THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES SURGICAL SOCIETY (UWISS) University of the West Indies, Mona Surgical Society CONSTITUTION AND STANDING ORDERS Adopted at the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 7th March 2012 and as voted and agreed upon by the Founding Committee of the Society Wednesday 11th July 2012: CONSTITUTION 1. Definitions 1.1 The Society shall be known as the University of the West Indies Surgical Society, hereafter referred to as UWISS. It shall not be incorporated as a limited company or a registered charity. 1.2 The Governing Body shall be known as the Executive Core, hereafter referred to as The Executive Committee. 1.3 The society is affiliated to the Jamaica Medical Students Association, hereafter referred to as JAMSA. 1.4 The symbol of UWISS shall be a modified version of the Caduceus affixed to the Pelican adopted from the crest of the University of West Indies. 2. Aims 2.1 To promote an interest in surgery and inspire surgeons of the future 2.2 To provide medical students with an insight into surgical careers & inform members on how to make themselves more competitive for a surgical career 2.3 To provide a link between the Royal College of Surgeons of England and all students of the University, through the Medical Student Liaison Committee. 2.4 To develop links with the Association of Surgeons in Jamaica and other surgical societies across the United Kingdom 2.5 To supplement the current anatomy and clinical skills curriculum at the university 2.6 To provide social events for members 2.7 To fundraise for charity 2.8 To provide a means whereby representations may be made on behalf of its members. 3. Membership 3.1 The following shall be eligible for membership: 3.1.1 All medical students of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of the West Indies, Jamaica 3.1.2 All members of JAMSA, both ordinary and subscribing; 3.1.3 The staff of the Faculty of Medical Sciences providing teaching for the faculty; 3.1.4 Other persons, as determined by the Executive Committee. 3.2 There shall be three classes of UWISS membership: Subscribing, Ex-Officio and Honorary. 3.3 Subscribing members shall so become upon the payment of the subscription of $500JM per year. This shall cover one academic year of his or her period of subscribing membership. Other eligible persons may become subscribing members under the discretion of the Executive Committee. 3.4 Ex-Officio members shall be the current Dean and Deputy of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Head of Surgery, the JAMSA President and the President of the Association of Surgeons in Jamaica. 3.5 Honorary Members may be elected by a General Meeting. 3.6 An Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting may amend the rate of the annual subscriptions as appropriate. 3.7 A Subscribing Member who leaves the College before graduation may on application be reimbursed a portion of their subscription as determined by the Treasurer, after consultation with the Committee. 4. Right of Members 4.1 All members of UWISS shall be entitled to the following rights: (a) to wear the symbol of UWISS; (b) to participate and vote at all General Meetings; and (c) to elect Committee members, as described in Clause 9 of this constitution. 4.2 Subscribed members shall be entitled to reduced rates for the Anatomy Lecture Series (Anatomy course). Non- members shall pay full price for this course. They shall be entitled to use the amenities and services provided by UWISS. On no account may non-members be elected or co-opted as members of the Committee. 4.3 Honorary and Ex-Officio members shall have the same rights as subscribed members. 4.4 Any member whose conduct shall be considered prejudicial to the welfare of UWISS shall be brought before the Committee for disciplinary action, which may result in expulsion from UWISS without reimbursement. However, the Committee may allow him or her to rejoin after a period of six months has elapsed. 5. Structure of the Committee and its Sub-Committees 5.1 The Committee shall consist of the following:- Honorary President President MSLC Representative Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Information Technology Representative Anatomy team Publicity team Conference team Preclinical representative 6. Powers of the Committee 6.1 The Committee shall have power to act in the name of UWISS and on its behalf. 6.2 The finances and administration of UWISS shall be controlled by the Committee in accordance with the Constitution and the views of UWISS as expressed at an Annual or other General Meeting. 6.3 The Committee shall have the power of co-option and the power to establish Sub-Committees to deal with specific tasks. 7. Working of the Committee 7.1 The Committee shall meet as frequently as is deemed necessary, but at least once a term during University academic terms. 7.2 All members of the Committee shall attend each Committee meeting. If unable to attend, with the permission of the President, a member may appoint a substitute to represent them, who is adequately briefed regarding procedure and the agenda. 