Amendment to Governing Document AGD1112 

Amendments to the UCLU Byelaws
-
: Terms of Reference 
for Admin 


 



 

Proposer: 

James Skuse 

Seconder: 

Rachel Eyre 

Passed: 

Union Council, 20 March 2012 



 

This Union Notes: 

 

1. The decision of Steering Committee to amend the terms of reference of Admin 
meetings (appendix 1) 


This Union Believes: 

 

1. This should be enacted 


This Union Resolves: 

 

1. To adopt the changes to the byelaws in appendix 2 


 

Appendix 1 

Draft Steering Committee minutes: 

 

13 Terms of Reference for Admin 

 

The Democracy & Communications Officer advised that the Admin Meeting’s Terms of 
Reference were being changed and that Steering Committee was asked to approve these 
prior to them being sent to Union Council. He went on to advise that the changes meant 
that, in certain circumstances, Admin Meeting could act of behalf of the Trustee Board. 
Decisions made in this way would then be reported to the Trustee Board. 

 

The Finance & Services Officer noted that the reference to Admin Meetings making 
decisions “if there is deemed to be insufficient time for the full Trustee Board to deal with 
the matter” was unclear. This could be interpreted as the Admin Meeting being able to 
make decisions if the Trustee Board is too busy which would be unacceptable. 

 

The General Manager noted that it would only be in a small number of circumstances that 
the Trustee Board would not be able to convene in time to consider urgent business. An 
urgent Human Resources issue, for instance, may require an immediate decision that 
could not be made by the Trustee Board itself. 

 

The External Trustee (MF) noted that the Admin Meetings should be able to make 
decisions on behalf of the Trustee Board but that these decisions should be considered 
interim rather than binding. 

 

The Committee discussed the issue of quoracy for Admin Meetings. It was noted that there 
should be a level trust of the Sabbatical Officers to make decisions as they were 
accountable for their decisions by law. It was agreed that quoracy for the Admin Meetings 
should be 50% + 1 of the Full-Time Officers which would be 4 members. 


 

The Faculty Representative for Mathematical & Physical Sciences noted that references to 
the Admin Meeting not making any policy decisions should be made more concrete. 

 

The General Manager advised that the Admin Meeting’s decisions would be bound by 
policy and would later be ratified. 

 

It was noted that this needed to be made more explicit in the Terms of Reference. 

 

The Committee further discussed the issue of Admin Meetings not being able to make 
policy decisions and decided that point 9. a. should be amended to read; “The meeting will 
not make any decisions that are deemed to be policy decisions and will act within the 
bounds of existing Union Policy”. 

 

The Committee approved the Admin Meeting Terms of Reference subject to the above 
amendments. 

 

APPROVED 

Appendix 2 

 

Section 8 – Union Officers 

 

A - Sabbatical Officers 

 

Amend from: 

 

8. Sabbatical officers shall be collectively responsible for overseeing the dayto- day 
operational activity of the Union. 

 

9. They shall meet regularly with the General Manager to discuss operational management 
of the Union. 

a. The minutes of these meetings shall be submitted to Union Council. 
b. Where necessary this committee may act on behalf of the Trustee Board, 
with reports on decisions made to be submitted to the Trustee Board for 
approval. 
c. The meeting will not make any decisions that are deemed to be policy 
decisions 




 

To: 

 

8. Sabbatical officers shall be collectively responsible for overseeing the dayto- 

day operational activity of the Union. 

 

9. They shall meet regularly with the General Manager to discuss operational management 
of the Union. 

a. The meeting will not make any decisions that are deemed to be policy 
decisions and will act within the bounds of existing Union Policy. 
b. Where necessary this committee may act on behalf of the Trustee Board, 
with reports on decisions made to be submitted to the Trustee Board for 
approval. The Chair of Trustee Board, or in their absence the Vice-Chair, 





may determine that the Admin Meeting is required to act on behalf of the 
Trustee Board, in line with the responsibilities of Trustee Board (see below), 
if there is deemed to be insufficient time for the full Trustee Board to deal 
with the matter or that circumstances otherwise dictate that this is necessary. 
The Chair, or in their absence Vice Chair, must clearly indicate prior to 
discussion which matters are to be considered Trustee Board issues and 
decisions and the minutes must reflect this. The reports on all decisions 
made in this manner are to be submitted to the Trustee Board to note. 
c. There shall be a separation of business between items dealing with 
operational activity and items dealing with delegated authority from the 
Trustee Board 
d. The Admin minutes of these meetings shall be submitted to Union Council