Foreword:
This constitution aims to address all possible adverse issues that may occur in the future. In particular, it is intended to protect the assets and funds of the club from adverse executives or opportunists.
Secondarily, it is intended that as long as the club is functioning well and the membership is satisfied, that the constitution should not interfere and should not require changing.
Thirdly, it is intended that as long as the executive council is able to function and the membership has no problem with them, that the constitution should not force an election.
Article 1: Name
Article 2: Mission
This entire article, except where stated otherwise, is “mutable”
1.
The main council shall consist of a Chairperson and 4 council members.
1a.
1 council member shall be chosen to fulfil a “treasurer” role and act as a co-signing authority along with the chairperson on all club financial transactions.(required by MUNSU)
1b.
1 council member, possibly the chairperson if desired, shall be chosen to fulfil a “secretary” duty and take down the minutes from each meeting. (required by MUNSU)
2.
The titles and duties of the council and chairperson besides those stated in this constitution, are upto the current council and current chairperson to decide amongst themselves.
This entire article, except where stated otherwise, is “Immutable”
1.
An official member is a person who purchased a membership card in the current or previous semester
Official membership is not required to attend meetings.
2a.
Official membership is required to rent out games from the club.
2b.
Unless the council explicitly and specifically allows it, renting a game is only good for the period of one meeting.
2c.
Official membership is required to vote.
2d.
Official Membership is required to hold an executive position
Official membership shall cost 15$ per semester. It may be obtained by registering through the council.
3a.
If official membership is late or partial, the council may choose to make it cheaper on that semester.
(Ie: The club doesn't start up one semester until October, so the council may choose to make official memberships 10$ each.)
3b.
Article 6.3 is mutable by council vote, with 2 week stagger period before adoption of new pricing.
3c.
The council should attempt to ensure a single pricing of official membership per semester. When they change price, they should word it such that the price change takes effect at the beginning of the next semester.
3d.
The council may decide to make official membership pricing for the summer semester less than other semesters.
3e.
The council may decide to grant someone a special membership which conveys only the benefit of voting. This shall cost 1$, the MUNSU minimum for club fees.
4.
The club shall aspire to attract as many members as possible.
5.
The council also pays for membership cards
Remark on article 6.5:
In some clubs, it is assumed that the executive get free membership. This is not the case for us.1.
All votes shall take place over at least a 2 week period.
1a.
All votes shall be announced in the newsletter, on the website, and at the club meetings.
1b.
Members do not need to physically vote and may vote online, (For issues over the summer), or any medium which can recorded and verified. Voting records are required to in the club files.
1c.
Reasonable effort must be made to contact all official members from the current semester and the previous semester. Reasonable effort is defined as making at least one attempt, such as writing an email, telephoning, etc., To contact each member of the club through a means they believe will reach that member.
Remark on Article 5.1c:
If, for example, the council email a member and the email is not returned by an auto-mailing demon informing the council that the email is no longer active, the owner of that email address can be assumed to be contacted. Similarly if a message is left on an answering machine appearing to belong to the member in question.
The council may refer to an easy-to-understand and remember URL, for example, for full details on the vote, they do not have to detail it in full for each communication. They do have to make the location of full details known and the location must be accessible.
2.
If the club membership raise and pass an “immutable” style vote, (Which the council and chairperson MUST announce as any other vote), they can start a “revolution”.
2a.
A revolution removes all current members of the elders, chairperson and council.
In that case, there will less than 4 council members, no chairperson, and no elders, and the election of new council, chairperson and elders will be done as outlined in article 5.7
3.
If the club membership raise and pass a “mutable” style vote, (Which the council and chairperson MUST announce, as any other vote would be), they can choose to remove a single councilperson or chairperson.
3a.
Then the appointment of the replacement, if necessary, will be governed as by article 3.5
4.
The membership may raise a mutable vote over any change or decision made by the executive council. This is known as a "contest" or "contesting"
4a.
If the contest is passed, then the change or decision is cancelled
4b.
If a contest is made in reaction to a change, then, since the change must be announced for two weeks before being processed, then the first week of the announcement counts as the first week of the vote.
Remark on Article 5.4b:
That is to say, the change is made on Wednesday 1 and processes on Wednesday 3. If a vote is called between wed. 1 and 2, then the vote is over on wed 3. If a vote is called between wed. 2 and wed. 3, it terminates on wed. 4. This guarantees at least one week of known voting for every voter.
That is to say in other terms again, that the maximum combination of announcement and vote is 3 weeks, between 4 Wednesdays.
(The term "Wednesday" in this remark is referring to current club practice of meeting very Wednesday. It is not binding)
4.
If official members abstain from an "immutable" vote, that is counted as a “no” vote. They must actively desire change.
