Last modified: 11 October 2018
The name of club shall be Victoria Engineering Club. (hereinafter called "the Club")
The objects of the club shall be to:
- Allow students to have the opportunity to engage with other students in the engineering programme
- Participate in activities and get help from senior students if needed.
- To promote good fellowship amongst its members, members of other University Clubs and members of the wider community.
- To represent the interests of students of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science.
These objects shall not be inconsistent with the Goals, Constitution and Rules of Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association and Te Ropu Tauira o te Kura Wananga o te Upoko o te Ika a Maui Incorporated (hereinafter called "the Association"), nor the appropriate University body.
The Club shall have the following powers, subject to the Constitution and Rules of the Association:
- To purchase, lease, hire or by any other means, acquire any personal property necessary or convenient for the purpose of the Club.
- To sell, hire, exchange, improve, manage, develop or otherwise deal with all, or any part of the personal property of the Club.
- To promote, hold, manage, and conduct inter-club gatherings or conferences that it may deem desirable either by itself or in collaboration with any other Club, Society or Organisation.
- To engage such persons whose services may be deemed necessary for the purposes of the Club, and to pay them accordingly.
- Any income, benefit or advantage shall be applied to the objectives of the organisation.
- No member of the organisation or any person associated with a member shall participate in or materially influence any decision made by the organisation in respect for the payment to or on behalf of that member or associated person of any income, benefit, or advantage whatsoever.
- Any such income shall be reasonable and relative to that which would be paid in an arms length transaction (being open market value).
- To hold moneys of the Club not immediately required for any of its objects in any trading bank in New Zealand. This shall be subject to informing the Association of the location and number of this account.
The Club shall be affiliated to the appropriate University body
The Club shall re-affiliate every year to the appropriate University body.
The Club shall be affiliated to the Association as a Representative Group.
In the event of the Club not re-affiliating to the appropriate University body within 6 months of the date set, the Club shall cease to function, and all assets and property shall be held in trust by the appropriate University body for a further 6 months, and shall thereafter become the property of the appropriate University body, unless before that time the Club is re-affiliated.
- Ordinary Membership: Any person shall be eligible for ordinary membership of the Club who:
- is a student or staff member at the University.
- pays any relevant membership fee set out by the committee The club committee reserves the right to deny membership to any person.
- Honorary Life Membership: The Club shall also have the power at any General Meeting to elect Honorary Life Members.
- Life Membership shall carry with it all the privileges, benefits and responsibilities of ordinary membership.
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The affairs of the Club shall be managed by a Club Committee composed of the following:
- President
- Vice-President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Cultural Council Representative(s) (VUWSA Representative)
- Staff Representative
- Womens' Representative
- Chief Technical Officer
- Any other Committee members, as shall be determined by the Club.
The positions of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, any Cultural Council Representative, and Womens' Representative shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting, and shall hold office until the next AGM, with the exception of the Staff Representative, which shall be selected from the Victoria University of Wellington School of Engineering and Computer Science (hereinafter called "the department") staff by the rest of the executive, with advice of the department. With the exception of the President, Committee members may hold up to a maximum of two positions on the Committee.
The quorum shall be four members.
If any member of the Committee should die, resign, or absent themselves from three consecutive meetings without leave, the Committee may appoint a successor.
Due to their importance, the executive roles of president, secretary and treasurer should, where practical, be held by members in their second year or later of tertiary study. Preference will be given to existing committee members and those who have proven reliability and/or experience.
The Chief Technical Officer shall be appointed by the committee, and may hold such a position until such a time as they resign or are removed by the Committee
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The Committee shall have the power to generally carry out the aims, objectives and rules of the Club and to manage all Club affairs.
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Any member of the Committee shall be removed from office if called upon to do so by simple majority of a General meeting of the Club.
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Any of the other committee members shall be appointed by the elected members of the committee by a simple majority.
- President
- Provide a focus and direction for the rest of the club to follow.
- Ensure that all parts of the committee are correctly working together for the best interests of the club and to support each position where needed.
- Organise regular club meetings and other major events with the help of the other committee members.
- Vice-President
- Organise regular meetings of the committee and work with other positions in the creation and publication of agendas.
- Assist the president in planning and promoting their long term plans for the club and in their efforts towards recruiting new members on a regular basis.
- Ensure that all parts of the committee are correctly working together for the best interests of the club and to support each position where needed.
- Secretary
- Take notes and minutes of the club meetings and publish both the (necessarily redacted) agenda and the (necessarily redacted) minutes in a timely manner to all in the club by publishing them on the club github (github.com/vecnz).
