[SSC] Fwd: Social Science Centre Constitution

[David Young]

Hi all,

The comments all look reasonable to me. The principle of keeping the
constitution simple with further documents to elaborate on details of, say,
consensus decision making seems to me to be a sensible approach.

See you Tuesday.

David.
On 28 Apr 2011 19:06, "Joss Winn" <joss at josswinn.org> wrote:
> Please see Charles' comments below and send any comments you have in
> response to this discussion list.
>
> Charles is referring to my email and the draft constitution, posted here:
>
> https://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/ssc/2011-April/000095.html
>
> We meet on Tuesday at 6pm, Mint Lane, to sign the Constitution and
> celebrate the formation of the Social Science Centre, Lincoln (i.e. a
> few drinks in the pub afterwards).
>
> Joss
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Social Science Centre Constitution
> Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:16:53 +0100
> From: Cooke, Charles <CCooke at lincolnshirecda.coop>
> To: Joss Winn <joss at josswinn.org>
>
>
>
> Joss
>
> I have had a look through the constitution again and cannot readily
> identify any problem.
>
> In respect of your questions, in the order given
>
>
>
> 1. We have decided on two distinct membership types: Academic and
> Associate Academic. Local students, teachers and supporting members
> would be 'Academic' members, while people who contribute more
> irregularly, perhaps because they do not live locally, would be
> 'Associate Academics'. As you know, we hope to have around 40 Academic
> members (20 students/20 teachers) and a growing number of Associate
> members. Our question is: How does this model affect the section on
> Quorum? (24/25/29). In particular, (29) is not at all clear to us. Does
> this effectively mean that Quorum is not required? We would like a
> statement that ensures that Quorum is always required.
>
> /The constitution empowers you to create membership categories and right
> of those categories of membership. You can create a secondary rule,
> outside of the constitution to define the categories of membership you
> propose. As the Associates will be remotely located it may e that they
> are not able top participate in the meetings of the Co-operative and
> therefore oyur definition of the membership should exclude them as
> contributing to the quorum which should be defined as a proportion of
> the membership in other categories. I think this should deal with the
> issue of quorums you are concerned about./
>
>
>
> 2. Is it necessary to define the membership types, described above, in
> the constitution?
>
> /No. This can be done in secondary rules/
>
>
>
> 3. Could you clarify (32)?
>
> /This clause prevents additional business which was not originally on
> the agenda for the meeting being brought into an adjourned meeting
> without notice to the members that it is to be discussed. The basic
> principle is that members should know what is to be discussed at a
> General Meeting so they know whether or nto they need to attend./
>
>
>
> 4. Is it necessary to define what we mean by 'consensus decision
> making', as this defines our type of democracy and is central to the
> governance of the co-op. Are the references to 'consensus' adequate?
>
> /I think the constitution is safe on this point. However you could
> create a better understanding of what is meant by consensus within
> secondary rules/
>
>
>
> 5. (35c) seems to allow a potentially large spend by members of the
> co-op. i.e. if our annual income is £8K, a decision could be made to
> spend over £2K in one transaction by members present at the General
> Meeting. How do we provide further safeguards to ensure that spending is
> carefully considered?
>
> /The way the co-operative works is that the power to dispose of assets
> will only be delegated with member agreement and such agreement will
> specify the scale of the disposition which is delegated. The
> constitution is a fall back which requires that no disposal of a large
> scale can be delegated and must be taken by a full members decision. If
> ypou want to set a lower figure then this can be done in secondary rules
> or in the schedules of delegation./
>
>
>
> 6. We intend the roles of Secretary, Treasurer, etc. to be rotated
> periodically. Do you think it necessary for this to be constituted and
> if so, can you suggest how?
>
> /This can be defined in secondary rules and not within the
> constitution. Essentially the roles will be defined by delegation of
> powers by the members to individuals or small groups. This can also
> include time limits on the delegation./
>
> / /
>
> /In principle you should try and keep the constitution as simple as
> possible as this is the outward facing document that will define you to
> other parties. How you regulate you internal dealings with each other
> is only of concern to yourselves and you can be more flexible and
> adaptable if these issues are dealt with in secondary rules which can be
> amended without reference to or advice to any external body./
>
>
>
> Regards
>
> Charles Cooke
>
> 07969875464
>
> CEO
>
> lcda_logo.jpg
>
> PTCF Jpeg
>
>
>
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