
Constitution
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Ents Chair
Ents Officer
Sports Chair
Merchandising
Webmaster
International Representative
Transportation
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Camborne School of Mines Student Association Constitution 1) Preamble
This
Constitution describes the running of student affairs with the Camborne
School of Mines Student Association. It must be distributed to all
Committee Members and made available to all Student Association
Members. In this Constitution the Camborne School of Mines Student
Association will be referred to as the Student Association or CSMSA. 2) Membership of the Student Association
- The following groups are eligible for membership of the Student Association:
- Student members - Students who are currently attending a CSM led course.
- Affiliated members - Students who have previously attended CSM but are not included under (2ai) i.e. Old boys.
- Memberships
are renewable on a yearly basis at a cost of £2. For graduating members
this is refunded as their first pint/drink in the student bar after
graduation.
- All Members of the Student Association are expected
to promote the well-being of the Camborne School of Mines and its
Student Association, to uphold its prestige and to observe the rules
designed to further these purposes.
- The CSM motto “Laboris
Gloria Ludi” is taken to mean “Work Hard, Play Hard” and this should
forever be at the forefront of the mind of a CSM Student.
- It is
paramount that all Members are to be able to sing our CSM Drinking
Songs. Above all “The Engineers” (See Appendix A) is to be known by
heart by each and every CSMSA Member.
3) The Student Association Committee
- Student
members of the Student Association shall elect a Committee which shall
be made up solely of student members of the Student Association (as
listed under (2) (a) (i) and (ii)).
- The Student Association
Committee exists to foster the community life of CSM in all its aspects
and to represent the views and interests of the student members of CSM.
4) Members of the Committee
- President
- Vice-President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Entertainments Chairperson
- Sports Chairperson
- International Students Representative
- Web Master
- Sale and Merchandising Officer
5) Duties of the Student Association Committee
- The
Committee shall organise functions on behalf of the Student Association
and shall organise all elections and Student Association General
Meetings that are required to ensure that this Constitution is upheld.
- The
Committee shall deal with complaints and suggestions on Student
Association matters that are within its power. Any member of the
Committee who is made aware of problems or issues concerning the
Student Association must bring them to the attention of the Student
Association Committee.
- The Committee shall meet fortnightly
during the academic semester to discuss Student Association business.
The Committee can only discuss Student Association matters if 50% of
the Committee is present including either: the President,
Vice-President or Secretary. Additional meeting can be arranged when
necessary, particularly around the large events.
- Student Association funds are for the benefit of all Student Association members.
- The
Committee shall have the power to enforce Student Association rules.
The Committee shall interview any member of Student Association who, in
its opinion, abuses the privileges of the Student Association or whose
behaviour in any way damages the reputation of the Student Association.
If the ruling of the Committee is in any way disregarded, it shall have
the power to remove the offender’s membership to the Student
Association.
- The President must attend any external meetings
they are required to attend as head of the Student Association. I.e.
CSM Association, CSM Trust or RAG Week Committee meetings where
required. If unable to meet this require he or she must delegate the
task to another committee member.
6) Duties of the Committee Members
It
is the duty of all committee members to uphold the well-being of the
Camborne School of Mines and its Student Association. They are also
responsible for upholding the rules stated within this constitution for
both the running of the Student Association and in the drinking of beer
and other beverages in the name of CSM, rules for the latter will be
detailed in Section (15).
- President:
- The
President is responsible for co-ordinating the actions of the Committee
and chairing weekly Committee meetings at which he/she is present
(additional meetings can also be requested at the President's
discretion).
- He/she shall call at least one Student Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) per year.
- The
Student Association President must ensure all newly elected Committee
members understand their role and can carry out their duties to the
best of their ability. This may include referring them to appropriate
sections of the Constitution.
- The Student Association President must represent the Student Association at all relevant meetings.
- Vice-President:
- The
Vice-President is responsible for helping the President in all his/her
duties and has special responsibility for co-ordinating the CSM Annual
Dinner with the CSM Association.
- In the absence of the
Student Association President, the Vice-President shall be responsible
for chairing meetings of the Committee.
- Secretary:
- The
Student Association Secretary is responsible for taking minutes of all
Committee meetings which shall be distributed to the committee members
following each meeting. The minutes of a meeting must be confirmed at
the next Committee meeting and any corrections agreed. The minutes
should also be made available to the Student Association Members via
the Student Association Website.
