Standing Orders

Association of Open University Graduates

STANDING ORDERS PART I

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

  1. These Standing Orders shall regulate the conduct of all business at the Annual General Meetings.
  2. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING PART I – AGENDA

This shall be presented in the following format:

                                             AGM PART I – AGENDA                

  1. Chairman`s Welcome and Introduction
  2. Presentation of the Report of the Previous AGM Part I and formal Adoption of this Report
  3. Presentation of the Chairman`s Report and formal adoption of the Chairman`s Report
  4. Presentation of the Vice Chairman`s Report and formal adoption of the Vice Chairman`s Report
  5. Presentation of the Publicity Officer`s Report and formal adoption of the Publicity Officer`s Report
  6. Presentation of the Development Officer`s Report and formal adoption of the Development Officer`s Report
  7. Presentation of the Treasurer`s Report

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Association of Open University Graduates Limited

  1. Presentation of the Accounts of the Association for the year to 31st December

Resolution 1: To receive the Annual Report and Accounts.

Resolution 2: To appoint/reappoint the auditors and authorise the Executive Committee to set their remuneration.

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AOUG Foundation for Education

  1. Presentation of the Accounts of the Foundation for Education for the year to 31st December.

Resolution 1: To receive the Annual Report and Accounts

Resolution 2: To appoint/reappoint the auditors and authorise the Executive Committee to set their remuneration.

  1. Any Other Business

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AOUG Trading Ltd.

  1. Presentation of the Accounts of AOUG Trading Limited for the year to 31st December

Resolution 1: To receive the Annual Report and Accounts

Resolution 2: To appoint/reappoint the auditors and authorise the Executive Committee to set their remuneration.

  1. Any Other Business

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  1. Formal adoption of the Treasurer`s Report
  2. Resolutions printed on the order paper and presented for debate.
  3. Presentation of the Returning Officer`s Report and formal adoption of the Returning Officer`s Report
  4. Formal welcome to the new Executive Committee
  5. Formal referral of all carried Resolutions and Motions to the Executive Committee and instruction to register all relevant details with Companies House.
  6. Announcement of date and venue of following year`s AGM.
  7. Any Other Business
  8. Closure of AGMs PART I
  1. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING PART II – AGENDA

This shall be presented in the following format:

                                   AGM PART II – AGENDA

  1. Chairman`s Welcome and formal adoption of Standing Orders
  2. Chairman`s Address
  3. Presentation of the report of the previous AGM Part II and formal adoption of the report of the previous AGM Part II
  4. Presentation of the report of matters referred to the Executive Committee and formal adoption of the report of matters referred to the Executive Committee
  5. Presentation of the report/s on matters raised by the previous year`s Members` Workshop/s and formal adoption of the report/s on matters raised by the previous year`s Members` Workshop/s.
  6. Presentation of the report on matters raised by the previous year`s AGM debriefing and formal adoption of the report on matters raised by the previous year`s AGM debriefing.
  7. Motions printed on the order paper and presented for debate.
  8. Presentation of persons approved by the Executive Committee to be granted Honorary Life Membership of the Association and the formal endorsement of the Executive Committee’s recommendation.
  9. Formal referral of all carried Motions to the Executive Committee and instruction to report progress to the AGM Part II meeting the following year.
  10. Any Other Business
  11. Formal closure of the AGM Part II
  1. CHAIRING THE MEETING
  2. The Chairman shall normally preside over the meeting and all business shall be addressed to the Chairman.
  1. SPEAKING
  2. When the Chairman speaks, members shall be silent.
  3. The Chairman shall request whoever wishes to support or speak against any item which is under discussion, and accordingly allocate the time for which subsequent speakers may speak.
  • The Chairman shall decide the order of precedence of speakers who gain the attention of the Chairman by raising their hand.
  1. RULES OF DEBATE
  1. i) RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS
  2. A Resolution and a Motion may be proposed by any member. Resolutions and Motions on the Agenda shall not require a seconder. The proposer of a Resolution or Motion, if not attending the A.G.M. may request in advance that the Chairman, or another member attending having been nominated in writing to the Chairman, place the Resolution or Motion before the A.G.M.
  3. The proposer shall speak first (subject to any time limitation set by the Chairman)
  4. The Resolution or Motion shall then be open for discussion (subject to any time limit set by the Chairman)
  5. The original Motion may be amended by another member providing a written copy of the amended motion is given to the Chairman. If such an amendment is accepted by the proposer of the Substantive, the Motion then stands as his/her Substantive. If the amendment is not accepted by the proposer, and the amendment is accepted by the meeting, the amendment becomes the Substantive Motion.
  6. There shall be only one Resolution or Motion or amendment before the meeting at one time.
  7. A Resolution or Motion can only be withdrawn by consent of the meeting.
  8. The holder of the Substantive shall have the right to sum up immediately prior to the vote being taken. No new information may be introduced during the summing up.
  1. ii) POINTS OF INFORMATION