7.3 Any Committee member who is absent from three Committee meetings without tendering their apologies for absence and showing good cause for his or her failure to attend, shall deemed to have resigned. If necessary a replacement shall then be co-opted for the remainder of the Committee’s term of office. This shall not apply to the Honorary President. 7.4 The Committee may dismiss any of its members by means of a procedural motion of no confidence in the member at fault. 8. Role of Officers and Committee Members 8.1 The Honorary President, elected by the Committee, shall act in an advisory capacity to UWISS when called upon to do so, and shall provide a link between UWISS, the University, and the Royal Colleges of Surgeons. 8.2 The President shall be the official representative of UWISS at all times, except as otherwise provided in this constitution. He or she shall also (a) promote and explain this constitution to the other Committee members at their first meeting; (b) chair all Committee meetings and other meetings of UWISS; (c) be responsible to UWISS for all their actions and those of the Committee; (d) have the power to delegate authority to any Committee member or member of UWISS, subject to the approval of the Committee; (e) provide the principal link between UWISS and the University; (f) be responsible for the organization of academic and educational supportive events provided by UWISS in conjunction with academic representatives; (g) work with the Public Relations Officer in promoting all UWISS events and contacts; (h) represent UWISS to JAMSA and vice versa; and (i) liaise with other Surgical Societies in the organization of events. 8.2.1. The MSLC (Medical School Liaison Committee) Representative shall represent UWISS internationally at the Royal College of Surgeons Medical Student Liaison Committee. As discussed at the MSLC on the 25/11/11, the MSLC representative is now a two-year tenure. The President shall adopt this role . 8.3 The Vice-Presidents shall be able to (a) deputize for the President at any time when he or she is absent. He or she shall be responsible for (a) working with the President, allowing sharing of responsibility on specific issues/activities by arrangement between themselves; (b) directly supervise committee members to facilitate the organization and success of all events; and (c) provide further input for potential events each year. 8.4 The Secretary is responsible for organizing the administrative affairs of UWISS. He or she shall (a) keep a current and accurate register of UWISS members adding new members as appropriate; (b) prepare the agendas and keep of accurate, up to date minutes of these and Committee meetings; (c) conduct the official correspondence of UWISS; (d) follow up action points that arise from meetings, prior to the following meeting; (e) disseminate minutes of meetings to committee members within one week of any meeting; (f) to send out the UWISS bulletin to members; and (g) to send out contributions to the JAMSA bulletin as deemed fit by members of the Committee. 8.5 The Treasurer shall be responsible for (a) the supervision and good order of the UWISS finances and the disbursement of all funds; (b) keep clear and accessible accounts; (c) give regular reports on the financial state of UWISS to meetings of the Committee; (d) be responsible that appropriate insurance cover is obtain for events that require it; (e) at the Annual General Meeting produce audited accounts for the financial year of their term of office; (f) ensure that UWISS abides by current laws relating to the finances of non-charitable societies; (g) renew the subscriptions of UWISS to external bodies, including renewing website host subscription; (h) To establish contacts with external organizations for sponsorship; (i) establish an online banking system accessible to themselves and the President only; (j) prepare the UWISS application for Office of Student Services (OSSD) funding through the annual OSSD Grants process; and (k) collect monies from new membership fees. 8.6 The Website Developer shall be responsible for (a) maintaining the UWISS website; (b) to be responsible for oversight of the UWISS online calendar; (c) be responsible for the maintenance and creation of UWISS email addresses; (d) set up and maintain online sales, in association with the treasurer, when required to do so by the committee; and set up and maintain a Facebook and Twitter accounts. 8.7 The Events team shall be responsible for (a) supporting the Committee in organizing specialty talks; (b) check all provisional dates for all UWISS events against all activities and events of the University and of JAMSA, to ensure that no event clashes significantly; (c) act as an advisor to committee members organizing events and help organization of these events where necessary; and (d) assign roles to ‘idle’ committee members during events. 8.8 The Anatomy team shall be responsible for (a) liaising with the head of anatomy, lead anatomy demonstrators and the Dean to raise the profile of the Anatomy Lecture Series; (b) liaise with the treasurer and the Events team to organize the Basic Surgical Skills evening; (c) formally communicate with surgeons and anatomy demonstrators to recruit lecturers for the Anatomy series; (d) communicate with the University to arrange room booking for all anatomy related events; (e) analyze the current MBBS anatomy syllabus and find potential areas for improvement within the anatomy events of JAMSA; and (f) communicate their ideas and findings to the Committee. 