- The Secretary must ensure
that the minutes do not identify specific individuals only facts
surrounding cases in discussions falling under section (5)(e)
- The
Secretary is responsible for ensuring that all procedures associated
with Student Association elections are properly carried out
- The Secretary is also responsible for the printing and distribution of all official posters.
- The
Secretary should liaise with the committee, notably the Student
Treasurer and President to ensure that all administrative work is
carried out as necessary.
- Treasurer:
- The Treasurer shall keep proper accounts of all Student Association funds (see (9)).
- The
Treasurer should make available the Student Association finance books
to any Student Association member who wishes to examine them (by
arrangement).
- The Treasurer shall ensure that the accounts of the Committee are properly audited.
- The
Treasurer shall record all payments of Student Association
subscriptions at the beginning of each year and shall inform the
President of any student who has not paid the appropriate subscription
in full within 21 days of signing up to the Student Association.
- Entertainments Chairperson:
- The
Entertainments Chairperson shall be responsible for the social
activities of the Student Association and shall liaise with the Ents
Reps of the FXU and CSM Crazy Week Committees where necessary.
- The
Entertainments Chairperson with his/her Entertainments Officer are
responsible for coordinating the three major events in the Student
Association Calendar: Fresher’s Week, The Christmas Ball and Presidents
Night.
- The Entertainments Chairperson and Officer should plan at least one Student Association Social per fortnight.
- Sports Chairperson:
- The Sports Chairperson shall be responsible for the organisation of the annual Bottle Match against the Royal School of Mines.
- All the Sports Chairperson is expected to work together with the Sports Captains to promote the success of the CSM teams.
- The
Sports Chairperson is expected to represent the interests of the
Student Association at any Sports meetings and to alert the Student
Association Committee to issues which may affect the Student
Association such as dissolutions and name changes.
- The Sports
Chairperson is expected to be able to liaise with Captains from each
sport, particularly to arrange a whole Team Photo at the end of the
season/year. At least one copy of each of the team photos is to be
presented to the CSMA to be added to the archives.
- Whilst team
captains are responsible for finding eligible players for their sport
they may seek help from the Sports Chairperson if they are in
difficulty. If it is impossible to field a team for any fixture, the
Sports Chairperson must be notified so as to coordinate help from the
Student Association members and other CSM Teams.
- International Student Representative:
- The International Students Representative is responsible for liaising with Student Association members from outside the UK.
- He/she
is also responsible for liaising with the International Students
Council to organise an International Students Week (ISW) and organise
Student Association Members to go to the ISW abroad.
- The
International Students Representative must also play an active role in
the forming and maintaining of Team GB for the annual International
Mining Games.
- Web Master:
- It is the
responsibility of the Web Master to organise and regularly update the
CSM Student Association webpage. The website should be updated at least
once every fortnight to keep members updated on new/upcoming events.
- The
Web Master will liaise with members of the Student Association
Committee as well as the CSM Team Captains, Crazy Week Committee and
Ordinary Members for new content to add to the website. Such as Match
Reports and up-coming Events
- Sales and Merchandising Officer:
- The
Student Association Sales and Merchandising Officer is responsible for
the designing and ordering of all Student Association Merchandise.
- It
is important for the Sales and Marketing Officer to keep in close
contact with the CSM Association Secretary who also deals with the sale
of merchandise for the CSM Association.
7) Status of Positions
- All
members of the Committee have full voting and speaking rights at a
Committee meeting, except that the Student Association President shall
not vote unless there is an even split of the vote at a meeting, in
which case he/she shall have the casting vote. The Student Association
President must also be informed of any notions passed in his/her
absence and reserves the right to overrule any decisions made.
- The
Committee shall include four members responsible for ensuring all
Committee Hustings are conducted democratically and that the integrity
of voting is maintained. These four members should comprise of: The
President, Vice-President, Secretary and one Ordinary or Affiliated
Student Association Member not running for a committee position.
Ordinary or affiliated Student Association Members can nominate
themselves for the position with the chosen person agreed on by the
committee.
- All student members of the Student Association have voting and speaking rights at the AGM.
8) Elections and Terms of Office
- Elections
shall be held by secret ballot. Each student member of the Student
Association has one vote for each position. All members of the CSMSA
(Ordinary and Affiliate) can vote. The Committee may also vote with the
exception of the President who has the casting vote in the event of a
tie.
- Nominations for Student Association Committee positions in
the forthcoming election shall be displayed on the Student Association
website for at least one week prior to the date fixed for the election.
