Trinity College Meeting Constitution

(Last Amended in Jan 2001)

 

 

Whereas the Trinity College Meeting exists for the sole purpose of coordinating the interests of the Men of College, the Trinity College Meeting Constitution deals with the coordination of male student government and activities at the University of Trinity College:

 

I.       DEFINITION OF TERMS

 

A.        “the College” shall mean the University of Trinity College.

 

B.         “TCM” shall mean Trinity College Meeting.

 

C.        “JCM” shall mean Joint College Meeting.

 

D.        “Men of College” shall mean all male students of the College and any male University of Toronto student who pays University of Trinity College Student Society Fees.

 

E.         “Appointee” shall mean any Man of College who is appointed by an officer of the TCM to any government body of the College.

 

II.               TRINITY COLLEGE MEETING

 

A.        All Men of College, both resident and non-resident, undergraduate and Divinity, full-time and part-time, who pay incidental fees, are full members of the TCM.  All Men of College have an equal vote and have equal speaking rights.  All members and guests of the TCM must be gowned in order to exercise their voting or speaking rights.  Guests of the TCM have no voting rights.

 

B.         All student residents of Trinity College, 6 Hoskin Ave., have full speaking and voting rights on matters pertaining to food and house issues.

 

C.        The TCM has the highest authority in the College with respect to matters concerning its budget, the actions of student government officials responsible to the TCM, and the representation of the opinion of the Men of College.

 

D.        The TCM shall be called when a notice is provided either by one of the Heads of Men, by the Chairman of the TCM, or in the form of a petition, which must include the names of twenty Men of College, to the Secretary of the TCM.  The Secretary of the TCM must prominently post notice of the TCM in Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery at least three days in advance of the meeting.  A proposed agenda, written by the Chair, shall be posted at least twenty-four hours before the TCM at the same locations to inform all Men and Women of College of the topics of discussion.

 

 

E.         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 TCM. 

 

F.         The TCM must meet at least three times each term.

 

G.        The Chairman of the TCM shall be a Man of College in second year or above at the time of the election, which is at the final TCM of the academic year before that in which he will hold office.  The Chairman of the TCM shall hold no elected positions as outlined in Part III of this Constitution.  The Deputy-Chairman of the TCM shall be jointly vested in the Heads of Fourth Year.

 

H.        A copy of all minutes, agendas, and records shall be kept by the secretary and given as a file to the archives at the end of the Chairman’s, Treasurer’s, and Secretary’s terms.

 

I.          All officers of the TCM as outlined in Part III will be elected under the coordination of the Chief and Deputy Returning Officers of the JCM.

 

J.          After the election of the new officers of the TCM, 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.

 

K.        After every meeting of a government body that Men of College have been appointed to, at least one appointee shall report to the TCM.  The appointment of any Appointee from that meeting can be reviewed after the report 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 as outlined in part V, section D.  No petition is necessary for the impeachment of an Appointee.

 

III.           OFFICERS OF THE TRINITY COLLEGE MEETING

 

A.        Heads of Men:

  • Must be Men of College in second year or above at the time of election
  • Serve on such committees of the College as the Provost or those committees shall decide;
  • Confer from time to time with the Dean of Men and act as liaison between the Administration and the Men of College;
  • Have powers of appointment and delegation, subject to the review of the first following TCM;
  • May not run for re-election to a second full term of office;

(i)         Head of College:

1.      Must live in residence during his term of office;

2.      Must have at least a 2.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average at the time of election;

3.      Will be considered as superior officer when dealing with the College and the University of Toronto.

(ii)        Head of Arts:

1.      Must live in residence during his term of office;

2.      May be called upon to act as Prosecutor before the Discipline Committee


B.         Heads of Years:

  • Men of College, who are responsible for informing all Men of their own years of upcoming TCM and JCM meetings;

(i)         Heads of First Year:

1.      Responsible for the cleanliness of all of Trinity College, including Strachan Hall;

2.      Responsible for the upkeep of the woodshed;

3.      Responsible for organizing the Homecoming Float in conjunction with the female Heads of First Year.

(ii)        Resident Head of Second Year:

1.      Secretary of the TCM;

2.      Responsible for discipline in Strachan Hall.

 (iii)      Non-Resident Head of Second Year:

1.      Responsible for discipline in the Buttery.

 (iv)      Resident Head of Third Year:

1.      Treasurer of the TCM;

2.      Responsible for Swill.

 (v)       Non-Resident Head of Third Year:

1.      Responsible for Swill.

 (vi)      Heads of Fourth Year:

1.      Responsible for Grad Photos, Fourth Year Bar, and GRADitude;

2.      Responsible for arranging gifts to the College at the discretion of the graduating class.

 

C.        Representatives to Committees:

(i)         Head of Non-Residents Affairs Committee:

1.      Must be a Non-Resident Man in third year or above during his term in office;

2.      Must concern himself particularly with getting Non-Resident Men involved in the resident College Community.

(ii)        Administration Committee Representative:

1.      Responsible for informing the TCM if the Committee is re-struck.

(iii)       Buttery Sub-Committee Representative

(iv)       Food Committee Representative:

1.      Responsible for reporting to the TCM about food committee meetings;

2.      Will take the concerns and suggestions of the residents of Men of College to the meetings.

(v)        House Committee Representative:

1.      Responsible for calling, and informing the TCM of the Committee’s meetings;

2.      Will take the concerns and suggestions of residents of Trinity College, 6 Hoskin Ave., to the meetings.

 

D.        Other Officers:

(i)         Pinball Curator:

1.      Responsible for the upkeep of the Sub-Cos common room and the video games (gets honourarium).

 

IV.            STANDING ORDERS

 

A.        The proceedings in the TCM and in all Committees of the TCM shall be conducted according to the following Standing Orders.

 

B.         No Man of College or guest of the TCM will be allowed to speak without first being recognized by the Chairman.  A guest of the TCM will be granted speaking rights if the guest is presented by a Man of College.

 

C.        The quorum for meetings of the TCM shall be twenty gowned Men of College.  If a Man of College intentionally draws the Chairman’s attention to the fact that a quorum is not present, the Chairman 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 Chairman shall adjourn the meeting.

 

D.        Any Man of College may at any time claim the floor to correct misinterpretations by others of any statement he has made (which he shall address as a “Point of Privilege”) or if he feels that these Rules of Order are not being followed (which he shall address as a “Point of Order”).

 

E.         Any point in question shall be decided by the Chairman, 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 Chairman be upheld?”  For overruling of the Chairman’s decision, a vote of two-thirds of the gowned Men 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 Chairman.

 

G.        When discussing a motion, any member may attempt to call the question either 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 Chairman 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 which do not come under the foregoing rules shall be decided by the Chairman according to the traditional usages and customs of the TCM, and failing a precedent, according to Stanford’s latest edition of Bourinot’s Rules of Order that is present at that meeting.

 

V.               IMPEACHMENT

 

A.        All officers of the TCM are subject to impeachment.  The following guidelines, excluding discussion as outlined in section D, are not applicable to Appointees.

B.         To initiate impeachment, ten Men of College must bring forth a petition to the Chairman of the TCM.

 

C.        A meeting will then be called.  The secretary must then post notice at Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery for such a meeting to be constitutional.

 

D.        After the petition is read, there will be a discussion on the matter.  The officer in question shall be granted last speaking rights to defend himself.

 

E.         If there is a two-thirds majority vote in favour of impeachment, then the officer in question shall be impeached and his office will be considered vacant.  Appropriate election procedures as outlined in Part V, Section G will then take effect.

 

F.         Heads of Men:

(i)                  To initiate impeachment, thirty Men of College must bring forth a petition to the Chairman of the TCM;

(ii)                Three Days notice must be given at Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery for the meeting discussing impeachment to be constitutional;

(iii)               The same discussion rules as in Part V, Section D apply;

(iv)              If there is a two thirds majority vote in favour of impeachment at two meetings in a row, held at least one week apart, then the office shall be considered vacant.  Appropriate election procedures as outlined in Part V, Section G will then take effect.

 

G.        Appropriate election procedures will consist of a vote during a TCM.  The Secretary of the TCM must prominently post notice of that TCM and of the positions being filled, in Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery at least seven days in advance of the meeting.  In the election, the impeached party may not run.

 

VI.            CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

 

A.                 Amendments to this Constitution must be passed by two consecutive Trinity College Meetings, held at least one week apart, by a two-thirds majority vote at each meeting.

 

B.                 Proposed amendments must be posted at Trinity, St. Hilda’s, and the Buttery for at least two days before the TCM.