8.9 The Publicity team will be responsible for the production of advertising media to communicate UWISS events to members, students of the University, surgeons and where appropriate, other surgical societies across the United Kingdom. They will be responsible for (a) advertising events on a local, national and international scale; (b) communicate with other organizing committee members; (c) ensure the advertisement of local events a minimum of three weeks before; (d) ensure the advertisement of national events a minimum of two months before; (e) produce posters in colour to be displayed on notice boards across the student areas of the University and affiliated Association of Surgeons in Jamaica; and (f) to liaise with the secretary in writing updates for the JAMSA bulletin. 8.10 The Conference team shall be responsible for organizing the national UWISS conference. This includes (a) deciding on an appropriate topic for the conference; (b) organizing appropriate speakers; (c) gaining sponsorship; (d) organizing all food, drink and hospitality; (e) setting up an abstract competition; (f) deciding on abstracts suitable for both oral and poster presentations; (g) publicizing the conference nationally alongside publicity representatives; (h) coordinating committee for on the day activities; (i) getting volunteers from the medical school cohort to help with organization for the day (volunteers will receive certificates etc.); and any other business related to conference organization. These roles will last until the conference is over, after which they will hand over to the reps for the next year. 8.11 The Preclinical representative will allow the Committee to integrate events that focus on junior medical students. He or she shall be responsible for (a) communicating ideas from the pre-clinical years to the Committee; (b) Promote integration of junior medical students into UWISS events; (c) To aid other committee members in the organization of other events when requested; (d) To perform lecture shout outs to the whole pre-clinical cohort; and (c) promote UWISS amongst junior medical students and encourage them to join. 9. Elections and Selections of Officers 9.1 All officers within the Executive Core will serve for a period of two years and thereon after select a suitable replacement based on recommendation and analysis into membership involvement and subject to interviews. 9.2 All elections shall take place at the end of the Second Semester in each academic year, preferably in the first and second week of March. Voting will be by secret ballot, which shall be open for at least three consecutive days. The voting must be well publicized. 9.3 On the ballot for each position, there shall be the option to vote for a resolution entitled “Reopen Nominations.” If that resolution obtains the highest number of votes for a particular position, the President shall declare that the post is still vacant and an additional ballot shall be undertaken within two weeks, with fresh nominations. These nominations shall be made in the usual manner, but shall be in the hands of the Secretary within five days of the declaration of the original election results. In a re-run election, “Reopen Nominations” will not be an option on the ballot. 9.4 Nominations shall only be valid if notified to the Secretary with the name and year of the nominee at least one week before the date of the election. 9.5 If any post becomes vacant due to a members resignation or expulsion from the Committee, a replacement may be co-opted by the Committee. Members must be notified of all such co-options by means of email or equivalent. Exceptions to this procedure shall be the President. In the event of the President demitting office prematurely, a replacement will be elected by the same procedure of selecting Executive Core members. 9.6 The Secretary shall act as Returning Officer for all elections, and give notice of the same. 9.7 The Honorary President shall be elected by the new Committee at the start of their term of office. 10. Annual Special and Other General Meetings 10.1 General Meetings have the power of overall control over UWISS affairs and can mandate the Committee. They may also censure any Committee member or remove him or her from office by passing a procedural motion of no confidence as defined in the Standing Orders. 10.2. A Special General Meeting (SGM) may be called by the President, any four Committee members or any thirty members. They can be called by means of a petition to the Secretary stating the purpose of the meeting and containing the signatures of the petitioners. Five days notice of a SGM must be given to the members by the Secretary, stating the purpose of the meeting and the date, time and place upon which it is being held. The President shall preside unless he or she has convened the SGM or their actions are being challenged, in which case the Vice President shall take the chair. Only the stated business of the SGM may be undertaken. 