The

Burlington Society Constitution

1. Name of the Society and its Aims:

   1. The Burlington Society (hereafter referred to as the Society) aims to support, develop, implement and promote a social focus for mature and postgraduate students studying at a member institution, either the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, or the University of Salford.
   2. The Society aims to represent its members (as set out in the First Schedule) within the said institutions on matters in accord with the Aims set out in section 1.a.
   3. The income and property of the Society shall be used to achieve the Aims set out in section 1.a.

2. Membership of the Society:

   1. Membership of the Society is granted upon payment of the membership fee and is subject to adherence to the conditions of membership (as set out in the First Schedule section 1.).
   2. The membership fee shall be set by the Society Committee (as set out in section 3.c.) in accord with Committee procedure (as set out in the Fourth Schedule section 3.).
   3. Membership may be resigned by giving written notice to the Chair.
   4. Membership may be rescinded if an according motion is passed by majority vote at a General Meeting (as set out in the Fourth Schedule).
   5. Membership may be suspended by the Society Committee if a member is deemed to be in breach of the conditions of membership (as set out in the First Schedule), through Committee procedure (as set out in the Fourth Schedule section 3.). Suspended members forfeit all normal membership rights (as set out in the First Schedule) except for any electoral rights they may have (under the First Schedule section 3.e.). A suspended member may be reinstated if an according motion is passed by majority vote at a General Meeting, or at the Committee's discretion. Following a period of continuous suspension not less than 8 weeks, membership may be deemed to be rescinded.

3. Governance of the Society:

   1. The Society shall be governed by the General Meeting (in accord with the conditions and procedures set out in the Fourth Schedule) and through the election of four Society Officers (as set out in the Second Schedule section 1.) into the positions of Chair, Vice-chair: Events, Vice-chair: Co-ordination, and Treasurer, who shall fulfil the mandate of the General Meeting.
   2. The General Meeting shall elect Society Officers in accord with conditions and procedures (as set out in the Third Schedule).
   3. The Officers of the Society shall form a Committee for the purpose of the day to day running of the Society and the said Committee may co-opt additional Committee members in order to fulfil and delegate Officer duties (as set out in the Second Schedule section 1.)
   4. The Committee shall order its proceedings in accord with conditions and procedures (as set out in the Fourth Schedule section 3.).
   5. The Committee shall make an annual report to any relevant persons or committees of any institution from which the Society receives financial or other support.

4. Dissolution:

   1. Dissolution of the Society shall be enacted by a two thirds majority vote of a General Meeting (under the conditions set out in the Fourth Schedule) in addition to which the Officers of the Society must be in agreement.
   2. Notwithstanding the conditions set out in section 4.a., in the event of the position of either Chair or Treasurer not being filled under the election conditions (as set out in the Third Schedule), the Society shall be considered dissolved at the end of the term of office of the current Society Officers.
   3. In the event of dissolution, the Society's assets shall be deposited with the University of Manchester for safekeeping, under the provision that the said assets be made available to any future society that shall provide for the interests of postgraduate and mature students of the University of Manchester

5. Changes to this Constitution:

   1. Changes to this constitution must be passed by a two thirds majority vote of a General Meeting (under the conditions set out in the Fourth Schedule).
   2. All electoral members present must sign the new constitution.

---

First Schedule (Membership)

1. Conditions and Duties of Membership

   1. Members shall assent to and abide by the Aims of the Society (as set out in the Constitution section 1.a.).
   2. Members shall preserve the good name and reputation of the Society.
   3. Conduct unbecoming membership of the Society may result in suspension or rescinding of membership (as set out in the Constitution section 2.e.).
   4. Membership of the Society shall be made available in accord with the prevailing Equal Opportunities Policy of the University of Manchester Students' Union.

2. Privileges of Membership

   1. The social facilities and organised events of the Society shall be made available to all members of the Society.
   2. Guests of Society members may be admitted to use the social facilities and attend organised events at the discretion of the Committee and within the terms of the conditions prevailing upon members (as set out in section 1.).

