Thursday, 10 May 2012

The Constitution of the Society

Debating Union Constitution

1)      Aims of the Union
                                            I.            To provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas and facilitate the formation of reasoned opinions and arguments.
                                          II.            To aid the improvement of transferable skills related to the Debating Union: e.g. oratory etc.
                                        III.            To encourage the inclusion of all members in a fun and considerate environment.
                                        IV.            To provide a setting for debates between the Debating Union and other societies or between two different societies.
2)      Committee Members
                                            I.            President-the role of the President is to supervise the other office bearers to ensure that they are performing their primary function within the society. The President also sets the tone and direction of the Union. The President is the first point of contact for members with queries, worries or ideas.
                                          II.            Vice-President-the duty of the Vice-President is to support the President in their role. The VP will lead committee/general meetings if the President is otherwise indisposed. The VP is in charge of managing external relations-to interact with organisations out with the University. 
                                        III.            Treasurer-the Treasurer must balance the Union’s budget, ensuring that the society always has enough money to function. The T is in command of fundraising. The T must ensure that all members have paid their dues and that all money raised either through members’ fees or other proceeds are secure. The T is responsible for maintaining a record of all paid members.
                                        IV.            Secretary-General-The duties of the SG include booking rooms and informing members when General Meetings occur. If a formal committee meeting is held the SG is required to maintain minutes and make them available to members on request.
                                          V.            Publicity Officer-The PO is required to maintain any online presence the Union may have: Facebook etc. The duties of the PO also include the creation and implementation of promotional materials as well as acting as a recruitment sectary for the Union.
                                        VI.            Events Sectary-The ES arranges all social events: the Christmas meal etc. The ES works in collaboration with the rest of the committee in co-ordinating larger events.
3)      Procedures Regarding Elections/AGM     
                                            I.            Officer bearers can only be elected at the AGM unless a committee position is vacated. In this case the vacant position can be filled at a General Meeting at the discretion of the President.
                                          II.            All officer bearers are elected in a secret ballot.
                                        III.            All officer bearers are elected using the First Past The Post system.
                                        IV.            Only members who have paid all dues in full can stand for office or vote in elections.
                                          V.            All candidates must have a proposer and a second who must be members who have paid all dues.
                                        VI.            A member cannot propose or second more than one candidate for the same post.
                                      VII.            Members can run for more than one position within the committee but they cannot hold multiple offices.
                                    VIII.            The date/time of the AGM is at the discretion of the President.
                                        IX.            The location of the AGM is at the discretion of the Sectary General.
                                          X.            In all elections bar the Presidential the President acts as returning officer.
                                        XI.            In all elections bar that of the VP the Vice-President acts as witness to the count. If the VP is indisposed the responsibility passes to the Treasurer.
                                      XII.            In the case of the Presidential/VP election the General Sectary acts as returning officer or witness. If the Treasurer is acting as witness the same applies.
                                    XIII.            Prior to any election the President must give a ‘State of the Union’ address in which they summarise what they have achieved in the role.
                                    XIV.            In all elections the change to Re-Open Nominations must be included. For R.O.N to win 50% +1 votes cast must select R.O.N.
                                      XV.            In the case of a vote for R.O.N. any candidates running for that post must be excluded from the election for that office and nominations must be opened to the floor. If no new nominations are forthcoming then the post becomes vacant unless that post is the President, Sectary General or Treasurer in which case the VP (in case of the President), the PO (in case of the SG) and the ES (in the case of the Treasurer) succeed to that post and their office becomes vacant.
4)      Privacy of Members
                                             I.            The image of any member of the Union cannot be used in promotional material without the express consent of that member and the President.
                                           II.            Only the Treasurer, Sectary General and President are allowed to access the information given by members upon joining the society.
                                         III.            The information of the old members must be disposed prior to the hand-over of committees: the new committee is not allowed access to the records of past members. 
5)      Regarding General Meetings
                                            I.            A minimum of 5 GMs (not including an AGM) must be held every semester.