10.3 The Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held before the annual elections in the Second Semester. The agenda shall be as determined by the Committee. Fourteen days notice must be given of the AGM, and all reports, motions, etc. must be in the hands of the Secretary within five days of the AGM. All papers should be circulated at least three days before the AGM. 11. Changes to the Constitution This constitution may only be amended at a properly constituted Annual General Meeting by a majority of two thirds of those present and voting. Changes to the constitution, proposed by either the Committee or any two members shall be in the hands of the Secretary fourteen days before the meeting is to be held that will decide upon those amendments. 12. Auditors The auditing of the accounts of UWISS shall be overseen and co-coordinated by the President and Treasurer. STANDING ORDERS FOR THE CONDUCT OF ALL MEETINGS 1. Quorum The quorum for the Annual General Meeting shall be once the number of members of the Committee present plus one of ordinary members, additionally, one half of the number of the Committee shall be present for the meeting to be quorate. A meeting shall not be considered out of order until quorum is questioned. Anyone wishing to challenge the quorum must do so within fifteen minutes of the commencement of the meeting. The quorum for a Special General Meeting shall be the same. 2. Chair The President shall take the chair at all meetings when present and shall be responsible for the conduct of the meeting, for interpreting and giving their ruling on all matters of procedure, order, competency and relevancy as laid down in the Constitution and Standing Orders. The Vice President shall take the chair when requested to do so by the President or in the event of the chair being absent fifteen minutes after the appointed time for opening the meeting. In the event of both the President and Vice President being absent fifteen minutes after the appointed time for the meeting to begin, then the Committee members present, if they be quorate, shall elect a temporary Chair from amongst their number until such time as the President or Vice Presidents do arrive whereupon he or she shall vacate the chair. 3. Rulings The ruling of the President or Chair of the meeting may be challenged by any member. This shall be in the nature of a procedural motion requiring simple majority. In the event of the motion obtaining a simple majority the President and Chair shall be required to reverse the ruling in question. The competence of the President or Chair of the meeting may be questioned by the motion of ‘No Confidence in the Chair’. This shall be in the nature of a procedural motion requiring a two thirds majority of those present and voting. In the event of the motion being carried, the President or Chair of the meeting shall immediately vacate the chair in favour of the Vice President who shall immediately conduct an election for a new Chair of that meeting. 4. Casting Votes The President or Chair of the meeting shall have the casting vote in the event of there being an equality of votes for and against a motion. He or she shall not be obliged to use their casting vote on the first occasion of such an equality of votes on any one motion and may call for a revote. If an equality of vote occurs on a second occasion for the same motion he or she shall be obliged to use their casting vote. 5. Debates All members as defined in this constitution shall have the rights of Speech and to propose and second motions. No member may exercise their rights under this Standing Order until he or she has indicated to the President or Chair of the meeting their wish to do so and has received an indication from the President or Chair of the meeting that he or she may proceed. The President or Chair of the meeting shall in exercising their power of conduct of the meeting bear in mind: (a) the order in which members have indicated their wish to speak; and (b) the desirability of allowing those members who have not previously contributed to the debate the right to do so at an early stage. 6. Motions 6.1 Any member, other than the proposer, may second a motion. There can be no discussion on a proposed motion until it is seconded. If a motion is not seconded and subsequently falls, or is defeated, that motion may not be reintroduced at the same meeting unless there is a motion, ‘that the motion be reopened’. This shall be in the nature of a procedural motion requiring a two third majority of those present and voting. 6.2 No motion may be withdrawn without the consent of the proposer and the seconder. If only the proposer withdraws, the seconder shall become the proposer of the motion and another seconder shall be sought. 6.3 No member apart from the proposer of the motion shall have the right to speak more than twice on any subject under debate unless in the Committee meeting or on a point of information or order. 6.4 The proposer of the motion shall have the right to wind-up the debate before the motion is out to the vote. 6.5 Following introductory debate, the President or Chair of the meeting shall call for amendment to the motion. In the event of a member moving an amendment to a motion the President of Chair of the meeting shall ask the proposer and seconder of the motion if they are prepared to accept the amendment. If so, the amendment becomes part of the substantive motion. In the event of either the proposer or seconder being unwilling to accept the amendment, the proposer of the amendment shall move the amendment, after which the President or Chair of the meeting shall then call for a seconder of the amendment. If there is no seconder, the amendment falls. If the amendment is seconded, the amendment shall be debated and voted upon before the substantive motion is out to the vote. If the amendment is carried, it becomes part of the substantive motion. If an amendment negates all or part of a motion, it does not fall and shall be voted upon, with the proposer waiving their right to wind-up the debate. 