Remark on Article 5.4:
In contrast to a mutable vote, where you are assumed to vote "abstain" until you do vote.
5.
In order to abide by MUNSU's constitution, only people with a affliation with MUN may vote. That is, someone is a student, faculty, staff, or alumni.
The main method of appointment of the council and chairperson shall be as follows:
The chairperson of the council shall be chosen by the preceding council.
6b.
The council shall be chosen by the preceding chairman.
6c.
The chairperson may replace his council as often as he wishes, and the council may choose to replace the chairperson as often as they wish.
6d.
The council member or chairperson being replaced may contest the change.
Remarks on article 5.6:
It is advised that the council and chairperson consult with each other on their replacements, but the council does not need to consult with the current chairperson on his replacement, nor the chairperson on the councils replacements.
7.
If the council is ever short of five members, then it is suggested that they find a replacement as soon as possible, but they may choose to deliberate if no suitable replacement is present.
7a.
The club membership may then choose to make a nomination(s) of their own, which shall then be handled as a contest would be. It is, in effect, the method by which members would contest the decision of the council not to choose a new council member
7b.
In the event of more than 1 nominee, they should first vote on which nominee to appoint, if any, (50% +1 wins among voting population), and then vote on whether that nominee should be appointed, (50% + 1 among the voting population). Since each vote takes 2 weeks, this is effectively a 4 week choice for multiple nominees.
7c.
If such a nomination takes place, than all important decisions that may be effected by the new leadership are put off until afterwards.
7d.
For any decisions that are important and require action, the club members can either choose to allow the current council to make the decisions, or to handle them by committee of interested members.
7e.
The club membership determines exactly which decisions are “important”
8.
All council members, to abide by MUNSU constitution, must have some affiliation with MUN, be they students, alumni, faculty and/or staff.
This entire article, except where stated otherwise, is “mutable”
1.
When the new Executive will assume office, it is the responsibility of the departing Executive to orient the newly elected executive officers to their jobs. This includes teaching the incoming executive about club and Students’ Union policies and procedures, transitioning custodianship of club records and materials (including office and mailbox keys, locker combinations and all passwords to all club email accounts), and preparing the new Executive to be effective in their roles for the next year's work.
Remark:
At the time of writing, the materials requiring transition would be:
password to munboardgames@gmail.com
Admin-ship to the website: http://mun_tgc.acornrack.com/
Admin-ship to the facebook group
In the future, this will also include:
Access to the storage of boardgames
Bank account(s)
Access to the storage of club records
2.
It is the responsibility of the departing chairperson to ensure that all club requirements to the Students’ Union, including submission of a complete annual report and the removal of all club records and materials from the club office and locker, have been fulfilled before the incoming Executive assumes office.
3.
It is the responsibility of the departing chairperson and council member fulfilling the treasurer position to bring all accounts up to date to the end of the fiscal year, and to prepare any required financial statements of the club. In addition, the outgoing chairperson and/or treasurer must arrange with the respective incoming Executive for the transition of the club bank accounts. These tasks are to be completed and their outputs delivered to the new Executive no later than 2 weeks after appointment.
4.
It is the responsibility of the incoming Executive to assume custody of all club records and materials and accountability for all financial activities of the club and for all club requirements to the Students’ Union commencing with the first day after 2 weeks on appointment.
5.
The council and chairperson should attempt to allow for having to leave their positions, for whatever reason, about a month ahead of time.
5a.
It is to be respected that this is not always possible in all circumstances.Article 7: Student Union
This entire article, except where stated otherwise, is “Immutable”
1.
The Club acknowledges and will abide by the Students’ Union By-laws and Policies unless otherwise approved by the Student Activities & Organizations Committee. We are aware that the club will no longer remain a Students’ Union club if a Policy or By-law is contravened without Club Committee ratification.
Article 8: Finances and Records
This entire article, except where stated otherwise, is “mutable”
1.
It is the responsibility of the chairperson and the selected council member to handle the finances of the club
1a.
This involves:
Approving expenditures
Collecting money or the club
Creating, collecting, and storing all financial records
2.
All financial records should be stored for 7 years. This is as long as businesses and people are required to keep financial information for auditing purposes
2a.
All financial records should be stored with MUNSU
2b.
All finances should also be recorded on the MUNTGC website for members to review.
The following should be stored with MUNSU and kept up-to-date:
Financial receipts and records
Bank statements
Current constitution
List of Executives
Policies and Procedures
4.
The following should be stored privately with the club and kept up-to-date where applicable:
Previous constitutions
Attempted and failed changes to the constitution
Minutes of executive meetings
Voting records
Current Constitution
Financial records
Bank Balance
List of executives
Policies and procedures
4a.
Everything mentioned in article 10.2 should be made accessible to at least every official member.
5.
