Leaving a committee

Sometimes the committee that you start the year with might not be the same as the committee you end the year with. People's situations may change and they may no longer be able to hold the responsibility of being on a committee. This guide will tell you all need to know about handling the departure of a committee member.

Resignations

If any committee member wishes to resign before the end of their period of office, they can do so by submitting their resignation in writing to [email protected]. Please note, anyone resigning should also cc the Activities & Engagement Officer ([email protected]) and their president/treasurer where possible. We are unable to accept resignations on behalf of someone else; the resigning committee member must contact us in writing directly in order for a resignation to be processed. 

Club and society committees or members must never pressure individuals to resign from roles. 

Votes and motions of no confidence

Sometimes, through the course of the academic year, your club or society may face issues whilst working with a member of your committee. In the first instance, you should always email [email protected] to let us know that you are facing issues. Our staff team will work with you and your committee to help resolve the issues where possible, or reach out to the relevant committee member on your behalf.

Where appropriate, your club/society can carry out a vote of no confidence in a committee member, which will allow you to vote to remove a committee member from their post. This should be an absolute last resort. The process for undertaking a vote of no confidence is outlined below and within our Club and Society regulations.

Motion of no confidence

A motion of no confidence is a formal proposal which can be called against any club or society committee member, indicating a lack of trust held by the club or society, in the individual to carry out their responsibilities as outlined in the club or society constitution.

A motion of no confidence can be called either through

• A petition signed by at least 15% of the membership of the club/society, or 10 members (whichever is greater).
• A two-thirds majority vote at a minuted club/society committee meeting

Before organising a vote of no confidence, we may seek to verify the petition signatures or committee vote to ensure the motion is valid. We may also contact the subject of the vote of no confidence to provide support during a difficult process. When collecting signatures for your petition, both the name and exact committee position of the committee member the motion of no confidence refers to must be clearly communicated, and evidence of the clarity of these two points may be requested. Failure to have both these points clearly communicated will result in the motion not being accepted.

Vote of no confidence

In the instance that a motion of no confidence is successfully called against a committee member, we will organise an online referendum. The outcome is decided by a simple majority through this online vote.

Once we have created the online referendum, we will share the details with you, and you must disseminate these with your membership via email. A full list of your members emails can be found on your webpage.

If a vote of no confidence passes, the committee member will be removed from office, and their position will be considered vacant. You can request a by-election to fill this vacancy. Find out more about by-elections in our how to guide all about elections.

Interim committee members

In the instance that a committee member leaves your committee before their term in office ends, we can organise a by-election in order for your club or society membership to vote and chose who they would like to fill that role for the remainder of the academic year.

In some instances, this may leave your club or society committee smaller than you would like it to be, which can increase the task load on other committee members.

In this instance you are able to appoint a member of your club or society on an interim basis. 

In order to appoint an interim committee member, please email as at [email protected] with the individual you would like to appoint cc'd into the email. 

If they are going to be filling a core committee role (president, treasurer or welfare officer) then they will need to complete the relevant training modules before gaining access to webpage editing and webforms. 

As part of the process of appointing an interim, we will agree on a timeline for a by-election to be held at the earliest convenience for your society. 

Please note: Interim committee members are allowed to nominate themselves during a by-election for the role they hold on an interim basis.