3. Categories of Membership and Electoral Privileges:

   1. Standard membership of the Society is available to current mature students and postgraduates of member institutions, and other persons at the discretion of the Society Committee, in accordance with the conditions of membership as set out in this schedule
   2. Active membership of the Society applies to standard members for whom the Society has contact details
   3. Full membership of the Society is automatically given to active members who are current students at a member institution.
   4. An active member of the Society may be granted Committee membership if the motion to so grant Committee membership is passed by majority vote at a Committee meeting called in accordance with the conditions and procedures (as set out in the Fourth Schedule). Officers of the Society automatically hold committee membership.
      Committee membership may be resigned at any time, and is automatically rescinded at the end of each calendar year; or if, in any academic term, a Committee member fails to attend three Committee meetings or send apologies for absence in advance of the meeting. Committee membership may also be rescinded if an according motion is passed by majority vote at a Committee meeting.
   5. Electoral membership of the Society is given to both full members and Committee members, and permits the holder to vote at General meetings and to elect Society Officers

4. Changes to this Schedule

   Changes to this schedule must be passed by simple majority vote of a General Meeting (under the conditions set out in the Fourth Schedule section 2.)

---

Second Schedule (Duties of Society Officers and Committee Members)

1. Duties of Society Officers:

   1. All Society Officers are obliged to:

      1. Further the Aims of the Society (as set out in the Constitution section 1.a.)
      2. Uphold the Constitution and abide by the conditions and procedures set out in its Schedules
      3. Foster and maintain good working relations with affiliate societies and organisations
      4. Oversee the setting of the Society budget at budget meetings (in accord with the Fourth Schedule section 3.b.).
      5. Authorise and oversee the use of Society assets and facilities, and commit to the retention, organisation and maintenance of said assets and facilities
      6. Strive to expand the Society and its relations wherever possible
      7. Create and empower a Society Committee as appropriate
      8. Evaluate motions from members of the Committee and act as seconders where appropriate
      9. Be responsible for authorising expenditure from any discretionary fund or budget they may have been allocated at the most recent budget meeting
      10. Hand over their duties to their replacements during the handover period towards the end of their official term of office, (as specified in the Third Schedule section 1.a.)
      11. Produce a report at the end of each academic semester:
          • at the end of Semester one, a review report in preparation for the Society's Annual General Meeting, covering the previous Officer's close-of-office report and detailing progress against their manifesto
          • at the end of semester two, a close-of-office report concluding achievements and setting out recommendations as to work for the future.

   2. The Additional duties of the Chair comprise:

      1. Ensuring general, committee, budget and events meetings take place at the correct intervals (as set out in the Fourth Schedule)
      2. Executing, or co-opting a Committee member to perform, the duties of office associated with any vacant Society officer positions
      3. Maintaining notices of vacant Society Officer positions on the Society website, and arranging General Meetings (in accord with the conditions set out in the Fourth Schedule section 2.).
      4. Regular liaison with funding bodies
      5. Bidding for an appropriate reserve and miscellaneous fund in the budget meeting
      6. Prioritisation of items to be included in the agenda of general and committee meetings, and scheduling of additional meetings as required in order to discuss outstanding items

   3. The additional duties of the Treasurer comprise:

      1. Leading budget meetings for the purposes of setting the Society budget
      2. Ensuring the budget and Officers' discretionary expenditure limits are adhered to
      3. Ensuring all reserve expenditure is approved by the Committee
      4. Keeping accounting records for all income and expenditure
      5. Producing monthly expenditure reports and projections of expenditure vs. budget
      6. Ensuring the Society fulfils its legal accounting obligations to HMRC and any other bodies.
      7. Tracking Society assets
      8. Handing over all access arrangements regarding the Society's funds to the replacement treasurer at the end of their term of Office

   4. The additional duties of the Vice-chair (Events) comprise:

      1. Bidding for an appropriate events fund in the budget meeting
      2. Co-ordinating the events team
      3. Organising events for which there is no nominated owner
      4. Leading events meetings

   5. The additional duties of the Vice-chair (Co-ordination) comprise:

      1. Bidding for promotional, infrastructure and asset maintenance funds in the budget meeting
      2. Co-ordinating promotional and administrative support
      3. Executing necessary organisational tasks for which no member of the committee can be co-opted
      4. Maintaining society assets and facilities
      5. Authorising official communications in the name of the Society, (or co-opting a member of the committee to assist as appropriate)
      6. Conducting correspondence in the name of the Society
      7. Releasing agendas for meetings (on the timescales defined in the Fourth Schedule)
      8. Making provision for the recording of minutes for all meetings (through co-option of Committee members if necessary)
      9. Ensuring actions recorded in meeting minutes are carried out
      10. Maintaining the Society membership infrastructure
      11. Maintaining an asset and facilities bookings infrastructure

