[Phpug] IPUG constitution and other formalities.

Rory Browne rbmlist at gmail.com
Wed Jul 30 01:13:33 IST 2008


>
>
> ----------------------
>   Constitution
>
>    1. Name of Society.
>         1. The name of the society shall be the Irish PHP Users Group
>            (IPUG).
>
>    2. Aims and Objectives.
>        The aims and objectives of the society shall be as follows:
>         1. To increase and promote awareness of the PHP programming
>            language within both the home and corporate sectors of the
>             Irish - and international, where appropriate -  Computing
> industry.
>         2. To provide a forum to discuss and gain experience of the
>            PHP programming language.
>         3. To help educate people in the usage of PHP and related
>            software.
>         4. To promote and encourage Irish contributions to PHP-based
>            projects.
>          5. To promote Ireland as a PHP development/programming location,
> and
>            encourage the addoption and use of PHP in software/web projects
> in
>            Ireland (where it is the appropriate choice).
>
>
>     3. Members.
>         1. Full membership of the society shall be open to anyone who is
>            a resident of the island of Ireland who agrees to support the
>            aims of the Society.


Suggestion: change "aims of the Society" to "Aims and Objectives of the
Society as defined in section 2."


>         2. Associate membership shall be open to anyone who is not
>            eligible for full membership.

Suggestion: change "not eligable for full membership" to "not a resident of
the island of Ireland"
Reason: We don't exactly want people who do not support the aims of the
group.


>
>         3. Membership shall be obtained by either:
>              i. Subscribing to the IPUG Mailing List or
>             ii. Registering with the Secretary of the Society.
>            There is currently no membership fee.
>         4. All members shall be bound by this constitution.
>
>    4. Committee.
>         1. The society shall have a governing committee.
>         2. The committee shall run the society on behalf of the members
>            and in accordance with the aims and objectives.
>         3. Committee decisions shall be decided by majority voting.
>         4. A quorum shall be shall be four committee members.
>         5. The committee shall consist of
>               o Chairperson, chairperson at php.ie
>               o Secretary, secretary at php.ie
>               o Treasurer, treasurer at php.ie
>               o Public Relations Officer, pro at php.ie
>               o 2 ordinary committee members
>         6. The term of office of these elected officers shall be one
>            year.
>         7. A person should not hold the same office for more than three
>            successive years.
>         8. The committee must announce goals for each year on their
> election
>            at the AGM. Those goals should be specific, measurable,
> attainable,
>            realistic and timely (SMART).


Suggestion: Scrap part 8. Goals should be decided by the committee as a
whole, and not individual candidates. Either way I don't think anything as
specific as this, should be in the constitution.

>
>
>    5. Election of Committee.
>         1. The committee members shall be democratically elected at an
>            Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting.
>         2. To seek election to the committee each candidate must have 2
>            nominations by current members of the society.
>         3. Members are only eligible to vote if they have been full
>            members of the society for more than three months at the date
>            of the election.





>
>
>    6. Duties of Committee.
>         1. The Chairperson shall be the chief officer of the society
>            whose functions include chairing all meetings of the
>            committee and officiating at meetings of the society. They
>            shall preserve order and decorum, and shall construe and
>            enforce the Constitution.
>         2. The Secretary's function shall be to deal with all
>            correspondence and records of the society and to notify all
>            members of meeting times. They shall duly record the minutes
>            of both committee and general assembly meetings. They shall
>            also maintain an up to date list of society members.
>         3. The Treasurer's function shall be to administer the funds of
>            the society and to maintain accounts and budgets. They shall
>            act as liaison with related industries and co-ordinate
>            obtaining sponsorship for the society with the office of PRO.
>         4. The Public Relations Officer (PRO) shall be responsible for
>            the advertising of all functions of the society through all
>            means possible, aided where necessary by the other members of
>            the committee.


All means possible? Does the PRO have to take out TV adverts, Radio,
Television, pay-per-click, etc? Is he violating the constitution if there
are some advertising means the he is unaware of.

Suggestion: replace "possible" with "approperate" or something like that.


>
>         5. The ordinary committee members shall assist the Officers in
>            their roles, and shall attend all committee meetings.
>         6. The committee shall endeavour to meet at least once a month.
>            No remuneration shall be offered to cover the cost of
>            attending meetings.
>
>    7. Dismissal & Resignation of Committee Members.
>         1. No member of the committee shall be dismissed from the office
>            unless:
>              1. Written notice of a resolution to seek such dismissal,
>                 signed by at least 10% of the members of the society, or
>                 20 members (whichever is the lower amount), is received
>                 ten working days prior to a meeting at which such
>                 resolution shall be debated.
>              2. The resolution is passed by at least a two thirds voting
>                 majority at the meeting.
>         2. A committee member wishing to resign must submit a letter in
>            writing declaring that intention to the secretary, who will
>            immediately inform the committee as a whole. The committee
>            member must remain in office for a minimum time period of two
>            weeks thereafter, so that an EGM can be held to elect a
>            replacement. In cases where an EGM cannot be held by said
>            date the committee may co-opt a member to fill the vacant
>            role.


Suggestion: Scrap the 2 week notice clause - if a member becomes motivated
to cease their committee activities, they're not going to do much for the
two weeks, and will be committee members by name only.


>
>
>    8. Meetings.
>         1. There shall be an Annual General Meeting (AGM) held each
>            year.
>         2. A quorum of a meeting shall be three committee members and
>            the lower of 5% of the Full Membership or 40 people.

Suggestion: 15/20 people - given the attendance at the last php pint night.


>
>         3. The business of the AGM shall also include an annual report
>            given by the outgoing chairperson and treasurer.
>         4. An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) shall be convened if
>              1. 5% of the ordinary membership of the society request
>                 one.
>              2. A quorum of the committee request one.
>              3. A vacancy on the current committee occurs and there is a
>                 need to elect a replacement.
>         5. Elections for the offices of the committee shall take place
>            at the AGM, and at an EGM under Article 8.4.3, except in
>            cases where there are no eligible candidates.
>         6. The committee shall convene a General Meeting when
>            appropriate.
>         7. Notice of all meetings shall given to the membership at least
>            ten working days prior to the date of the meeting.
>         8. At a meeting any member may propose a resolution relating to
>            the business of the society. The resolution shall be voted on
>            by a show of hands and a declaration of the chairperson that
>            the resolution is carried, unless a secret ballot is demanded
>            by any two members, shall be conclusive evidence that the
>            resolution has passed or failed.
>
>    9. General.
>         1. Notice of a proposal to seek an amendment to this
>            constitution shall be given to members at least four working
>            days prior to the meeting at which such proposal shall be
>            considered. Such a proposal must receive the approval of two
>            thirds of the members present at such meeting.


Clarification: Can the constitution be changed outside of an [AE]GM?


>
>         2. A copy of the constitution shall be placed on the Group's
>            website and be available to all members.
> ----------------------
>
> regards, and see you then!
>
> ken
> _______________________________________________
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>


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