                                          II.            All GMs must be accessible by wheelchair.
                                        III.            The time/date of GMs is at the discretion of the President.
                                        IV.            The location of the GMs is at the discretion of the Sectary.
                                          V.            In the event of a tied vote for motions in a formal debate the President has the casting vote.
                                        VI.            The theme of all GMs is at the discretion of the President.
                                      VII.            When the President is otherwise indisposed the VP has all the rights and privileges of the President.
                                    VIII.            The chair of a formal debate must never vote. If the President is chair and the vote is tied then the VP has the casting vote. In the absence of the President the VP cannot be chair to a formal debate. In the absence of the VP the President cannot be chair.
                                        IX.            The Debating Union must never become a vehicle of hate speech. As such no one may be allowed to speak to the Union in support of ideologues of racial, religious or sexual superiority.
6)      Committee Meetings
                                             I.            At all formal Committee Meetings (CM) the SG must take minuets which must be given out on request to any member of the Union.
                                           II.             Members can attend CMs but have no voting rights and act as observers only.
                                         III.            In the event of a tied vote the President has the casting vote.
                                         IV.            The President acts as chair to all CMs unless otherwise indisposed in which case the VP acts as chair. When the VP has the chair they have all the rights and privileges of the President but the President has the right to overrule any decisions made at CMs at which they are not present.
7)      The Constitution
                                            I.            The Constitution is binding on all members.
                                          II.            The Constitution must be made available to all members on request.
                                        III.            The Constitution can only be amended at an AGM.
                                        IV.            Any member who has paid all their dues can propose an amendment at an AGM.
                                          V.            A proposition toward an amendment must have two seconds who are paid members. The member who proposes an amendment cannot second the motion.
                                        VI.            An amendment can only be made to the Constitution if 2/3 of votes cast are in favour of the motion.
                                      VII.            In the case of a vote on the Constitution the President acts as returning officer with the VP and SG acting as witness.    
8)      The Structure of Formal Debates
                                             I.            Debates fall into 5 categories: Formal; informal; mock-parliamentary; spotlight; presidential.
                                           II.            In a formal debate or a spotlight two types of questions can be asked by the audience: Points of Clarification and General Questions. A POC is indicated when the audience member raises their arm and one finger and is used to ask for clarification on a specific point. POCs are different from GQ in that they never lead to elaboration by the speaker: as a rule POCs should, in most cases, be able to be answered by a simple Yes or No.
                                         III.            Formal: formal debates comprise of two teams: one for and one against a motion before the house. Each team will have 2 min to introduce their argument. At this point the audience can ask for Points of Clarification. After the POCs form audience the team supporting the motion is given 10 min to convince the House of their argument. After this the opposing team is allowed to question them before opening it to the House. After the questions are over the role is reversed. After this each team is given 3 min to conclude their argument before going to a vote.
                                         IV.            Informal: unlike a formal debate there is no introduction, conclusion or POCs. Each team is given 10-15 min to convince the House of their position before allowing the opposing team to question them and then opening the questioning to the House.
                                           V.            Spotlight: This is when an individual comes forward with a proposition to the House. There is no opposing team but the House can question the speaker at the end. POC and GQ are in force. The time limit is more liberal: the speaker can have anything between 10 and 30 min to speak (at the discretion of the Chair and Speaker).
                                         VI.            Mock-Parliamentary: The House divides into ‘parties’. One ‘party’ is chosen as the government and they attempt to pass laws by building up consensus within the ‘parliament’.  At the end of the event the committee can elect the best speaker on the night to a peerage. This means in all future Mock-Parliamentary debates they must be referred to as Lord/Baroness…
                                       VII.            Presidential: much like a mock-parliamentary debate but between individuals contesting the right to be elected President of the World.
                                     VIII.            Chair: all the above debates have a chair who mediates the debate, chooses who is allowed to ask questions etc. In the case of the Mock-Parliamentary debate the position is known as the Speaker and they automatically receive a peerage.     

Monday, 7 May 2012

Welcome to the Debating Society!

This is the blog of the Debating Society at Stirling University. Here will be stored the constitution, records of debates held, minutes of the committee meetings and other such goodies. Enjoy.