These may be raised, via the Chairman, by any member during the debate after the proposer has spoken, providing always that the speaker holding the floor agrees to give way and accept such information.

iii)  POINTS OF ORDER

A point of order may be raised at any time during a debate but before voting commences. The Chairman will give immediate recognition to the person intimating a point of order. It shall be stated succinctly in the form of a question and the Chairman will give a ruling before continuing with the debate.

  1. iv) PROCEDURAL MOTIONS

The following Procedural Motions may be raised during the debate but not whilst any member is speaking:

a)           “That   the Motion be now put to the vote.”

b) “That   the Motion be not put.”

c) “That   the Motion be voted upon in parts.”

The Procedural Motion having been intimated to the Chairman, the Chairman will solicit a seconder, and if, seconded, immediately move to the vote.

d) “That the Motions passed by this AGM now be referred to the Executive Committee.”

This is a formal Procedural Motion which shall be put to the vote by the Chairman at the close of the debates on Motions before the AGM.

  1. VOTING

Each member present may exercise one vote and simple majority will decide each issue excepting in the case of any Resolution seeking to amend the Articles and Memorandum or Standing Orders when two thirds majority is required.

  1. STATUS OF SUBSTANTIVE RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS PASSED BY AN AGM.

Excepting in the case of a Resolution which amends the Articles and Memorandum and has been passed by two‑thirds of those present, proxy and voting, and which becomes effective at the close of the AGM, all other Motions passed at the AGM will be referred to the newly elected Executive Committee by the use of a Procedural Motion. This effectively requires the Executive Committee to consider, implement, or otherwise; but in any case, to include in their report to a subsequent AGM the result of their deliberations and actions.

Association of Open University Graduates

STANDING ORDERS PART II

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

  1. STATUS
  2. i) Standing Orders facilitate and regulate the conduct of business during Executive Committee meetings.
  3. ii) Standing Orders may be waived at any time for the duration of the item under discussion by any member moving the appropriate procedural motion and securing the required majority (see 6 i) d and 6 ii)).
  4. CHAIRING THE MEETING
  5. i) The Chairman, or acting‑Chairman, has ONE casting vote.
  6. STATUS OF ITEMS INCLUDED ON AGENDA
  7. i) A copy of paper NC/113 is appended to Standing Orders and is agreed policy which members should be aware of. It does not, however, form part of Standing Orders.

Designation of Items on the Agenda:

ii)`To REPORT` signify a previous discussion or decision and the item will be for information only.

`To RECEIVE` signify receipt of new material in a paper which may warrant discussion but do not require a clear policy decision being taken at this stage.

`To CONSIDER` signify requiring a decision and will always be presented as a paper with appropriate Motion/s appended (except in the case of 3 iii) b below).

iii) Any member may give formal notice of motion.  This may be done in two ways.

  1. Members should present a paper for items ‘to be considered’ under 3 ii) c above. The paper, with an appropriate motion should be in the Association’s Office at least 3 clear weeks before the next meeting date. These papers will be placed on the Agenda and copies circulated to members. Those papers which have been subject to formal ‘Notice of Motion’ will be given a priority on the Agenda.
  2. During Any Other Business (which has a fixed place on each Agenda). If time permits, the matter will be taken verbally as under 3 ii) c above. If this is not practical, the member ‑ having given Notice of Motion ‑ should proceed under 3 iii) a – assured that his item will receive priority on the Agenda for the next meeting.
  1. AGENDA AND ORDER OF BUSINESS

The following items will have a fixed place on the Agenda.

