Joint College Meeting Constitution
(Amended 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987,
1988, 1989, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000)
Whereas the Joint
College Meeting exists for the sole purpose of coordinating the interests of
both the Trinity College and Saint Hilda’s College Meetings, the Joint
College Meeting Constitution deals with the coordination of student
government at the University of Trinity College:
A. “the College” shall mean the University
of Trinity College.
B. “the Board” shall mean the Joint Board
of Stewards.
C. “JCM” shall mean Joint College Meeting.
D. “TCM” shall mean Trinity College
Meeting.
E. “SHCM” shall mean Saint Hilda’s College
Meeting.
F. “Men
and Women of College” shall mean all students of the College and any University
of Toronto student who pays University of Trinity College Student Society Fees.
G. “Appointee”
shall mean any Man or Woman of College who is appointed by an officer of the
JCM to any government body of the College.
A. The
JCM has the highest authority in the College with respect to matters concerning
the financing of levied clubs and non-levied clubs that
ask for and receive recognition from the JCM, the actions of student government officials responsible to the JCM,
and the representation of the opinion of the Men and Women of College.
B. There
shall be no residence qualifications for full membership in the JCM and none
shall be imposed under any circumstances.
The JCM shall consist of all Men and Women of College. All members and guests of the JCM must be
gowned in order to exercise their voting or speaking rights. Guests of the JCM have no voting rights.
C. The
JCM shall be called when a notice is provided either by both of the Heads of
College or in the form of a petition, which must include the names of ten Men
and ten Women of College, to the Secretary of the JCM. The Secretary of the JCM must prominently
post notice of the JCM in Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery at least one
week in advance of the meeting.
D. The
JCM must meet at least twice per term.
E. The
chair of the JCM shall be vested in a Man or Woman of College, elected
according to section II, part I (i).
The Deputy-Chair of the JCM shall be jointly vested in the Chairs of the
TCM and SHCM.
F. An
organization requesting funds shall submit a budget proposal to the Treasurer
of the Board at least five days before a meeting of the Board. An approved representative of an
organization requesting funds must be in attendance at the Board and JCM when
the organization’s budget is presented.
If this is not the case, the information or motion shall not be
discussed or voted upon at the meeting unless 2/3 of the meeting votes to allow
the budget’s presentation.
G. All
committees of the JCM and the Board shall report to the JCM at least once each
academic year.
H. All
information pertaining to a motion or a motion itself in excess of 1/2 page in
length must be prominently posted by the mover in Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the
Buttery at least 24 hours in advance of a JCM.
I. The
JCM shall elect members to fill the following positions for the next academic
year at the final JCM of the current academic year:
(i)
Chair of the JCM,
who shall hold no other elected positions in the College under
the jurisdiction of the Chief Returning Officer, with the exception of
the Chair of the TCM, Chair of the SHCM, student representative to the Senate,
or student representative to the respective Food or House committees (must be
second year or above at the time of election);
(ii)
Treasurer of the
JCM, who shall not hold the positions of President, Vice
President, or Treasurer of any levied or non-levied organization
directly or indirectly funded by the JCM (must be second year or above at the
time of election);
(iii) Secretary of the JCM;
(iv)
Auditor of the
JCM, who should not hold an executive position on any levied or
non-levied organization directly or indirectly funded by the JCM (must
be second year or above at the time of election);
(v)
Deputy Auditor of
the JCM, who should not hold the positions of President, Vice
President, or Treasurer of any levied or
non-levied organization directly or indirectly funded by the JCM;
(vi)
Chief Returning
Officer and Deputy Returning Officer, who shall run as a ticket
and shall neither hold nor run for other elected positions in the
College under the jurisdiction of the Chief Returning Officer during their time
in office (the ticket shall consist of one Man and one Woman of College);
(vii)
Chair of the
Discipline Committee (must be second year or above at the time of
election) and Deputy Chair of the Discipline
Committee, who shall neither hold nor run for other elected positions in the
College under the jurisdiction of the Chief Returning Officer during their time
in office (the ticket shall consist of one Man and one Woman of College).
