interest and interacted that that's review done, they're good to go
      • Lots of concern about how the review will take place
    • [MLG]: Remember how many door members we lost last time?
      • Not sure that this committee would be able to make an ethical review of wheel
    • [LE@]: Light paper trail for 5 years
      • Hard not to consider the genesis of this attempt
      • Been suggested rather credibly that this could be a pretext

• Finley left

  • [GOZ] Procedural motion to vote on this
    • Vote: 8:5:2

Max enters 16:20 [JGM] returns 16:22

• [FVP] rereads the motion
  • [JGM] amendment proposal: potentially an early deadline for putting in a procedure for
  • Vote: 11:3:1

Other Business

Meeting closed 16:30

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Minutes uploaded by [MLG] at 16:23 on 2019-05-11