One proposer and one seconder are required for each candidate (the
seconder must be a present Committee member). No student may propose
more than one candidate for each post, and no more than two people in
total. Nominations must be in at least one week before the date set for
the election.
- An election at a time and a place decided by
the Student Association Committee, and shall take the form as decided
by the Committee. Campaigning may begin immediately preceding the
release of the nominations, and will cease on deadline for voting.
- Any
Committee member may stand for his/her post again or for any other post
in any future elections whilst still a student at CSM, with the
exception of the President who may only stand for the position again if
there are no first year candidates in contention for the position.
- The
position of President is exclusively for current first year CSM
students to run for in their second year. Second years may only run for
presidency if no first year candidates are nominated and seconded.
- The
Polling will take place over one week after the nominations are
announced, with the Results to be announced no more than one week later.
- At polling, the Committee should ensure no Candidates campaign in this area compromising the integrity of the vote.
- Each
student shall be given one form to be filled in to act as his/her vote
for each candidate. These forms shall only be distributed upon
production of evidence that the student has signed against his/her name
on a register of Student Association members, although a spoilt form
may be returned to a controlling officer and a new form issued upon
request.
- All forms shall be placed within a sealed ballot box
which shall be placed prominently in the polling area. This box is not
to be opened until all persons concerned with the counting of the votes
are present.
- Counting of votes is to be carried out by a
minimum of 3 Committee Officers and one Ordinary Student Association
Member (see 7 (b)).
- The election is secret and any violation of the rules may disqualify the vote.
- Election Nominations should be completed by Colours Night and the elections should close the following week.
- The
term of office of all posts shall be one academic year and the vacating
of all posts will be automatic at the expiration the academic year.
- ‘Reopen Nominations (RON)':
- On
each form for any election there will be a 'Reopen Nominations’ or
‘RON’ box and this shall be treated as if it were another candidate in
the count.
- In the event of 'RON', for any position, receiving
the majority of the total valid vote in any election, the position
shall be declared unfilled and there shall be a new election for that
post to be held within three academic weeks.
- Membership of the Committee will continue until one of the following conditions applies:
- Completion of the normal period of office in the post.
- Withdrawal from the University for any reason.
- Withdrawal from the Student Association for any reason.
- Resignation.
- A vote of no confidence passed by a simple majority at an EGM (Emergency General Meeting).
- Absence from three Committee meetings without adequate explanation.
- Any post which becomes vacant under conditions specified in (8) (j) (i)-(vi) shall be filled by a by-election.
- During
the period of the vacancy, the Committee may co-opt a student member of
the Student Association onto the Committee, who shall hold the position
until it is filled, unless the vacancy caused is the Student
Association President, in which case the vacancy shall be filled by the
Vice-President until a by-election can be held. If vacancies occur
during vacations and it is impractical to consult other Committee
members, the Student Association President may act on consultation with
the Committee, to make temporary arrangements to fill a vacancy. Under
these circumstances, the Committee must act to fill the vacancy by a
by-election as soon as circumstances permit.
- Members of the
Student Association who are co-opted by the Committee to fill a casual
vacancy, as outlined in (8) (l), are eligible to be candidates in the
by-election called to fill the post.
- Only student members of
the Student Association, and those affiliated to the Student
Association shall be eligible to stand for election to any post.
- No person may hold more than one post on the Committee, nor stand for more than one post at any election.
- Regulations as to the secrecy and fairness of the ballot:
- No
canvassing, intimidation, distribution or display of publicity is
permitted within sight of the ballot box. The Returning Officer shall
ensure that any publicity material within sight of the ballot box is
removed and destroyed immediately prior to the commencement of voting.
- Members
of the Student Association must not attempt to ascertain how any person
participating in the election has voted. Nor may they wilfully deface,
remove or obscure election publicity.
- Allegations of breaches
of these conditions shall be investigated by the Committee who shall
report the circumstances to the (outgoing) Student Association
President who shall, if necessary, arrange for the Committee to take
action under section (5)(e) of this Constitution.
- Handover
- Once
a new Committee has been elected the past Committee will remain in
office until midnight on graduation day. This is to ensure that each
member of the new Committee understands their particular role and
position, and will allow any third year students on the committee to
graduate as that position.
- The outgoing committee must meet
with the inbound committee as a whole or individually to discuss the
position in more detail with their counterpart. Ideas and contacts
should be exchanged to help the new committee in its duties the
following year. This can be done in the form of a handover pack and is
a requirement of ALL positions.