2. Duties of committee members

   1. Taking responsibility for specific jobs as identified and allocated by the Committee
   2. Nominating Society members for Committee membership
   3. Proposing and taking ownership of motions (including those related to spending from the budget) at Committee meetings
   4. Voting on motions put before the Committee
   5. Adherence to the obligations of Society Officers when consenting to co-opt duties associated with a Society Officer position

3. Changes to this Schedule

   Changes to this schedule must be passed by simple majority vote of a General Meeting (under the conditions set out in the Fourth Schedule)

---

Third Schedule (Election of Society Officers)

1. Vacancy of Society Officer Positions

   1. The normal term of office for Officers of the Society shall be a handover period during semester two, immediately following the Annual General Meeting at which they were elected, followed by an official term of office of one full academic year.
   2. Should an officer position become vacant during this term, notice shall be given to the Society (in accordance with the Fourth Schedule section 1.) that nominations are to be opened for said position.
   3. Upon receipt of a valid nomination for the vacant position, a General Meeting shall be called (in accordance with the Fourth Schedule section 2.), at which an election to fill the vacant Society Officer Position shall be considered in accord with the conditions set out in this schedule

2. Mechanism of Election of Officers

   1. The Election of Officers shall take place at a General Meeting of the Society (that has been called in accord with the conditions and procedures set out in the Fourth Schedule section 2.).
   2. Notice of election shall be made (in accordance with) at least two weeks prior to the meeting and nomination forms shall be made available at the same time.
   3. Any full member of the Society may be nominated in advance of the general meeting to stand for election to any of the Society Officer positions, provided that they are proposed for the position by an electoral member of the Society, and seconded by another electoral member of the Society.
   4. A list of nominees as they stand at the time shall be published to the Society two days before the meeting for the purpose of proxy voting.
   5. Nominees should deliver a statement to the Society detailing their skills as relevant to the position and their intended achievements during their term of office.
   6. Society Officer positions shall in the first instance only be open to Full members. If no nominations are received for a position from Full members, a motion may be made at the general meeting to open nominations for a corresponding Acting Officer position to any active member of the Society. An Acting Officer elected under such circumstances shall have the same responsibilities and duties normally associated with their position of office (as set out in the Second Schedule section 1.).
   7. If an Acting Officer is elected under section 2.f. above, nominations for that Officer's position shall remain open to Full members. For the purposes of advertising and receiving such nominations, the position shall be treated as being vacant (in accord with section 1.b.)
   8. In the event of there being only one nomination for either the Chair or Treasurer Officer positions, the said nominee shall be deemed to be elected unopposed.
   9. An option to hold the position vacant, keep nominations open and co-opt within the Committee until such time as further nominations are received in accordance with Schedule 3 Section 1 shall be made available for the Officer positions of Vice-chair (Events) and Vice-chair (Co-ordination).
   10. In the event of there being no nominations for either of the Vice-chair Society Officer positions then the positions shall remain vacant and nominations shall remain open (in accord with section 1.b.).
   11. No member of the Society may be elected to more than one Officer position at any one time.
   12. Only electoral members shall be allowed to vote in the election of Society officers
   13. Voting shall take the form of a show of hands unless a secret ballot is requested by any electoral member. In the event of a secret ballot votes shall be counted by a Committee member nominated by the current Committee, and checked by two full members of the Society as nominated by the General Meeting.
   14. The vote shall be calculated using the simple majority voting system
   15. In a situation where either Vice-chair position goes unfilled, it is the responsibility of the Chair to either execute the duties associated with the position themselves, or co-opt a Committee member to do so. Vacant positions must be advertised as such on the Society website, and the Chair should arrange a General Meeting if any nominations for vacant positions are received.

3. Changes to this Schedule

   Changes to this schedule must be passed by simple majority vote of a General Meeting (under the conditions set out in the Fourth Schedule)

---

Fourth Schedule (Standing Orders)

1. Notice:

   The mechanism of giving notice to the Society shall be by posting to all active members of the Society and by display on the Society website.