6.6 While members may in the course of debate give notice of further motions or amendments which they intend to introduce, only one motion or amendment may be debated at one time. 7. Points of Information and Order 7.1 A Point of Information shall be a question or piece of factual information to the current speaker or to the meeting at large. When a Point of Information is indicated to the President or Chair of the meeting, while a speaker is exercising their right to speech, the President or Chair of the meeting may, at their discretion, interrupt the speaker to allow the Point of Information or may allow the speaker to finish their contribution to the debate whereupon he or she must consider the Point of Information before any further speakers. Where the Point of Information is in the nature of a question, the right of immediate reply may be granted at the discretion of the President of Chair of the Meeting. 7.2 A Point of Order shall be concerned with the enforcement or interpretation of the aims, objectives, constitution, or standing orders of UWISS. A Point of Order shall take precedence over all other matters under consideration and the President or Chair of the Meeting shall immediately allow the member making the Point or Order to speak. The President or Chair of the meeting shall immediately rule and act upon any legitimate Point of Order. In the event of any member making use of the precedence which allows a Point of Order to make statements which are clearly not so, the President or Chair or the Meeting shall rule that individual to be out of order and he or she shall resume their seat immediately. In the event of a member being so ruled out of order on three occasions during a meeting, he or she shall personally forfeit the right of precedence of the Point of Order for the remainder of the meeting. 8. Adjournment of Meetings The adjournment of meetings shall normally rest at the discretion of the President or Chair of the meeting who shall bear in mind the suggestions of the members in deciding upon the time of each adjournment. Any member may propose ‘that the meeting do now adjourn’. This shall be in the nature of a procedural motion and shall require a two thirds majority of those present and voting for it to be carried. 9. Procedural Motions A Procedural Motion as referred to from time to time in these standing orders on procedure shall take precedence over all terms of address to the President or Chair of the meeting apart from the ‘Point of Order’ but shall not carry the right of interrupting the current speaker. In the event of a procedural motion being proposed, the President or Chair of the Meeting shall immediately ask for a seconder to the motion and in the event of the motion being seconded shall immediately put the procedural motion to the vote. Where the motion requires a two thirds majority this shall be two thirds of those present and voting. In the event of a procedural motion being carried it shall be put into effect immediately. The following shall constitute procedural motions:- (a) A motion challenging the Chairman’s ruling. (b) A motion of No Confidence in the Chair. (c) That debate on the motion be reopened. (d) That this meeting do now adjourned. (e) That the meeting proceed to the next business. (f) That consideration of the motion on the table be postponed. (g) That voting be by secret ballot. (h) That the meeting proceed immediately to the vote. (i) That the business of the meeting be closed. (j) That Standing Orders be suspended. (k) That standing orders be resumed. All procedural motions shall require a two thirds majority of those present and voting. 10. Voting Voting shall be by show of hands. Any member at any meetings may propose that ‘Voting be by secret ballot’. This shall be in the nature of a procedural motion as outlined in Standing Order 9. 11. Observers In all General Meetings, observers may be present and with the permission of the meeting may be allowed to speak but not to propose or second a motion or vote. Observers may attend Committee meetings and may be allowed to speak by invitation of the meeting. They shall not be allowed to propose or second a motion or vote. 12. Amendments to Standing Orders Any proposal to amend Standing Orders may only be considered at an Annual General Meeting and such proposal must be submitted to the Secretary not later than ten days before such a meeting and must be supported by a two thirds majority of those present and voting. 13. Binding Nature of Standing Orders These Standing Orders shall be binding on all General Meetings, meetings of the Committee and all of its Sub-Committees.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 22:01:24 +0000
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