  1. Attendance and Apologies
  2. To confirm and adopt minutes of last meeting.
  3. Matters arising but not forming part of any other report or paper.
  4. Officers` reports
  5. Executive Representatives` Report
  6. Any other items `To REPORT`
  7. Any items `To RECEIVE`
  8. Papers with formal Notice of Motion `To CONSIDER`

LAST ITEM:  Any Other Business

DATE, TIME and PLACE of NEXT MEETING

  1. DISCUSSION/DEBATE
  2. i) When agenda items are prefixed ‘to receive’ or ‘to report’ the Chairman may sum up noting what action, if any, is necessary and shall move “that the report be received.”
  3. ii) Agenda items prefixed ‘to consider’ will automatically require some discussion and may require a formal vote on accompanying motions.
  4. The Chairman will ask the originator to introduce the paper.
  5. The Chairman shall allow a short period of discussion to elicit viewpoints and further information.
  6. At such time as the issues have been identified, the Chairman may request that the Committee move into formal debate.

FORMAL DEBATE PROCEDURES

The Chairman will ask the proposer of the motion to speak to his motion.

AMENDMENTS:

  1. The Chairman will formally ask if there is any amendment. An amendment shall require a proposer and seconder.
  2. Should there be an amendment, the original proposer may indicate that the amendment is acceptable, and the substantive motion remains with the proposer.
  3. If the amendment is not acceptable to the original proposer, the amendment is debated, and voted upon.

(1) If it fails to win a simple majority, the original proposer’s

substantive motion remains before the meeting.

(2) If it wins a simple majority, the amended motion becomes the

substantive motion in the name of the amender.

  1. Further amendments may be made following the above procedure. At the close of the debate, the Chairman will ask the holder of the substantive to sum up and immediately proceed to take a vote.
  2. The substantive, in its final draft, either succeeds or fails to gain a simple majority.
  3. A motion cannot be withdrawn without the consent of the meeting under the procedural motion 6.1.a.
  4. PROCEDURAL MOTIONS
  5. i) “That the motions as it stands be departed from to consider new business”.
  6. “That the motion be now put to the vote”.
  7. ‘That the motion be voted upon in parts”.
  8. “That Standing Orders be temporarily suspended” (see 1(ii) above).
  9. “That the Chairman’s ruling is incorrect”.
  10. “That the motion as it now stands be placed before the membership”.
  11. “That the motion as it now stands is ULTRA VIRES”
  13. ii) For a procedural motion to succeed, it requires a majority of two‑thirds of the voting members. Procedural motions should be intimated before moving to the vote.

Notes:

As the Executive Committee of the Association is effectively governed by an A.G.M. under Section 5 of the Articles and Memorandum and Standing Orders, A.G.M. Section 2 (vii) and 7, it is necessary to include 6 i) f above to permit wider discussion amongst the general membership where any Motion, however well‑intentioned and desirable, conflicts with the views of prior A.G.M’s.

These notes do not form part of Standing Orders and are advisory only. After 1999 AGM, the Committee might consider Motions, but they cannot amend the Articles and Memorandum without the explicit direction of the A.G.M.

  1. POINTS OF ORDER
  2. i) Any member may raise a point of order at any time.
  3. ii) The Chairman will give immediate precedence to a point of order which shall be phrased as a question and should be concerned with the legitimacy of a ruling or of the competence of the actual business before the meeting (i.e. the intention, not the content).

iii) The Chairman will give a ruling before business proceeds. The ruling may be challenged under 6 i) e above.

  1. POINTS OF INFORMATION

i)These may be raised, via the Chairman, by any member during the formal debate after the proposer has spoken, providing that the speaker holding the floor agrees to give way and accept such information.

  1. ii) In all other discussion, the person wishing to give ‘information’ should seek the attention of the Chairman by raising a hand.
  2. VOTING
  3. i) Each member is entitled to ONE vote.
  4. ii) For motions, simple majority of votes made will suffice. For procedural motions, a two‑thirds majority of votes made is necessary.

iii) In the case of an equal division of votes the Chairman has a second, or casting, vote.

  1. ALTERATIONS TO STANDING ORDERS

Standing Orders, having been accepted by the members of the New Committee at their first full meeting, can be amended subsequently by two thirds majority voting on each amendment.

Association of Open University Graduates

STANDING ORDERS PART III

ELECTIONS

The Standing Orders, below, are a revision and update of the 1990 Standing Orders, including subsequent amendments.

  1. Status of these Standing Orders

These Standing Orders, under the constitutional authority of the Articles of Association, are the regulations governing the conduct of elections with the AOUG.