2. General Meetings:

   1. General Meetings of the Society are valid if:

      1. Notice of the meeting, incorporating full details of all motions and Officer elections to be considered, has been posted by the Vice-chair: Co-ordination to all active members of the Society and displayed on the Society website a minimum of two weeks prior to the meeting
      2. Proposed amendments to motions have been publicised at least one week prior to the meeting
      3. Proxy voting arrangements have been made for those electoral members unable to attend the meeting
      4. A quorum of 20 electoral members attend the meeting in person
      5. Only electoral members shall be permitted to vote at the meeting

   2. An Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held as soon as practicable within Semester 2, and in any case within Lent term, in accord with the conditions and procedures (as set out in section 2.). At a minimum, the following activities must take place at this meeting:

      1. Minutes of the last meeting
      2. Presentation of the current Society Officers' review reports
      3. Election of Society Officers for the coming office period (as set out in the Third Schedule section 1.a.).

   3. An Extraordinary General meeting of the Society may be held if proposed by an electoral member of the Society and supported by four more electoral members, and in accord with the conditions and procedures (as set out in section 1.). The member proposing the meeting shall provide full details of proposed motions to the Chair.

3. Committee Meetings:

   1. Committee meetings:

      1. Committee meetings must be held at least monthly during term times. At a minimum, the following activities must take place at the monthly meetings:
         1. Minutes of last meeting
         2. Matters arising
         3. Chair's report
         4. Treasurer's report
         5. Date and time of next meeting
      2. Agendas for committee meetings shall be sent out two days in advance of the meeting and clearly identify motions to be considered at the meeting. Arrangements shall be made for voting by proxy, but motions cannot be passed unless the meeting reaches a quorum of 4 Committee members
      3. In order for a motion to be considered at a Committee meeting, it must be proposed by a Committee member. If the Committee member is not an Officer or an acting Officer of the Society, the motion must be seconded by an Officer or an acting Officer of the Society before voting may take place. Voting shall take the form of a show of hands. The Chair shall have the casting vote in the event of a tie.

   2. Budget Meetings:

      1. Ordinary budget meetings shall be held in the last week of each term
      2. The first budget meeting following the Annual General Meeting shall be attended by both the outgoing and the incoming officers of the Society. Handover of treasurer duties should be performed at this time.
      3. At budget meetings, the budget is set for the forthcoming term. The budget should be set as a result of bids by the chair and two vice-chair officers, weighted against the Treasurer's report for the previous calendar year and known sources of expenditure for the year to come. The final budget must be passed by those present at the meeting, with the Chair having a casting vote in the event of a tie.
      4. In order to prepare for budget meetings, all Officers should consult their teams and the previous years' expenditure
      5. The agreed budget shall be presented at the next Committee meeting
      6. Extraordinary budget meetings, at which the budget may be re-evaluated based on expenditure and existing funds, may be called if proposed and seconded by Society Officers.

   3. Events Meetings:

      1. Ordinary events meetings shall be held before each start of term, and at the start of the summer holidays
      2. Each events meeting should be a full committee meeting at which the following is discussed:
         1. Description of weekly events for the upcoming period
         2. Nomination of a budget for each event
         3. Allocation of ownership of events if the event has no proposer
      3. In the event of dispute, events and budgets should be passed as motions
      4. Extraordinary events meetings may be held at any time as part of committee meetings
      5. At an extraordinary events meeting, any committee member may propose (and implicitly take ownership of) an event. If seconded by an officer (who implicitly takes responsibility for ensuring the owner follows through), the committee may vote on the proposal and a budget.

4. Changes to this Schedule

   Changes to this schedule must be passed by simple majority vote of a General Meeting (under the conditions set out in this schedule)

Fifth Schedule (Indemnity)

1. Indemnity

   So far as may be permitted by law, every member of the Committee and every officer of the Society shall be entitled to be indemnified by the Society against all costs, charges, losses, expenses and liabilities incurred by him or her in the execution or discharge of his or her duties or the exercise of his or her powers, or otherwise properly in relation to or in connection with his or her duties. This indemnity extends to any liability incurred by him or her in defending any proceedings, civil or criminal, which relate to anything done or omitted or alleged to have been done or omitted by him or her as a member of the Committee or an Officer of the Society and in which judgement is given in his or her favour (or the proceedings are disposed of without any finding or admission of any material breach of duty on his or her part), or in which he or she is acquitted, or in connection with any application under any statute for relief from liability in respect of any such act or omission in which relief is granted to him or her by the court.

2. Changes to this Schedule

   Changes to this schedule must be passed by simple majority vote of a General Meeting (under the conditions set out in the Fourth Schedule)