- During the hand over period the inbound Committee will not have any voting rights during this hand over period.
- After this hand over period the old Committee will then step down.
9) Student Association Finances
- The
Treasurer shall keep records of the Student Association finances as
follows: All transactions shall be passed over to the Camborne School
of Mines Student Association (CSMSA) Account and shall be recorded in
the Camborne School of Mines Student Association Account book.
- Subscriptions:
- All
student members in the Student Association shall pay an annual
subscription, the amount of which must be settled at the AGM.
- Any member of Student Association who leaves the Student Association early for any reason shall not be entitled to rebate.
- Any
member of the Student Association who has not paid his/her subscription
within 21 days of signing up shall not be entitled to attend any
Student Association functions at a members rate or participate in any
Student Association activity, including elections, until the
subscription is paid in full.
- Expenditure:
- The word 'cheque' shall be taken to mean any cheque, draft or other authorisation used to transfer money.
- The
AGM shall set a spending limit for any single item of expenditure or
social event. The Entertainments Chairperson may not spend beyond this
limit without the approval of the Student Association Committee, unless
the expenditure is specifically related to self-financing social
events. The Student Association Treasurer shall ensure cheques in
excess of the amount agreed shall be countersigned additionally by the
President. Before signing the President shall satisfy himself/herself
that the conditions of this paragraph have been met.
- Any
cheque issued on a Student Association Account must bear the signature
of the Treasurer and should be countersigned by either the Student
President or the Student Association Secretary if other signatories are
not present.
- Condition (9)(c)(ii) will be made part of the
terms of any account held by the Student Association with any
institution or other financial body.
- The Student Association
President and Treasurer shall issue instructions to all new Committee
members about petty cash spending limits. All claims for re-imbursement
must meet these conditions and must be fully supported by receipts.
- At
the beginning of each semester, the Committee must prepare and publish
a budget for expenditure from Student Association subscriptions. The
budget may contain a reserve of up to 30% for contingencies, and must
make adequate provision of reserves for the new Committee appointed for
the following year.
- Committee members must signify in writing
on their appointment that they have understood and will abide by the
provisions of the financial arrangements in the Constitution. Members
of the Committee who breach these conditions must be referred to a GM
under the provisions of section (8) (j) (v) and may be held personally
responsible for any losses to Student Association funds which are
incurred.
10) Student Association General Meetings (GM)
- The
Student Association President shall call at least one GM per fortnight,
one of which shall be the AGM and shall normally chair that meeting.
The Student Association President shall stand down for discussion of
any item in which he/she has a personal interest in the outcome of the
discussion.
- A GM can be called in three other ways:
- By decision of the Student Association Committee, constituted as in (4), with reference to (5) (c).
- In
writing by 15 members of the Student Association, together with the
formal motions that those members wish to be discussed. In this case
the meeting shall take place at a time and place decided by the
Committee, but on a date not more than two academic weeks after the
representation.
- At the request of any Student Association committee member to discuss breaches of the Student Association Constitution.
- The
date of the next GM shall be given at the end of each GM and any other
additional meetings shall be arranged in a method as seen fit by the
Committee (email, phone call, text message) at least one week prior to
the meeting, except in the case of a meeting called within one week of
the start of a new term, in which case notice must be given by the
second day of the term.
- Formal motions (or in the case of
(10)(b)(iii)), a statement of the issue must be presented to the
Student Association President, in writing at least three days before
the date that the meeting is scheduled to take place. Notice of all
such motions must be published on the Student Association notice board
and website at the same time as notice of the meeting is given, or as
soon as is possible if a late motion is presented, and in any case not
less than one day before the date set for the meeting.
- The Agenda for the meeting shall be as follows:
- Apologies for absence.
- Approval of the minutes of the previous GM, which must be signed by two members of the Student Association.
- Any motion(s) needing a change in this Constitution, or issues related to unconstitutional activities.
- Any other formal motions.
- Any emergency motions.
- Any other business.
- All
motions giving rise to a change in this Constitution shall be presented
as a formal motion at least one week prior to the meeting.
- No formal or emergency motions shall be put to a meeting if a similar motion has been rejected by the previous meeting.
- Procedure at a GM:
- One
person (normally the proposer) shall stand to give a speech on his/her
motion. At the discretion of the President, other comments or
statements may be given by any committee member present. Student and
Non student members of the Student Association may participate at the
invitation of the President.
