Downing College Ultimate Minutes

Annual General Meeting

Thursday 3 November 2011, 7pm, Wilkin’s Room

Members of the committee present:
Jessica Wong (President), Tejas Guruswamy (Treasurer), Sam Turner (Co-captain), Chris Barnes (Co-captain), Nick Skliar-Davies (Social Secretary)

Other members in attendance: Jon Daniels, Kim Vassallo, Louis Bailey, Nick Owen, James Kenny, Kaustuv Joshi, Aly Monaghan, Andrew Avery, Jack Scott, Chris Meehan, Will Benfold, Kyriakos Flouris, Julia Roberts, Camilla Longden, Tom Claxton, Fraser Elliott, James McTavish, Dan Janman, Andrew Tebboth, Tom Talbot, Claire Burgess, Helen Brooks

1. Committee elections
With five candidates running for captaincy, JW proposed a proportional representation voting system. The club voted to use a First-past-the-post voting system for the elections. Election results were as follows:

President: Kaustuv Joshi
Secretary: Aly Monaghan
Treasurer: Camilla Longden
Captains: Andrew Avery
Tejas Guruswamy
Social sec: Helen Brooks
Alumnus sec: Jon Evans

The position of Secretary was re-established after two years since being merged with the presidency. The Alumnus Secretary was created following the voting in of NSD’s Alumnus Sec motion.

2. Secretary
The secretary is to be responsible for the maintenance of the DCU website, facebook page and YouTube channel. All other members of the committee should also have administrative access to these media and be able to add content. The secretary is to be a full committee position and count towards the numbers required for quorum.

3. Alumnus secretary
NSD proposed the creation of an Alumnus Secretary position, the purpose of which is to be a point of contact for DCU Alumni in order to invite them to DCU events such as Old Boyes Dinner, Annual Dinner and Tour. Alumnus Secretary will in future be looking to encourage donations from alumni. The Alumnus Secretary is not a full committee member and does not count towards the quorum for committee attendance, however they will be on the committee mailing list.

4. DCU discs
JW, KJ, TG and CB reported on the progress of acquiring DCU discs to sell to members. Financial viability is likely to depend on taking pre-orders for discs, because the club does not have any floating cash. A vote was put to meeting on whether to continue with the project. There was unanimous support for the idea. Two disc designs are in draft and the designs will be put to the club by email once the discs are to be bought in order to decide which one will be used. CL has agreed to take over the financial overseeing of the DCU discs.

5. College Colours motion
JW brought up the issue that DCU is eligible to become a Griffins sport in summer 2012. If this happens, then the club would be able to award college colours each year. JW proposed that the captains should be responsible for choosing the recipients of college colours because they are in the best position to recognise players who have excelled at Ultimate and contributed to DCU as a team. There will be a nomination period for members to voice their opinions concerning the recipients of college colours, the ultimate choice, however, still belongs to the captains. The captains themselves should not be eligible for college colours because the Griffins committee will automatically grant Griffins membership to captains. Male and female players will be considered in equal standing, without allocating college colours by gender. The motion passed unanimously.

6. Tour – constitution amendment
Amendment proposed by NSD. An addition to the constitutional role of the social secretary as follows, “should a tour be desired by the club, its organisation will become part of the mandate of the social secretary”. ST suggested that the word “usually” be included so that the social secretary is not bound to organise tour, which he felt could deter candidates from running for the position. Both passed unanimously.

7. Retiring Shirts – constitution amendment
Amendment proposed by NSD. A statement is to be added to the constitution that “Shirt numbers will be retired under exceptional circumstances, for example a member of the club goes on to play internationally. The retiring of shirts would not necessarily happen every year.” Amendment passed unanimously.

8. Committee handover – constitution amendment
Amendment proposed by CB. “The direction of the society shall be determined at an Annual General Meeting held in the last week of Michaelmas term or close to that time. The newly elected committee would then take over the running of the club after the end of Michaelmas.” Amendment passed unanimously.

