The Constitution

The Constitution of the University of Bristol Physics Society (Chaos)
Last Updated: Chaos AGM March 2023

 

Part 1: Name and Object

1a. The Name of the Society

The name of the Society shall be ‘The University of Bristol Physics Society’, or ‘Chaos’, hereafter referred to as ‘the Society’.

1b. The Aims of the Society

The Society shall:

  1. Provide social and educational events and opportunities for Physicists and others in the University of Bristol.

  2. Provide those students interested in Physics with the opportunity to further their general interest in Physics.

  3. Encourage interest in Astronomy and to encourage amateur observation.

  4. Be a social focus for the students of the Physics department.

  5. Always aim to abide by the Union’s Code of Conduct.

PART 2: MEMBERSHIP

2a. Conditions of Membership

One Year membership is open to all members of the Bristol Students’ Union by application to the Society, but will expire after one year.

A list of all members shall be kept in the Society records in compliance with Data Protection laws and the SU guidelines, to be made available to the Societies Network if requested.

2b. Membership Fee

The membership fee shall be fixed at the discretion of the Committee at the start of each term of office, that is to say between the AGM and the end of the academic year.

PART 3: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE

3a. Requirements of the Committee

  1. There shall be a Committee which is the decision-making body of the Society, who must all be members of the Society.

  2. The Committee shall be responsible for the general and financial policy of the Society, subject to such rules as laid out in the Union’s Constitution and Bylaws, and any rulings made by the Societies’ network.

  3. Quoracy for Committee meetings shall be set at 50% of the post filled positions rounded up.

  4. All members of the Committee shall have equal voting rights, and while a unanimous decision should always be the goal of any vote, any ties shall be broken by the President, or if they are not present, the Vice-President.

  5. All Committee meetings must be minuted by the Secretary (or other Committee member if they are not available), and these minutes circulated to the Committee before the next meeting.

  6. The Committee shall ensure that Physbar is opened and attended to every weekday lunchtime, 1 – 2pm.

  7. The Committee will always be comprised of the Executive Committee at a minimum, who shall be responsible for ensuring that the remaining roles, listed below, are filled. Where appropriate, Committee members may be elected to multiple positions.

  8. If a member of the Committee has proven to be neglectful in their duties by not attending a month’s worth of meetings (except if their presence has been deemed not necessary for any of these by the rest of the Committee, or by other exceptional circumstances), it shall be required that the remaining Committee discuss removing and replacing said member.

  9. Committee members will receive no financial preferential treatment, such as free entry to events. In the exceptional circumstance that no Committee member is willing to buy a ticket to a given event, the organiser of said event will be provided with a free ticket so that they can run the event. If this exceptional circumstance is not given, Committee members will be expected to pay the same price as any other member. However, if the society would have to pay an external provider for a service and a Committee member provides this service they should be paid for this service an amount determined by the Executive Committee.

3b. Executive Committee

  1. The four Officers of the Society shall be the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary.

  2. These roles shall be filled before any other at the AGM

  3. The responsibilities of these roles are as follows:

    • President
      Responsible for the running of the society. The President will chair meetings, represent the Society, and ensure that the aims of the Society are fulfilled. They must also make sure that Society events are sufficiently publicised to members, and that the finances of the Society are being used to fulfil its aims.
    • Vice-President
      Will support the President, chair meetings if the President is not available, and ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the Society. They must also report to the Chaos Board with fortnightly updates, and for advice on large decisions. Takes responsibility for the running and completion of Bristol SU Group Accreditation.
    • Treasurer
      Responsible for the finances of the Society for their term and supporting the next. They should ensure that Committee members and Networks are financially supported in meeting their goals in accordance with the aims of the society. The Treasurer should work in a manner that can be effectively audited.
    • Secretary
      Responsible for organising the weekly meetings of the Committee, organising the agenda and writing minutes for these meetings, and making them available to the rest of the Committee. Will also maintain Society documents and records and book rooms for Society events. They will also organise the AGM towards the end of the academic year.

3c. Non-Executive Committee

  1. The Non-Executive Committee shall be composed of two Social Secretaries, a Non-portfolio Officer, Representatives for Physbar, Physball, Equality and Welfare, Talks, Sponsorship, Trips, Astronomy, Promotions & Design, Promotions & Publishing, First Year students, Postgraduate students and Foundation Year students.

  2. The responsibilities of these roles are as follows:

    • Social Secretary (x2)
      To organise and run social events for all members. These should include a range of drinking and non-drinking socials.
    • Physbar Representative
      Responsible for stocking, budgeting, scheduling, buying and repairing machines and general running of Physbar, the tuckshop in the School of Physics.
    • Physball Representatives
      To organise the annual Society Ball, which shall be a formal event in December. Must make decisions and organise the location, tickets, music, and activities, reporting back to the Committee as appropriate. Ideally there should be 2 people filling this role. After Physball is completed in the New Year, Physball Representatives will assist the Social Secretary in their role.  The Physball Representatives shall have the right to create a Physball Sub-Committee, if needed, to help manage Physball. Members of the Sub-Committee can come either from within the Committee or outside the Committee. If from outside the Committee, the Sub-Committee will not have a vote or attend Committee meetings. 
    • Equality and Welfare Representative
      Responsible for organising the Parenting Scheme at the beginning of the academic year, and to ensure that early social events are ‘family friendly’. Additionally, they will fill the role of Equality Officer. They will also be the point of contact for all Equality and Welfare Networks and help the Chairs to manage these.
    • Talks Representative
      To organise relevant talks, by contacting potential speakers or organisations who would provide them and maintaining relationships between previous speakers and the Society in order to facilitate repeat visits.
    • Sponsorship and Careers Representative
      Responsible for obtaining sponsorship for the Society and its events. Run careers-oriented events throughout the year for Society members.
    • Astronomy Representative
      To work alongside the Social Secretary to organise Astrophysics- and Astronomy-related events for Society members: at least two a term. They shall be responsible for operating and maintaining Astronomy-themed equipment owned by the Society.
    • Promotions and Design Representative
      Responsible for designing promotional images for the Society as required by other Committee members.
    • Promotions and Publishing Representative
      Responsible for publishing promotional material for upcoming events in a timely manner, both in digital and physical form, as required by other Committee members. Also responsible for maintaining the Chaos website.
    • Trips Representative
      To organise both academic and non-academic trips outside of the University and Bristol. They should arrange at least 2 domestic trips and 1 international trip per year.
    • Non-Portfolio Officer (NPO) Responsible for fulfilling non-executive roles that need to be picked up. Also responsible for merchandise and organising sports team communication.

3d. First Year, Foundation Year and Postgraduate Representatives

  1. In addition to these roles, a First Year, a Foundation Year and a Postgraduate Representative will be elected at the beginning of the academic year. During Welcome Week, the first, foundation and postgraduate students will be given an opportunity to send an application to the Committee, which will then be distributed to members via an online voting form.
  2. The responsibilities of these Representatives will be to liaise with the Equality and Welfare Representative and the Social Secretary, as well as the rest of the Committee to ensure that their year group(s) are properly included in the events of the year. They will also organise two socials during the year limited to their year group(s).

Part 4: CHAOS BOARD

4a. The Chaos Board

  1. The Chaos Board (hereby referred to as ‘the Board’) shall be responsible for advising the current Executive Committee for large decisions, and ensuring important Chaos knowledge is not lost. The Board shall also step in as mediator when the Committee cannot come to an agreement on an important decision.

  2. Previous Executive Committee members, as well as those who have served on the Committee for an extended period, will have the option of joining the Board upon their graduation.

  3. The Board shall have a chair, whom shall be elected by members of the Board.

  4. The Board shall request fortnightly updates from the Vice-President for an insight into the running of Chaos. The Board shall also hold monthly meetings with the Executive Committee, with the intention of receiving a more insightful update, and to have the opportunity to query decisions. These meetings shall be minuted by the Secretary, or if not available, any other member in the meeting, and these minutes circulated to the Board and Executive Committee within a week of the meeting.

PART 5: NETWORKS

5a. Aims of the Networks

  1. The Equality and Welfare Networks shall provide a platform for Society members who identify as part of several under-represented groups.

  2. The Academic Networks shall provide a platform for like-minded Society members to further their interest in a subject or meet others with similar interests.

  3. All Networks shall put on academic events and provide a social focus for their members.

5b. Equality and Welfare Networks

  1. The Equality and Welfare Representative shall oversee the management of, and be the point of contact for, all the Equality and Welfare Networks.

  2. Each Network shall have a Chair, elected at a General Meeting by members of the Society. Network Chairs will be full Committee members, allowing them a vote and to attend Committee meetings.

  3. The responsibilities of these Chairs will be to liaise with the Equality and Welfare Representative and the Executive Committee to ensure that members of their Network are properly included in the events of the year. They will also organise several social events during the year limited to members of their Network and those within the Society who identify as part of one these under-represented groups.

  4. The current Equality and Welfare Networks represent LGBTQ+, Women, BME, and postgraduate groups of members within the Society.

  5. Membership to each Network will be free for any Society member, at the discretion of the Chair and Equality and Welfare Representative.

5c. Network Organisation and Finance

  1. The Chair of a Network shall have the right to create a sub-Committee for their Network, if needed, to help manage the Network. Members of the sub-Committee can come either from within the Committee or outside the Committee, but must be a part of the Network they represent. If from outside the Committee, the sub-Committee will not have a vote or attend Committee meetings.

  2. Chairs shall have meetings fortnightly with the Executive Committee and the Equality and Welfare Representative. The Equality and Welfare Representative shall be responsible for organising and minuting these meetings.

  3. The Treasurer and President shall set a budget each year for Networks to use to run events and ring-fence this money such that it cannot be spent on other Society events. Funding requests for events shall be presented by the Chair and decided upon by the Treasurer and President. Any funds remaining from this budget at the end of the academic year shall be rolled over into the Networks budget for the new academic year.

PART 6: FINANCE

6a. Requirements of the Treasurer

  1. The accounts of the Society should be made available for auditing by a member of the University Staff and submitted to the Union Societies Network/Development Team when requested, and at least once per annum.

  2. All financial arrangements must be made in accordance with current instructions to Society Treasurers, as set down by the Societies’ Network.

  3. The Union Affairs Officer, Sport and Student Development Officer and Director of Finance and Administration shall be empowered to issue financial instructions on behalf of the Society if: The Society folds with outstanding financial affairs; or Change of mandate forms are not completed, and the previous Committee are out of reasonable contact; or Financial irregularities are found.

PART 7: MEETINGS

7a. General Meetings

  1. There shall be an Annual General Meeting (AGM) once per academic year, and this shall take place between the start of March and the end of the Union’s Handover period.

  2. Notices of such meetings must be sent to the Society’s membership via email with at least 14 days’ notice. An agenda must be sent out with at least 7 days’ notice, via email and in poster form.

  3. Quorum of these meetings shall be twice the Committee size plus one.

  4. An Emergency General Meeting (EGM) may be called at any time by the Committee or 5% of the membership of the Society by application to the Secretary. There shall be 7 days’ notice given via email before an EGM.

7b. Elections

  1. Elections shall be held at the AGM to elect Officers, Representatives and Network Chairs for the following annual session. Officers can only be removed from their posts by an AGM, EGM, voluntary resignation or a majority vote by the remaining Committee.

  2. Applications for Committee positions shall be limited to two per member, with the exception of those applying for President, who may also apply for Vice-President and one other non-Executive Committee position.

  3. If Committee positions are left unfilled after the AGM then the Committee shall have the power to temporarily co-opt a member of the Society onto the Committee to fill a vacant role. This could be for a single event or a set of tasks, but the co-opted members are not regarded as full Committee members and can be removed at any time.

  4. The voting system shall be single transferable vote, with the currently presiding President having the casting vote, and shall be conducted by an online form.

  5. There shall be a period of time between the AGM and an official handover session, where outgoing Committee members can educate those entering on the running of the Society.

  6. If, for whatever reason, an elected Committee member is no longer living in the City of Bristol during their time on Committee, re-elections should take place to replace their role.

7c. Constitutional Amendments

  1. Any amendment to this constitution shall require quoracy of twice the number of Committee members plus one present at a properly-constituted General Meeting.

  2. All such amendments shall only become valid after approval by the Societies’ Network.

PART 8: AFFILIATIONS

8a. The Students' Union

The Society shall be officially affiliated with the University of Bristol Students’ Union.

8b. The Institute of Physics

The Society shall be affiliated with the Institute of Physics via its University Student Network.