- When all points of view have
been adequately expressed, the President may seek approval of the GM
either by seeking a general show of hands, or if in his/her opinion the
voting is close, by appointment of at least two tellers to count votes.
- If a formal vote is required, a motion will be passed or
rejected by a simple majority, (except in the case of motions requiring
a change in this Constitution, in which case a 2/3 majority is
required).
11) Changes to the Constitution
No
change in this Constitution shall be deemed effective unless the
procedures as given in section (10) regarding constitutional changes or
in section (12) and (13) are followed.
12) Referenda
- There
shall be provision that upon presentation of a petition to the Student
Association President, or by agreement of the Committee, a referendum
shall be held. The petition must have been signed by at least 25
student members of the Student Association and must contain the wording
to the question that is to be put. The Student Association President
shall call a GM within two weeks of the decision to hold a referendum,
at which the matter may be discussed, under other matters, and a secret
ballot shall be held the following day, polling to take place for the
same periods and in the same place as decided in the election
guidelines (see section (8)).
- Any motion thus passed by a
simple majority shall be deemed to become Student Association policy
unless a change in this Constitution is required, in which case a 2/3
majority is required for the change to become subject to a vote by the
CSMA elected former CSMSA Presidents.
13) Disputes over the Constitution
Any
dispute over the interpretation of this Constitution shall be referred
to a GM in which any amendments can be proposed formally. Any major
amendments will need to be accepted by three former CSMSA Presidents as
elected by the Camborne School of Mines Association (CSMA) members.
14) Dissolution of the Student Association
Should
the option to dissolve the CSM Student Association ever arise it must
be agreed by the current serving President along with three former
CSMSA Presidents as elected by members of the CSMA. On dissolution any
funds remaining in CSM Student Association accounts will be given to
the CSMA.
15) Drinking Rules
- Drink with the clock
- No Pointing
- No Swearing
- No
first names shall be used – for people or for object. i.e ‘Table’
becomes ‘surface’, ‘drink’ becomes ‘beverage’, ‘finger’ becomes
‘digit’, ‘John’ becomes ‘Mr Smith’ etc
- A toast is acknowledged
by the downing of your drink. A toast may only be proposed if the
person proposing the toast has at least half their drink to toast with.
- Health and Safety should always be observed. i.e drinks should be an index fingers length from the tables edge.
- No Double Parking
- No Receiving
- No Sliding
- The Fresher/First Year always looses
- Only one 10p/Domino/Golf Ball can be in play at any one time
If you are not prepared to play then prepare not to be a player
16) Wording of “The Engineers” song
Chorus:
We are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers, We can, we can, we can demolish 40 beers, The medical men from R.S.M. They cannot drink with us ‘Cos we don’t give a fuck for anyone else Who don’t give a fuck for us.
Verses:
Sir Francis Drake and all his men set sail for Galway Bay, To meet the Spanish Rum Fleet that was heading by the way. The Engineers cut them short by a night and half a day And although they’re drunk as hooligans you can still hear them say...
Godiva was a lady who through Coventry did ride To show all the villagers her skin so pure and white The most observant man in town the Engineer of course Was the only one to notice that Godiva rode a horse...
I’ve come a long way she said a man may go as far SO GET ME OFF THE FUCKING HORSE AND TAKE ME TO THE BAR! The men that got her off her horse and stood with her to hear Was a blood-shot-eyed surveyor and a drunk Mine Engineer...
Godiva’s rounds were whiskey and the Engineer's were rum The Surveyor's sobriety was nearly all but gone Now homeward bound, they sang aloud until they all were deaf And to this day, we’ll never know with who Godiva left...
We may have moved to Falmouth but we’re still called C.S.M. AND IF YOU THINK WE’RE DEAD AND GONE YOU’D BETTER THINK AGAIN! The legend that is C.S.M. Will cross both land and sea We’re the School of Mines from Camborne and that’s who’ll we’ll always be...
A special verse to begin with at The Bottle Match:
Oh RSM don't mine no more and that's why they don’t sing. To burst out in song requires a heart where mining's king. So sing out all you Engineers, sing into the night. 'Cos we're mother fucking CSM and we don't take no shite!...
17) Version Information
This is Version II (09/07/2008) Any
amendments made to this constitution must be done in accordance to
rules stated within it. All previous versions are to be kept in the CSM
Archives for posterity. Originally conceived 23/04/2008 by David Lafferty CSMSA President 07/08
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