Cambridge University Role-Playing Society

Constitution


Last updated 16th May 1996 by Steve McIntyre (Secretary) to include the changes from the Annual General Meeting of 14th May 1996.

Superseded on the 4th March 1997


  1. The society shall be called the Cambridge University Role-Playing Society (CURS).
  2. The aims of the society are:
    1. to promote Role-Playing Games within the University;
    2. to provide facilities for the playing of Role-Playing Games.
  3. Every member of the society shall have one vote to use at his/her discretion for every issue at a general meeting. The Chair shall have only a casting vote which he/she may use at his/her/its(?) discretion.
    1. All restrictions placed upon the society by the University shall take precedence over any item of the constitution. All such restrictions shall automatically be added to the constitution upon their discovery.
  4. The officers of the society, with the exception of the Senior Treasurer, shall be elected by the society at the Annual General Meeting.
  5. The committee shall have the power to co-opt additional members as it sees fit. Such members, however, will have no vote at committee meetings.
  6. The officers of the Committee shall be the following: President, Vice President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Junior Treasurer, External Officer, Live Role-Playing Officer, Chief Caprine Entity and Senior Treasurer.
    1. Until such time as he finishes his thesis, "The Cardboard Cutout Shrub With No Soul" shall hold the honorary Committee post of "Custodian of the Sacred Qabbal".
  7. The Committee shall consist of the officers listed above. A quorum shall be 5 (five) elected members of the Committee at ordinary meetings.
  8. The following shall be the duties and powers of the officers:
    1. The President shall chair Committee meetings, at which he/she will have a full vote and a casting vote where necessary.
    2. The Vice-President shall perform presidential duties when the President is unable to fulfil his role.
    3. The Secretary and Assistant Secretary shall jointly be responsible for the newsletters, meeting agendas and general correspondence of the Society. They shall also take minutes of Society general meetings and committee meetings and shall present them to the Junior Treasurer for inclusion with the accounts at the time of the yearly audit.
    4. The Senior Treasurer shall have custody of the Society funds and will audit the accounts. He will register the stock of equipment at the end of each academic year.
    5. The Junior Treasurer will be responsible for the subscriptions received and shall keep financial accounts which must be submitted to the Committee at each ordinary meeting.
    6. The External Officer shall be responsible for keeping the Society in touch with carefully selected aspects of the "Real World" - e.g. conventions, and other RPG Societies. He/she shall be responsible for co-ordinating the "Varsity Matc h" with Oxford RPG Society (OURPS).
    7. The Live Role-Playing Officer shall be responsible for promoting Live Role-Playing games within the Society and the University as a whole.
    8. The Chief Caprine Entity shall be responsible for bleating plaintively, chewing the cud contentedly and liaising with CUWoCS, the University Worshippers of Cthulhu Society.
    9. One elected Committee member shall act as Society Librarian. His/her duties are to catalogue and run the library. Items may be borrowed by Society members upon provision of a suitable refundable deposit. There is a loan duration of one month, or the duration of the holiday.
  9. The method by which the officers of the Committee are elected shall be as follows:
    1. Only members of the Society may stand for election. Candidates must be nominated and seconded in writing, and only members of the Society may nominate and second candidates. Candidates may neither nominate nor second themselves. A deadline for the handing in of nominations shall be set to enable the Secretary to prepare voting forms prior to the Election.
    2. A separate election shall be held for each elected post on the Committee. Candidates must therefore specify the post for which they are standing (e.g. President, Secretary, etc.). However, candidates may, if they wish, also state a further, second preference for which they shall be deemed to be standing only if they fail to be elected to the position of their first choice. This second preference must be stated on the candidate's nomination paper.
    3. The order in which the posts shall be elected shall normally be: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Junior Treasurer, Assistant Secretary, Live Role-Playing Officer, External Officer and finally Chief Caprine Entity. Candidates should be informed of this, so that they may avoid stating as a second preference a post that would normally be voted upon prior to their first choice. However, should such a nomination be received, the chair shall have the discretion to vary the order in which posts are elected in order to defe r the election of the second post, unless this affects the order of voting on the first and second choices of the other candidates.
    4. The elections for each post shall be held by secret ballot, and the Secretary shall prepare voting forms for this purpose. Two officers of the Committee, who are not candidates for the post being voted on, shall act as tellers. In the event of a tie, the Chair may exercise a casting vote, or may stipulate a tie-breaker, such as a game of table-football. The tellers shall announce the name of the winning candidate, but not the number of votes cast for each candidate.
    5. In the event of there being no candidates for a particular post, nminations shall be reopened, and another General Meeting called for the purpose of the election of that post.
  10. The Society File-space. If no elected committee member will accept responsibility for this, a member shall be co-opted for this specific responsibility at the first Committee meeting of the academic year.
  11. Meetings:
    1. The President shall summon General Meetings and Committee Meetings.
    2. Notification of the General Meetings will be given to all members of the Society at least 14 (fourteen) days in advance.
    3. A General Meeting may be summoned by any 10 (ten) members of the Society via written notification to the Secretary.
    4. A quorum at a General Meeting shall be 6 (six) excluding the President.
    5. There will be at least one General Meeting a year, designated the Annual General Meeting.
    6. At the Annual General Meeting the subscriptions for the following year shall be fixed.
    7. The Committee shall meet at least once per University Term.
  12. The Constitution may be amended by a 2/3 majority at a quorate General Meeting.
  13. All members shall be bound by resolutions carried at General Meetings.
    1. Notification of any proposed change will be given at least 3 (three) days in advance to members of the Society.
  14. The following minimums shall exist for subscriptions: £3.00 for life, £2.00 for one year, and £1.50 to upgrade.
    1. Students from any establishment of Higher Education shall, on request, and after payment of the appropriate fee, be admitted into the Society with full membership rights.
  15. Finance and Audit:
    1. The Society shall be financed by the subscriptions of the members and by grants, etc., from sources both within and without the university.
    2. The Junior Treasurer shall prepare a report for audit by the Senior Treasurer at the end of the academic year. The Librarian shall provide a list of all holding of the Society for checking by the Senior Treasurer.
    3. The Senior Treasurer shall audit the Society's accounts, and shall check the holdings of the Society.
    4. Only Society members currently pursuing undergraduate or graduate studies within the University may sign Society cheques.
  16. Society equipment shall be in the care of the Committee members and available for loan to members of the Society, and shall be an inalienable right, except with the permission of the Societies Syndicate.
  17. A list of all members of the Society shall be held by both the Secretary and Assistant Secretary as a minimum requirement.
  18. In the event of the dissolution of the Society, any positive balance of the Society's bank account shall be spent upon additional purchases for the Society library, such purchases to be decided upon by the recumbent Committee. The library, together with the Society's other surplus assets, shall be placed in storage in the University Library so that they should remain available to anyone wishing to re-found the Society at a further date. Should the Society's bank balance be negative, then an appeal shall be made to the Societies Syndicate to cover any debt, but in extremis, the more replaceable articles from the Society library may be auctioned off to raise the necessary money. The Society's remaining assets shall then be placed in the University Library as before.
  19. Within the confines of the Society all members by the name of David Prince shall be known as "Florence", all members by the name of Ginni Carroll shall be known as "The Blue Cat", and all members by the name of Iain Walker shall be known as "The Cardboard Cutout Shrub With No Soul".

Proposed changes to the Constitution should be submitted to the Committee for inclusion in any General Meeting.

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