Draft digisoc constitution

From Technolotics

1. Name:
The Society shall be known as D.U. Digicast Society

2. Objects:

The Society shall have three primary objects.

1. Educational

To teach cutting edge citizen media production and distribution techniques.
To promote and educate on digital rights, copyleft and licensing issues.

2. Student Voice

To provide a digital platform for the production and dissemination of student media.
To facilitate the production of student podcasts, vidcasts and blogs.

3. Advocacy

To promote and advocate for the advancement of digital rights.

3. Membership:

Membership shall be open to all capitated students of the University. Ordinary membership shall be granted to capitated students in return for a subscription of 3 Euro per annum; or such other figure as shall be decided by the Committee or Annual General Meeting within the limits set by the C.S.C. Members of staff of the college may also become members of the society in return for a subscription of 3 Euro per annum.

4. The Committee:

The Committee shall consist of the following officers: Chair (Auditor), Secretary (& Chief Technical Officer), Treasurer, Educational Officers, Ents Officer, Educational Coordinator, Chief Editor, Sub Editors, Webmaster / Content Manager, Graphic Art Consultant, Team Coordinator.

The roles of the executive committee shall be as follows..

1. The Chair shall oversee the general running of the Society and shall be answerable to the Committee. After completing at least one term in office, the Chair shall be entitled to free membership of the Digicast Society for life

2. The Chief Technical Officer (CTO) / Secretary, shall be responsible for all the correspondence of the Society and shall keep a record of it, and for keeping the minutes of all meetings of the Society and of the Committee and to provide the Secretary of the C.S.C. with a record of the Society's activities during his/her term of office not later than the date set by the C.S.C. for submission of this report, and shall be answerable to the Committee.

The Chief Technical Officer shall in addition be responsible for the development of the societies technical strategy, both in terms of equipment needs and changes in the production of digital media. After completing at least one term in office, the Chief Technical Officer shall be entitled to free membership of the Digicast Society for life.

3. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all the finances of the Society, for the collection of subscriptions and the maintenance of accounts. The Treasurer shall be answerable to the Committee and shall have the duty of conducting routine communications with the C.S.C. on financial matters including the provision of estimates for expenditure.
The Treasurer shall in addition be responsible for ensuring the articles of the constitution are enacted in the running of the society.
After completing at least one term in office, the Treasurer shall be entitled to free membership of the Digicast Society for life.

4. The Treasurer and the Auditor / Chair shall be jointly responsible for the financial affairs of the Society. Although the affairs of the Society shall be in general conducted according to the vote of all of the members of the Committee, if the Committee over-rules the advice of the Auditor / Chairperson and the Treasurer on a major financial matter or the Committee proceeds in the absence of the Auditor / Chairperson and the Treasurer on such a matter, then the Auditor/ Chairperson and the Treasurer shall either accept responsibility for the decision, or communicate directly and immediately with the Treasurer of the C.S.C. in which case the Committee shall hold responsibility for the consequences of the decision in question. If only one of the said officers disassociate himself/herself from the decision, then the other officer shall assume complete responsibility; neither will the officer disassociating himself / herself be forced to accept responsibility by the vote of the Committee or of the Society, though they may be called upon to resign by the due process of the Society in which case such former officer shall bring the case to the notice of the C.S.C.

5. The Treasurer or the Auditor/ Chairperson or any persons may be requested to appear before the C.S.C., or officer or sub-committee of the C.S.C. to provide information concerning the finances of the Society. If a prima facie case exists that Society funds have been misused or misappropriated, the C.S.C. may ask the Senior Dean to declare the person or persons concerned indebted to the College, in which case they may not be permitted to register for the following academic year or to have their degree conferred.

6. The Treasurer shall close his/her accounts on March 31st of each year and thereafter as soon as may be possible shall arrange for the accounts to be audited as provided by the C.S.C. and these accounts shall be presented to the Committee of the Society and the C.S.C. for approval.

7. All cheques and withdrawal forms from the Society's bank account shall be signed by two of the designated officers: who shall be the Auditor/Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary and if required one other Committee member as decided by the Executive.

8. The Committee shall meet at least once during the term.

9. Officers and Committee members may be removed from office before the completion of their term of office only by, 35 members or 80% of those members of the Society present at an Extraordinary General Meeting whichever is the lesser (see also below).

10. The ordinary members of the Committee are as follows..

Educational Coordinator
The educational Coordinator will develop and implement (in coordination with appointed Educational Officers), the educational strategy of the society. This may include classes on digital media production, digital media syndication, digital rights education, and guest speakers.

Ents Officer
The Ents Officer will organise and promote fund raising and promotional events for the Digicast Society.

Chief Editor
The Chief Editor, together with appointed sub editors, will develop and manage the editing resources of the society. The Chief Editor will provide editing support to members of the society. The Chief Editor will work with the Educational Coordinator to construct courses in digital media editing.

Webmaster / Content Manager
The Webmaster / Content Manager will devise and enact a strategy for the digital content hosting and distribution needs of the society; to enable members to easily manage their own content uploading and distribution.

Graphic Art Consultant / Public Relations Officer (PRO)
The Graphic Art Consultant / PRO will develop and enact a publicity strategy for the society. The Graphic Art Consultant / PRO will work with the Educational coordinator to provide digital graphics and animation education to members. The Graphic Art Consultant / PRO will develop a 'brand identity' for the Digicast Society, its publications and web presence.

Team Coordinator
The Team Coordinator will be responsible for the management and formation of production teams. The Team Coordinator will hold meetings to gather interest in program production. The Team Coordinator, together with the executive officers, will be responsible for the approval of proposed shows, and their development in accordance with the societies programming policy, (established by committee) and the law.

5. The Annual General Meeting and General Meetings:

The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held in Trinity Term. A notice shall be posted on the Society's notice board or otherwise publicised to the members not less than four days before the meeting giving the date and time of the meeting and the fact that elections to the Committee will take place thereat.

1. The meeting shall be open to the public, but only full/ordinary members of the Society shall be entitled to vote. This meeting shall be chaired by the Chair of the society, or by the Secretary if the Chair makes his prior unavailability known either to the CSC in person or in witnessed writing at the meeting.

2. At the meeting the officers shall read their reports of the Society's activities for the year, and the election of a new Committee shall take place.

3. A general meeting of the Society may be called by the Committee or by 40% members of the Society presenting a signed petition to the Committee. Four days notice as provided for in the case of an Annual General Meeting shall be given.

4. An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society may be called following the procedure set out above for General Meetings.

5. Candidates for election must be full/ordinary members of the Society, and each candidate must be nominated and seconded by a full/ordinary member of the Society.

6. No one shall be admitted to membership less than ten days before an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.

5. Amendments:

This constitution may be amended by a vote of a two-thirds majority of those present at an Extraordinary General Meeting or an Annual General Meeting.

Notices of such amendments must be given to the Committee before the time set for such a General Meeting and to the Chairperson of that meeting before he/she takes the chair.

6. This constitution is binding as and from the date of being approved by both the Society and the C.S.C.

7. A copy of this constitution shall be provided to each committee member at the first committee meeting after their election at the Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting.