ULPA Constitution

Constitution of ULPA 2015
Constitution of the University of Lethbridge Postdoctoral fellows Association (ULPA)

Date of Ratification: 13th November, 2015

Preamble
This constitution stipulates the structure, rules, regulations and procedures directing operations of the University of Lethbridge Postdoctoral Fellows Association. The goal of this constitution is to preserve:
1. The means for democratic control of this association by its membership.
2. Transparency for its financing and operations.
3. The accountability of the association representatives to its members.

Article I – Name
1. The name of the association shall be “University of Lethbridge Postdoctoral fellows Association” hereinafter referred to as “ULPA”.
2. For the purposes of this document the ULPA shall be interchangeably referred to as the “Association”.
3. For the purpose of external qualification and recognition, documents naming the organization shall spell out the name in full the first time it appears, and thereinafter it may be referred to as the “ULPA”.
4. For the purpose of this document Postdoctoral Fellows will be referred to as “PDFs”.
5. For the purpose of this document, the “University of Lethbridge” will be referred to as “UL” and the “School of Graduate Studies” will be referred to as “SGS”.

Article II – Mission Statement
The purpose of the ULPA shall be:
1. To foster a community for PDFs and facilitate networking within and between Faculties at the UL.
2. To provide a collective voice for issues of relevance and interest to PDFs at the UL.
3. To provide a liaison between PDFs and the UL administration, the SGS, and the general community.
4. To provide a forum for the discussion of relevant issues and to distribute pertinent information to PDFs at the UL.
5. To promote and develop effective training and career counseling for PDFs at the UL.
6. Facilitate communication among PDF researchers at the UL.
7. Represent UL PDF researchers both on and off the campus.

Article III – ULPA Membership
1. All PDFs officially recognized as Postdoctoral Fellows by the SGS at the University of Lethbridge are considered members of the ULPA.
2. The Association shall not discriminate against any individual, in any way that is deemed either unlawful, or inappropriate.

Article IV – ULPA Executive Committee
The executive committee shall be comprised of the executive officers and the executive council.
1. Executive officers will be comprised of the President, Vice-president, Operations, Vice-president, Academic, Vice-president, Social, and Vice-President, Finance.
2. The roles and duties of the executive officers are as follows:
2.1. President: The President shall preside over all ULPA executive committee and annual general meetings, enforce due observance of the bylaws, act as one of the two signing authorities for the ULPA. The President shall act as public relations officer and, whenever possible, shall be the ULPA’s liaison to other PDF associations, off-campus groups, government agencies including granting agencies and the public at large. S/he shall be responsible for disseminating information of importance to PDFs including maintenance of the ULPA registry and email database of the current member, alumni database and archive the event and present annual report of the association at the end of the term. Submit annual report at the end of the term.
2.2. Vice-president
Operations: The Vice-President
Operations of the ULPA shall be responsible for scheduling and taking minutes of ULPA executive committee, ULPA council and ULPA annual general meetings. In the event of absence or illness of the President, the Vice-president Operations shall have the authority to perform the duties of the President. The Vice-president Operations shall be responsible for maintaining the ULPA constitution and bylaws, posting meeting information, book meeting rooms and working closely with the other vice-presidents to disseminate information of importance to PDFs.
2.3. Vice-president Academic: The Vice-president Academic of the ULPA shall be responsible for the organization of professional career development and ULPA events excluding ULPA meetings. The Vice-president Academic, in conjunction with the administration of The UL, will also oversee setup and maintenance of grievance procedures for PDFs.
2.4. Vice-President
Social: The Vice-President of Social shall plan and execute social events including at least one annual PDF general assembly and regular PDF social gatherings at least once per year. S/he shall ensure that social events follow all applicable rules and laws and ensure all events are advertised to ULPA’s members including email notification at least one week and one day prior, and physical advertisements, such as posters on message boards throughout the UL campus.
2.5. Vice-President
Finance: The Vice-President
of Finance shall be responsible for all financial activities of the ULPA including organizing and directing funding applications, preparation of the yearly budget, receipt of funds due to the ULPA, maintenance and custody of all books pertaining to the ULPA, making all payments, preparing all financial statements and arranging for audit of the books by an auditor. The auditor shall be approved by the ULPA executive committee and shall be a member of the Chartered Accountants of the Province of Alberta. S/he shall act as one of the two signing authorities for ULPA.
3. The roles and duties of the executive council are as follows:
3.1. The roles of executive council members are to assist the duties performed by the executive officers.
3.2. To ensure that all UL PDFs are adequately represented, PDFs from every building on the UL campus will be encouraged to join the executive council. Buildings to be considered, and not limited to, include:
3.2.1. CCBN
3.2.2. Water building
3.2.3. Hepler hall
3.2.4. University hall
3.2.5. Physical Education and Kinesiology
3.2.6. Prentice Institute
3.3. Up to four council member positions may be filled by executive officers based on need.
3.4. Responsibilities of the executive council:
3.4.1. Ensure that UL PDFs are aware of the executive committee’s business in a
timely fashion. This includes face-to-face interactions to ensure that emails and other correspondence are received.
3.4.2. Encouraging and soliciting the participation of PDFs in the Association’s
events and activities, particularly general assemblies and elections.
3.4.3. Relaying to the executive committee the concerns of PDFs with regards to
their experiences with research institutes, departments, and the UL.
3.4.4. All new members in the executive council shall be given preference to
contest the elections for executive office.
3.5. Any person holding a position within the ULPA may be removed from that
position due to nonperformance of duties, or abuse of office, by the following
procedures:
3.5.1. A motion of the executive committee passed by a two thirds (2/3) majority vote of the members present; or a motion of a general assembly passed by a two thirds (2/3) majority vote of the attendees present.
Article V – Role of the Executive Committee
The executive committee shall be comprised of the executive officers and the executive council.
The executive committee shall:
1. Bring forth, discuss, and develop resolutions for issues concerning the ULPA and its
members.
2. Promote the improvement of the Association’s activities and structure.
3. Advise the President on implementing the decisions of the executive committee.
4. The agenda of executive committee meetings shall always include at least the following activities:
4.1. Recording of attendance.
4.2. Approval of the agenda, submitted at least one week before the committee
meeting.
4.3. Discussion of business of the Association including items brought forward by the executive committee officers and/or the executive council and/or members of the Association.
5. Quorum for a committee meeting shall be more than half of the total executive committee membership.
Article VI – Meetings
1. Meetings of the ULPA executive committee shall be held once a month, or more often at the discretion of the President, or with one week notice by an ULPA executive committee officer.
2. The ULPA executive committee shall hold an annual general meeting once per year and it shall be open to all members, for the purpose of meeting newly elected executive officers, planning, and recruitment.
3. A general meeting may be called at any time, if three-fifths of executive officers wish to do so.
4. Any member of the ULPA may call a general meeting at any time by presenting the ULPA President with a signed petition of at least one-fourth of the total members of the Association, to address issues of interest to the ULPA community at large.
Article VII – Finances and Fees
1. The fiscal term for the Association shall begin on October 1st and end on September 30th of the following year, inclusively.
2. The Association shall operate a bank account with two (2) signing officers, namely the President and the Vice-President Finance. All receivables must be deposited into this account.
3. The Association’s final annual financial statement must be produced after the end of the fiscal year for which the statement reports.
Article VIII – Elections and Terms of Office
1. Each executive office may be held by any member of the ULPA.
2. Elections of ULPA officers shall be held annually. Nominations shall be taken in person from attendees of the annual general meeting, or from the ULPA membership via email.
3. The election date shall be decided by majority vote of the ULPA membership at large.
4. Terms of office for the ULPA Officers are one year. Officers may be nominated for re-election but may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms in the same post.
5. Any ULPA Officer may resign at any time by submitting a letter of resignation to the ULPA Executive Committee. Officers must resign from office upon termination of their appointment at UL.
6. An executive officer may be removed from office by a resolution passed by a minimum two-thirds vote at a ULPA Executive Committee meeting or at a ULPA Annual General
Meeting, with at least four executive officers are present.
7. If the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice-President Operations shall become the acting President until such time as a new President is elected.
8. If any other executive office becomes vacant, the duties of that office will be assumed by one of the ULPA executive officers, or the executive officers may appoint an executive council member as an interim executive officer, until the next election.
Article IX – Elections and Nominations
1. Notice of open positions shall be given at least one week in advance of the nomination submission deadline.
2. Duly completed nomination forms are to be submitted to the ULPA’s President, which includes, at a minimum, the:
2.1. Nominee’s name.
2.2. Nominated position.
2.3. Nominee’s contact information.
2.4. Nominee’s acknowledgment of understanding of all the regulations, terms,
and conditions.
2.5. Responsibilities of the nominated position.
2.6. Nominators’ names (including self-nomination), signatures, and dates of signatures.
3. Each nominee for an open position must:
3.1. Be a current member of the ULPA.
3.2. Be prepared to undertake the responsibilities of the position.
3.3. Plan to serve a full term in the position as specified for the position sought.
4. Regular executive elections are subject to the following terms:
4.1. A candidate may seek nomination for only one open executive position.
4.2. Executive officers must be elected prior to the annual general meeting, for the term starting October 1 st and ending September 30 th of the following year.
Article X – Constitutional Amendments
1. The ULPA constitution may only be amended at the annual general meeting by two-thirds (2/3) vote of PDFs in attendance.
2. All amendments shall be ratified by a minimum of a two thirds (2/3) majority vote of members present at the annual general meeting.
3. Proposed amendments shall be included as items in the agenda of the executive committee meeting.
4. The dates of any amendments to the constitution shall be recorded in the constitution.