SEB Annual General Meeting 2008
THE SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
There will be an Annual General Meeting of the Society held on Wednesday 30th April 2008 at 2.30pm in the Council Room of No. 3, The Carronades, New Road, Southampton, SO14 0AA.
AGENDA
1. Minutes of the Previous AGM
2. Matters Arising from Council and Report from the President
3. Report from the Treasurer
4. Report from the Section Secretaries
a. Animal Section
b. Cell Section
c. Plant Section
d. Education and Public Affairs Section
5. Report from the Publications Officer
6. Election of New Officers to the Society
7. Any Other Business
Prof. I. A. Johnston
SEB President January 2008
Proposed changes to the Articles of Association of the Society for Experimental Biology
In order to increase the transparency of the process by which Officers and members of Council are elected to their positions it is proposed that the Articles of Association are amended by Special Resolution of the Members in General Meeting.
It is proposed that the text below is inserted into the Society’s Articles of Association in substitution for and to the exclusion of the current Article 20.
Proposed Article 20
20. Elections
a) The election of Elected Officers and Elected Members of Council in place of those retiring shall be by ballot of the Members of the Society in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
b) The format of the ballot shall be determined by Council.
c) Not less than 28 clear days prior to each Annual General Meeting notice in any visible form by whatever means shall be given to the Members of the Society
i) stating the names of the retiring Elected Officers and elected members of Council and/or the vacancies to be filled
ii) inviting nominations for the election to those vacancies to be made before a date specified in the notice
d) Council may, in its absolute discretion, produce a short-list of candidates from the nominations received to go forward to election. Council have a duty to ensure that every candidate meets the minimum requirements stipulated for the relevant vacancy before they are put forward for election.
e) In the event that there are no candidates for either an Elected Officer vacancy or an Elected Member vacancy on Council then Council may nominate a candidate.
f) In the event that there is only one candidate for any vacancy then that person shall fill the vacancy without ballot being held in respect of such vacancy.
g) Not less than 14 clear days prior to each Annual General Meeting there shall be sent in any visible form by whatever means to each Member at that Members’ registered postal address or registered email address a voting paper in such form as the Council shall prescribe setting out the candidates for each vacancy among the elected officers and for each of the elected vacancies on Council.
h) The election shall be decided by a majority of votes. In the event of an equality of votes the President or, if there shall be no President, the Vice-President, shall have a second or casting vote.
i) The result of the election shall be reported at the Annual General Meeting. The candidates elected shall take office with effect from the close of that Meeting.
j) No-one shall be appointed to any position unless they have
i. given their approval in writing and
ii. been proposed and seconded by Members at the Annual General Meeting.
Current Article 20
20. Elections
a) The election annually of Elected Officers and elected Members of the Council in place of those retiring shall be by ballot, in a format determined by Council, of the Members of the Society in accordance with the provisions of this Article, but subject always to Article 19 (e) below.
b) Upon any election by the Society of an Elected Officer or an elected Member of the Council, it shall be the duty of the Council to nominate one Member of the Society as a candidate for election. No person shall be elected an Elected Officer or an Elected Member of Council, unless that person shall have given that person’s approval in writing and unless either that person shall have been so nominated or that person shall have been nominated in writing by three Members of the Society and that person’s nomination received by a Secretary not later than such date as may be prescribed from time to time by the Council.
c) Not less than four weeks prior to each Annual General Meeting notice in any visible form by whatever means shall be given to the Members of the Society
stating the names of retiring Elected Officers and elected Members of Council together with the names of the Members of the Society nominated by the Council for election to the vacancies and
inviting other nominations for the election to those vacancies to be made before a date specified in the notice.
d) Subject always to the provisions of Article 19(e) below not less than two weeks prior to such Annual General Meeting there shall be sent in any visible form by whatever means to each Member at that Member’s registered address a voting paper in such form as the Council shall prescribe setting out the nominations for each vacancy among the Elected Officers and the nominations for the vacancies on the Council. Votes shall be exercised by the Member placing a cross against the names of those candidates whom that Member selects to fill the vacancies, signing the voting paper and returning it so that it reaches such place in the United Kingdom as is specified on the voting paper by the closing date specified on the voting paper.
e) The election shall be decided by majority of votes. In the event of an equality of votes the President or, if there shall be no President, the Vice-President, shall have a second or casting vote. In the event of there not being more than one nomination to fill a vacancy among the Elected Officers and in the event of the number of nominations to fill the vacancies among the elected Members of the Council not exceeding the number of vacancies, the Members so nominated respectively shall fill the vacancies without ballot being held in respect of such vacancies. The result of the election shall be reported at such Annual General Meeting. The candidates elected shall take office with effect from the close of that Meeting.