The preceding officials and their Appointees are the only student
government officials directly responsible to the JCM.
J. Positions
that are not filled by elections shall be deemed appointments by the Heads of
College and subject to the review of the first following JCM.
K. Every
Appointee shall report to the JCM after every meeting of the government body
that that Appointee has been appointed to.
The Appointee’s appointment can be reviewed at this meeting so long as
2/3 of the meeting votes as such. Once
the meeting has voted to review an appointment, a majority vote of the meeting
is necessary to impeach the officer after discussion of impeachment, and a
defence by the appointee of his/her actions.
L. After
the election of the new officers of the JCM, they must meet with the outgoing
officers (over wine, cheese, or Molson Stock Ale, or any beverage of the
outgoing officers’ choosing) to discuss procedures, problems, and records of
the outgoing officers’ term. This is designed
to facilitate continuity in the administration.
M. Any
person elected under the auspices of the JCM may be impeached by a two-thirds
majority vote of two consecutive JCMs held at least one week apart.
N. Once each academic year, the JCM shall set student society fees for
the next academic year. Failing a
decision, the fees shall remain unchanged.
A.
The Joint Board
of Stewards is the executive of the JCM and shall be bound by the JCM’s
decisions. The purpose of the Board is
to provide a forum for student leaders of the College to meet and attempt to
coordinate their activities towards common goals.
B.
The membership of
the Board shall include:
Heads of College, who shall be considered voting, ex officio members of
all committees
of the Board and the JCM (2 – Male and Female);
Heads of Arts (2 - Male and Female);
Head of Divinity (or a representative);
Heads of Non-Resident Affairs Committee (2 - Male and Female);
S.A.C. Representative (1);
President of the Trinity College Athletic Association;
President of the Saint Hilda’s Athletic Association;
Prime Minister of the Trinity College Literary Institute;
President of the Trinity College Dramatic Society (1);
Heads of First Year (2 - chosen by the first year heads with equal
representation
of Men and Women, resident and non-resident. If the year heads cannot decide, the Chair of the Board shall
select the representatives);
Chair of the JCM (Non-voting unless there is a tie);
Chairs of the TCM and SHCM (2);
Treasurer of the JCM;
Secretary of the JCM;
Resident Members-at-large (2);
Non-Resident Members-at-large (2).
C.
The Board shall
be called when a notice is provided the Heads of College or in the form of a
petition, which must include the names of 1/3 of the members of the Board, to
the Secretary of the Board. The
Secretary of the Board must prominently post notice of the Board meeting in
Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery and notify all members of the Board of
any meeting at least seven days in advance of that meeting.
D.
The minutes of
all Board meetings shall be presented to the next regular JCM for
acceptance. The JCM may reconsider any
decision that it is possible to rescind.
E.
No member of the
Board may be represented by proxy.
F.
The Board shall
allocate its levy according to a budget approved by the JCM. The Board shall be responsible for financing
non-levied student organizations expressly specified in its budget. In times of urgency, the Board may lend up
to $100 to any JCM recognized club. The
money lent must be repaid unless the JCM votes to add the amount given to the
club’s budget.
G.
All members of
the JCM have speaking rights at meetings of the Board. Only the members outlined in Section III,
Part B have voting rights at meetings of the Board.
H.
If any member of
the JCM is part of a topic of discussion before the Board, the Secretary must inform that member, in writing, at least four days before the meeting.
I.
The Board can go
in-camera with a 2/3 vote of the members.
The chair shall decide whether members of the JCM who are not members of
the Board must leave. All those present
that are not members of the JCM shall leave without question.
A.
The Chair of the
Board shall be the elected Chair of the JCM.
The Chair may request a report from any JCM or Board committee at any
time. That committee’s chair must
produce a report within ten days.
B.
The Deputy-Chair
of the Board shall be jointly vested in the Chairs of the TCM and SHCM, who
will act at their discretion in the absence of the Chair.