Any other business
9. Practice Times
ST took the availability of DCU members for weekday practices. This information was passed onto AA and TG, the new captains, who would then decide the practice times.

Minutes taken by Jessica Wong

D.C.U. Constitution

The Society:

The official name of the Downing College Ultimate Frisbee society is “Downing College Ultimate”, abbreviated to “D.C.U.”

The society has the following aims:
To provide a friendly environment in which to play Ultimate Frisbee at Downing College
To promote Ultimate Frisbee within the college.
To adhere to the Spirit of the Game enshrined within Ultimate Frisbee culture.

The society exists for the benefit of all of its members, and should cater to players of all levels of ability and experience.

The society is open to all members of Downing College. Members from outside the College are also welcome at the discretion of the Committee.

The Committee reserves the right to terminate or suspend membership where it is considered membership would be seriously detrimental to the aims and objectives of DCU. Members shall have the right to appeal via an independent adjudicator determined by mutual agreement of the member concerned and the Committee.

Any member may officially terminate their membership of the society by request to the Committee.

The direction of the society shall be determined at an Annual General Meeting held in the last week of Michaelmas term or close to that time. The newly elected committee would then take over the running of the club after the end of Michaelmas. At this meeting any changes to the structure or running of the society can be proposed and voted on. Each member of the society shall have full voting rights. Motions shall require a two-thirds majority to pass. A two-thirds majority is calculated using the number of yes/no votes as the denominator. Members abstaining from voting are assumed to be ambivalent.

The Annual General Meeting and any other official society meeting require a quorum of two-thirds of the Committee to be present before voting can take place.

The day-to-day running of the society shall be handled by the Committee.

Shirt numbers will be retired under exceptional circumstances, for example a member of the club goes on to play internationally. The retiring of shirts would not necessarily happen every year.

The Committee:

The Committee shall be comprised of a President, a Treasurer, one or more Captains, and one or more Social Secretaries.

The Committee will be elected at each Annual General Meeting.

No member of the Committee may hold the same position for two or more full academic years.

Members of the Committee may not abuse their position for personal gain.

The Committee has the power to run the society as they see fit, whilst adhering to this constitution. Any member of the society wishing to suggest changes to the running of the society may:
Suggest the change to the Committee.
Formally propose the change at an Annual General Meeting to be voted upon.
In extreme cases (for example disagreement between the Committee and the membership), request a meeting to propose the change to be voted upon.

The President of the society shall be responsible for the following tasks:
Coordinating the Committee.
Overseeing Annual General Meetings and any other society meetings.
Maintaining the society mailing list.
Acting as an impartial mediator between members of the society (including members of the Committee) in case of disagreement.
Assisting other members of the Committee with their tasks when requested.
Fostering the spirit of Ultimate Frisbee within Downing College and promoting participation of the sport.
Working with other Ultimate Frisbee-related groups to exchange information, advice, knowledge and resources regarding the sport in order to benefit the society.

The Treasurer of the society shall be responsible for the following tasks:
Requesting a budget for the society.
Organising the purchase of items such as kit or equipment for the society and its members.
Paying any tournament fees accrued by the society.
Making use of the budget to subsidise tournament and travel costs for members of the society only after any team-wide costs have been paid.

The Captain(s) of the society shall be responsible for the following tasks:
Organising training sessions for the society.
Organising inter-collegiate and other matches for the society.
Captaining on the line, or organising for a substitute to captain in their place in cases where this is not possible.

The Social Secretary or Secretaries of the society shall be responsible for the following tasks:
Organising regular social events for the society.
Coordinating formal swaps with other colleges.
Should a tour be desired by the club, its organisation will usually become part of the mandate of the social secretary

The Constitution:

Before coming into force, the constitution must first be voted in at an Annual General Meeting with a two-thirds majority.

Any amendments to the constitution may be proposed by any member of the society to be voted on at an Annual General Meeting. Amendments must pass with a two-thirds majority.

07/11/2011