  1. General

The purpose of these Standing Orders is:

  1. To ensure that all the Association’s elections are conducted democratically and equitably, allowing any member the opportunity to be nominated as a candidate and to vote in all Association Officers` elections, and to vote in their respective Executive Representative election.
  2. To provide a framework and guide to a timetable for the process of notice of elections, nominations, issue of ballot papers and vote counting.
  3. Returning Officer

Each year the Officers of the Association shall appoint a Returning Officer to oversee the conduct of all elections.  In particular, the Returning Officer will have responsibility for the counting of votes and verifying the validity of the elections.  The Returning Officer appointed shall be independent of the Association.

  1. Notice of Elections

It will be the responsibility of the Association’s Directors to ensure that Notice of Elections is given to all members within the legal timescale prior to the AGM, and that nomination forms for the various posts are issued at this time.

  1. Nominations

The Directors will verify the validity of the nominations and ensure that ballot papers are sent out within the legal timescale required prior to the AGM.  The ballot papers for Executive Elections will be ‘colour coded’ to prevent voting irregularities.

  1. The Authority of the Returning Officer

The Returning Officer will have overall responsibility for the conduct of the elections. A clerical officer will report any irregularities which occur during the preparation stages for the ballot to the Returning Officer.  The ballot papers will be returned to the Returning Officer after voting and will be given a serial stamped number to ensure against loss.  In the event of irregularities occurring, the Returning Officer shall have the power to disqualify a candidate should he/she deem this to be the right course of action.

The Chairman will be informed by the Returning Officer of the results of the ballot. Newly elected members of the Executive Committee will be advised immediately and invited, at the expense of the Association, to the AGM. They will take office at the conclusion of the AGM.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

  1. In accordance with Resolutions passed at the 1998 AGM, the posts on the Executive Committee are divided into three groups as follows:

Group 1.          Treasurer, Development Officer. Executive Representatives R02, R03, and R04

Group 2.          Chairman, Publicity Officer. Executive Representatives R08, R09, N11 and N12.

Group 3.          Vice-Chairman. Executive Representatives R01, R05, R06, R07 and N10.

  1. Starting with the 1999 Elections each of these three groups is elected in turn for a three year term of office, and this three year cycle then repeats until further notice. That is, Group 1 elected in 1999, Group 2 elected in 2000, Group 3 elected in 2001, Group 1 elected in 2002, and so on.
  2. It is important that the arrangements of paragraphs 1 and 2 above should be treated as sacrosanct. For this reason, vacancies occurring in mid-term will be filled as follows:
  3. The Executive Committee shall have the power to co-opt a member to fill the vacancy until the AGM following the next available annual ballot. If the co-option occurs during the first two years of a three-year term and the co-optee wishes to continue in office for whatever remains of the three-year term he, or she, shall be eligible to stand in a by-election for the post at the annual ballot prior to the aforesaid AGM.
  4. The members present at an AGM may also have the power to co-opt a member to fill a vacancy until the AGM following the next available ballot.
  5. This regulation (number 4) was removed following a Resolution at the 2022 AGM.
  6. Candidates may contest Association Officer Posts and/or the Executive Representative election of their own Region or Nation.
  7. A valid nomination will require six assenters in the case of an Association Officer post, and three assenters in the case of a Executive Representative post. The names of the assenters will be published with the ballot papers.
  8. Only fully paid up members of the Association as at the 31st of December may participate as candidates or assenters, and must remain a paid up member throughout the election process and throughout their term of office.
  9. Each candidate may provide a personal statement, not exceeding 150 words, for mailing with the ballot papers.
  10. In every case where there are more than two candidates, voting will be by single transferable vote.
  11. The Officer post elections will be counted first.
  12. A candidate in two elections, if successful in the Officer post election, will be withdrawn from the subsequent election for any other Officer post, and for that of a Region or Nation and his or her votes redistributed accordingly.
  13. If a candidate is unopposed, an election will be conducted on the basis of YES or NO votes and a simple majority of YES votes will elect the candidate. In the event of a NO vote the post may be filled in accordance with rules for filling mid-term vacancies as in paragraph 3 above.
  14. Members of the Association may vote in all Association Officer ballots but only members of a Region or Nation may vote in their Executive Representative ballot.

Revised following the Stirling AGM – May 2022