- Provide the club with current and accurate contacts of all members so information can be passed on when needed.
- Receive all correspondence for the club and distribute it as required.
- Treasurer
- Manage and update the club accounts on a regular basis. Provide these at the committee meetings and at AGMs.
- Ensure that everyone is paying any relevant fees on time and that all payments that are required by the club are fulfilled.
- Regulate club spending and provide financial advice for all club activities and major events.
- Provide the committee and any appropriate University body with audited accounts when required.
- Actively seek new fundraising opportunities and inform the club of any chances to raise some extra funds.
- Staff Representative
- To liaise with the department, and to represent the interests of the department in meetings of the Clubs' committee.
- To keep the Department and the Club informed of the activities of both.
- To advise the Club's Committee on the organisation and execution of the various events and functions of the Club.
- Womens' Representative
- To liaise with women within the department, and within the membership of the club, and to represent them in meetings of the clubs' committee.
- To assist in the organisation and execution of the events and functions of the club.
- Cultural Council Representatives
- To represent the Club at all meetings of Association Councils and Committees where the Club has a representative function.
- Liaise with the Association and the University on issues affecting the club.
- To keep the Council and the Club informed of the activities of both.
- Chief Technical Officer
- To manage the technical infrastructure of the Club
- To create, update, or remove the technical systems provided by the Club to achieve aims set out by the committee
- To maintain documentation on any such technical system.
- Other Members of the Committee
- To advise, and assist in the organisation and execution of the various events and functions of the club
- The Club's Financial Year shall be set by the Committee, provided that Annual Accounts are prepared and audited for approval at the AGM.
- The trustees of the Club's bank account shall be the President, Treasurer and any one other officer to be selected by the Committee. Any two of these three persons may sign on the Club's account.
- The President of the Association shall be a signatory by proxy to every Club bank account for the limited purpose of:
- holding assets and property in trust for the cub in the event of the Club’s failure to reaffiliate to the Association pursuant to Section 4; or
- repossessing assets and property belonging to the Club in the event of the Club’s failure to re-affiliate to the Association pursuant to Section 4, for the purpose of those assets and property becoming the property of the Association.
- All the funds of the Club shall be paid into a bank determined by the Committee, to the credit of the Club. All accounts shall be approved for payment by the Committee.
- The Club shall inform the Association of the number of its bank account, its location and the current balance on request by the Association.
- Any Membership fees (as in Section 5) shall be set and reviewed annually by the Committee, subject to any motion at a General Meeting of the Club, and if such a fee is not waived, that such a fee shall not be less than five (5) dollars.
- The Club shall not incur any substantial liability without the express consent of the Executive of the Association.
- The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Club shall be held near the end of the second trimester of the year.
- Seven clear days notice shall be given of the meeting, including to the Association.
- The regular business of the AGM shall be:
- To receive the Annual Report and Financial Statements.
- To elect the Club Committee.
- A Special General Meeting of members may be called at any time by the Committee, or by request of not less than 10 members of the Club.
- The quorum of all general meetings shall be 15 members of the Club.
Conversations originating in contact@vec.ac.nz or which pertain to the club as a whole must be contained/copied in contact@vec.ac.nz. All replies to communications sent to contact@vec.ac.nz must CC ("Carbon Copy") contact@vec.ac.nz or be sent through contact@vec.ac.nz as an alias, and request that the external party reply to contact@vec.ac.nz.
Any of the clauses of this constitution (except Clause 12: Interpretation of this Constitution) may be altered, or new ones included, at a general meeting of Club members, provided that such alterations shall not be valid until ratified by the Association Executive.
Notice of any proposed alterations shall be given at least seven clear days in advance of the meeting called to consider them.
No addition to or alteration of the non-profit aims, personal benefit clause or the winding up clause shall be approved without the approval of the Inland Revenue Department. And the provisions and effect of this clause shall not be removed from this document and shall be included and implied into any document replacing this document.
In all respects this constitution shall be subject to the Constitution of the Association, and where it conflicts with it, it shall be null and void in that respect.
Should any dispute as to the interpretation of any part of this constitution arise, the dispute shall be referred to the Executive of the Association, whose decision shall be final.
The Club shall be wound up either:
- A 2/3 majority motion at a general meeting; or
- 12 months after failing to re-affiliate as set out in Clause 4 of this Constitution (unless the club is re-affiliated before that time).
In the event of winding up, all funds and assets of the Club shall revert to the appropriate University body, to dispose of at its absolute discretion.