C.
The Secretary of
the Board shall be the elected Secretary of the JCM. A copy of all minutes, agendas, and records from both the Board
and the JCM shall be kept by the secretary and given as a file to the archives
at the end of the Chair’s, Treasurer’s, and Secretary’s terms. The Secretary shall act as clerk, when
necessary, during all meetings of the Board and the JCM.
D.
The Treasurer of
the Board shall be the elected Treasurer of the JCM. The Treasurer shall have charge of all money under the immediate
jurisdiction of the Board. It shall be
the responsibility of the Treasurer to present an accurate statement of
accounts at the end of the fiscal year.
E.
The Auditor may
request receipts for any expenses at any time from any individuals or clubs,
levied or non-levied, that received money from the Board, JCM, TCM, or
SHCM. Those receipts must be supplied
within 1 week of the request. If the
receipts are not supplied in the given time, the auditor may penalize the
offending organization financially as the meeting that the money came from sees
fit. During the first JCM of every
academic year, the auditor shall present guidelines for proper accounting
practices. These guidelines should be
based on the previous year’s guidelines and Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP).
F.
The Deputy
Auditor shall act as the Auditor’s assistant.
When there is a conflict of interest as decided by either the Auditor or
the JCM, the Deputy Auditor shall assume the role of auditor for that
particular file.
A. The
proceedings in the JCM and the Board and in all Committees of the JCM and the
Board shall be conducted according to the following Standing Orders.
B. No
Man or Woman of College or guest of the JCM will be allowed to speak without
first being recognized by the Chair. A
guest of the JCM will be granted speaking rights if a Man or Woman of College
presents the guest.
C. The
quorum for meetings of the JCM shall be fifteen gowned Men and fifteen gowned
Women of College. The quorum for
meetings of the Board shall be 1/3 of the membership of the Board. If a member of a meeting intentionally draws
the Chair’s attention to the fact that a quorum is not present, the Chair
shall, upon determining that quorum is not present, cause the meeting to
recess, for no longer than five minutes, until a quorum is present. If a quorum is not present after the
expiration of five minutes, the Chair shall adjourn the meeting. If quorum is not
called, it will be assumed to exist.
D. Any
Man or Woman of College may at any time claim the floor to correct
misinterpretations by others of any statement that he or she has made (which he
or she shall address as a “Point of Privilege”) or if he or she feels that
these Rules of Order are not being followed (which he or she shall address as a
“Point of Order”).
E. Any
point in question shall be decided by the Chair, and any decision shall be
received without discussion. If such a
decision is appealed, the reason for the appeal and the appeal having been
stated, the question shall be put as follows, without debate: “Shall the
decision of the Chair be upheld?” For
overruling of the Chair’s decision, a vote of two-thirds of the gowned Men and
Women of College present shall be necessary.
F. No
person shall speak continuously for more than 2 minutes, except when permitted
to do so by the Chair.
G. When
discussing a motion, any member may attempt to call the question on a point of
order so long as the question has not been called in the last ten minutes or at
the end of any recognized speaking turn.
Once a member has asked that the question be called, the chair shall
determine whether there is any dissent in calling the question. If there are at least five members in
dissent, a majority of the meeting must vote in favour of calling the question
before the question may be called.
H. Questions
that do not come under the foregoing rules shall be decided by the Chair
according to the traditional usages and customs of the JCM, and failing a
precedent, according to Stanford’s latest edition of
Bourinot’s Rules of Order that is present at that meeting.
A. Amendments to this Constitution must be passed by two consecutive Joint College Meetings, held at least one week apart, by a two-thirds majority vote at each meeting.
B. A Call for Quorum must be made and met prior to voting upon constitutional amendments.
C. Proposed amendments must be posted at Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery for at least five days before the JCM.
D. Any member of the JCM with proposed amendments to this Constitution may have his/her amendments made an item of business on the agenda of the Board meeting before the JCM at which the amendments will be introduced and the mover must be given an opportunity to speak to the Board if the member so desires.