Previous constitutions can be stored as the constitution at the beginning of a semester and the change log, as opposed to a separate copy each time.
5a.
The change log should be very explicit and clear in what it changed from the constitution
6.
Some of these records may be mentioned in other articles. These articles should not conflict, but if they do, the article with the highest immutability takes precedence.
6a.
Article 8.6 and article 8.6a are “immutable”
Remark:
The stuff kept with MUNSU is intended to be kept such that if the club collapses, any future tabletop gaming club rising from the ashes will inherit those records.
The stuff kept by the club is intended to allow the transparency of the club executive and allow members to trace the damage done by a corrupt or inept exec.1.
Other articles have mentioned newsletters and websites. At least one method of informing the club membership, and attempting to make them aware of all occurrences, events, and changes, should be kept.
2.
On a mutable vote, the change of terminology in other articles from “newsletter” or “email” or “website”, etc. Methods of informing the club membership, may be changed to a new method of informing the club on that articles matter.
2a.
If a method of communication is changed, ie: the newsletter is replaced by a blog, a single mutable vote may replace all instances of that terminology in the constitution
Remark:
The current system was adopted because it was easiest for the founding exec. It may not always be the easiest, but it should always be as accessible and informative.Article 13: Tolerance Policy
This entire article, except where stated otherwise, is “mutable”
1.
The council or club membership may choose to kick out people from meetings from time to time. This article will govern who can be kicked out and who is safe.
2.
People may be kicked for the following reasons:
Sexual harassment concerns
If they exhibit destructive behaviour towards boardgames, (in particular), or destructive behaviour towards any property
Racist or other prejudiced remarks that the club finds in repeatably poor taste
If they exhibit behaviour that unnecessarily endangers members of the club
If they are drunken or high on substances with fear that they may exhibit disruptive behaviour under the influence.
Anything that generally falls under outstandingly rude or disruptive.
Anything that would lead to legal problems for the club
Verbal aggression and harassment
2a.
The club executive present shall determine whether or not a person is kicked out or not
2b.
If no executive is present, (Which should never happen), the club should take a mutable vote
2c.
The executive may determine that a given person is not welcome at future meetings, and will be kicked out if they do come to a future meeting.
3.
People are safe if they have not violated any rules in Article 13.2 and have an official membership. They may not be kicked out without due reason.
4.
People may have their membership stripped of them if they exhibit particular behaviour continuously and the club passes a mutable vote to ban them for the semester
4a.
Action to kick or ban may not be taken pre-emptively. It must follow from actions in the current or previous semester
4b.
If banned, and and they bought a membership, refund them the cost.
Remark:
It is my hope that no one will ever have to be kicked from the club, much less banned, and that if banned, they can be forgiven in a semester.Article 11: Amendments
This entire article, except where stated otherwise, is “Immutable”
1.
This constitution shall comprise the operating basis of the the club.
2.
Each part of this constitution shall be labelled with its degree of mutability.
2a.
“Immutable” shall be held as requiring 60% of the clubs registered members to vote “yes” on any change, addition, or removal to an amendment.
2b.
“Mutable” shall be held as requiring 50% +1 of voters to vote “yes” on any change, addition, or removal to an amendment.
2c.
Anything unlabelled shall be held as being changeable merely by a majority vote of the executive council.
3.
Any proposed changes must be announced to the club membership through the newsletter, and announced at the meetings.
4.
After announcement, there will be 2 weeks in which the club membership can raise concerns or the club elders can choose to veto the changes.
4a.
At the end of those two weeks, if the constitution is amended, a copy of the amended constitution must be submitted to the Students’ Union.
4b.
If failed, a document detailing the proposed change and reason for failure, (Failed vote or veto or the council changed their minds, etc.), shall be kept with the records of the MUNTGC.
5.
Changing the mutability of amendment requires a vote of the highest mutability involved
5a.
Adding an amendment requires a vote of the mutability of the proposed amendment.
6.
On an immutable vote, the club may rollback to a previously stored constitution.
6a.
In particular, a previously stored constitution which the current exec approve of and the exec at the time signed. In particular, the secretary council member and the chairperson at the time.
6b.
The club membership may wish to put forward such a notion, instead of the council motioning for the change, in which case the current exec do not have to approve of the previous constitution.
6c.
In order for the membership to put forward such a notion, at least 3 members must support it. This is so as not to waste time running an immutable vote that only person is interested in making.
Remark on Article 4.5:
For example, changing an article from a council vote to an immutable vote, (to change the article), requires an immutable vote from the club.
This is required because the most immutable article is assumed to override conflicting lesser immutable articles.
This is also required such that an undesirable amendment is not regretted later; this is only a worry for immutable votes, where the term immutable is used because getting 60% of any group to vote for a change is difficult.
Glossary: