Last Update: 30 May 2014
Constitution of the Student Council of CNEC Christian College
Chapter 1
General Provisions
1. Name
The English name of the Council shall be The Student Council (hereinafter referred as the Council)
of the IMC of CNEC Christian College (hereinafter referred as the College). The Chinese name of
the Council shall be ‘中華傳道會安柱中學法團校董會學生議會’.
2.
Objectives
(I)
to assist the College in the planning and launching of student co-curricular activities.
(II)
(III)
(IV)
(V)
3.
to build up and nurture autonomous ability in students.
to cultivate and enhance the sense of belonging of students to the College.
to promote civic consciousness among students.
to build a relationship based on respect and trust with all in the school so as to facilitate the
communication and acts as a bridge between the school and students.
Administrative Year
Commencing from the beginning of September in each year to the end of August in the following
year. During the bridging period of the term of office of each administrative year, those former
Executive Committee Members of the Council still remaining in the College shall have the obligation
to assist in the Council affairs.
Chapter 2
Consultants
4. Honorary Consultants: The Principal, the Vice-Principals and the Assistant-Principals.
5.
Executive Consultants:
(I)
All members of the Co-Curricular Activities Action Group
(II)
Tutors of the Executive Sub-committees, whose principal responsibility is to give guidance
and assistance in the launching of various major functions.
Chapter 3
Membership
6. Qualifications
All current students of the College are entitled to become an ordinary member.
7.
Rights
Members are entitled to have the rights of election, being elected, recall, institute and review.
8.
Obligations
All members have the obligation to follow the Constitution, including paying membership fee and
active participation in activities organised by the Council.
Last Update: 30 May 2014
Chapter 4
9. The Council
(I)
(II)
(III)
(IV)
(V)
Organisation
The Council shall be the highest authority of co-curricular activities student organisations.
Members of the Council:
a. President: to convene Council meetings and to plan and promote the work of the Council.
b. Executive Committee members: to execute, participate and plan the Council’s daily affairs
c. Representative Members: to represent public opinions.
Qualifications
a. President: The Chairperson of the Executive Committee will be the ex-officio President.
b. Executive Committee Members: to be elected by all ordinary members and shall conform
to good academic results and conduct.
c. Representative Members: to be held by the Captains and Vice-captains of the four Houses,
the chairmen and presidents of the various clubs and interest-groups.
Three General Meetings shall be convened by the Council President during each academic
year at the beginning of each term, mid-term and the end of each term respectively.
Responsibility and Accountability
In the General Meeting, Council members shall:
a. pass the budget, financial report of the Executive Committee and the four Houses;
b. listen to the report of the Council members;
c. pass the activities initiated by the Council members (all whole-school activities shall be
passed in the General Meeting before being carried out);
d. nominate and appoint the Person-in-charge of each Sub-Committee;.
e. pass the amendment of the Constitution of the Council; and
f. pass the removal of Council members.
(VI) The quorum of the General Meetings shall be two-thirds of the Council members.
(VII) Please refer to Appendix I (Rules of Procedure) for detailed operation of the General Meeting.
10. Executive Committee
(I)
The Committee operates under the Council, executing the daily business of the Council.
(II)
The quorum shall be two-thirds of the Committee members.
(III) Executive Committee Members : to be elected through universal suffrage (Refer to Chapter 5)
and its organisation and duties are as follows:
a. Chairperson:
to be responsible for planning and supervising the work of
the Committee, and be the ex-officio President of the
Council.
b. Vice-Chairperson:
to assist the Chairperson in supervising the work of the
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Public Relations Secretary:
Welfare Secretary:
Activities Secretary:
Committee.
to be responsible for all clerical affairs.
to be responsible for the financial affairs.
to be responsible for the publicity.
to be responsible for the welfare affairs.
to be responsible for the recreational and sports affairs.
Last Update: 30 May 2014
h. General Secretary:
i. Academic Secretary:
(IV)
to be responsible for the general affairs.
to be responsible for the academic affairs.
The Executive Committee can recruit Executive Sub-Committees when needed.
11. Executive Sub-Committees
(I)
The Sub-Committees are responsible to the Council; they carry out the student co-curricular
activities which have been passed in the General Meeting.
(II)
Executive Sub-Committees are respectively set up according to the needs of the various
activities.
(III) The persons-in-charge of all Sub-Committees are required to be elected and appointed during
(IV)
the General Meeting. Each Sub-Committee shall automatically be dissolved at the end of each
activity.
Members: Each Executive Sub-Committee shall be composed of the following members:
a. one person-in-charge (an Executive Committee member or a Representative member)
b. other students (the number depends on the nature of the activity)
12. Extraordinary General Meeting
(I)
Extraordinary General Meeting of the Council shall only be called by the Council President or
at a written request to the Council President jointly signed by half of the Council members.
(II)
The quorum shall be two-thirds of the Council members.
Chapter 5
Election (Executive Committee Members)
13. Date:
The election shall be carried out between June and September each year.
14. Method:
(I)
A minimum of 8 to a maximum of 12 members can form a candidate cabinet.
(II)
(III)
(IV)
(V)
(VI)
Please refer to Item (III)b of Article 9 of Chapter 4 for the qualifications of candidates.
The lists of candidates shall be collected, verified and made into ballot papers by the
Executive Committee and the Executive Consultants.
The election shall be conducted by means of secret ballot of all ordinary members.
Candidate cabinet must get the required number of votes of confidence before being able to
win the election. The number of votes of confidence is 50 per cent of the total votes when
there is only 1 candidate cabinet. The number of votes of confidence is 35 per cent of the total
votes when there are 2 or more candidate cabinets.
In the election, if more than one candidate cabinet get the required number of votes of
confidence, the candidate cabinet with the highest number of votes will win the election.
(VII) The election result shall be published within 7 school days.
(VIII) All Executive Committee Members shall not hold major duty in any other co-curricular
activities.
(IX) Details of election under different conditions should refer to Appendix II (Election under
Different Conditions).
Last Update: 30 May 2014
(X)
In case of any dispute, the Honorary Consultants and the Executive Consultants reserve the
right to make the final decision.
Chapter 6
Finance
15. Fiscal year:
Same as the administrative year, and it will be divided into 2 fiscal semesters in accordance with the
first and second term of the College.
16. Source of Finance
(I)
Financial allocation from the College
(II)
(III)
Membership fee
(Any adjustment to the membership fee shall be passed in the General Meeting and approved
by the College.)
Fund-raising activities
17. The Treasurer needs to publish the budget at the beginning of each fiscal year, and also needs to
publish a financial report at the end of each fiscal semester.
Chapter 7
Term of Office
18. The term of office shall be one administrative year. A cabinet can hold a successive office, if
re-elected.
Chapter 8
Absence and Removal from Office
19. Any Council members who commit any of the following offences shall be removed from office by
the Council:
(I)
destroying the reputation of the College;
(II)
any offences of malfeasance; and/or
(III)
any offences resulting in minor-demerits by the College. (depending on the nature of the
offence)
20. Procedures
Any removals of council members shall be proposed by the Council President or half of the Council
members. The General Meeting shall be responsible for discussing and giving judgments to the
accused Council member. The accused Council member shall also be given chances for self-defence
and shall be removed from office if the self-defence is over-ruled.
21. In a condition of an absence or removal of the Chairperson of the Executive Committee, the
Vice-chairperson will take up his/her position.
22. In a condition of an absence or removal of a member of the Executive Committee, other Executive
Committee members will take up his/her position as a concurrent position.
Last Update: 30 May 2014
Chapter 9
Documents
23. All documents (including minutes, budget, financial report and written report of activities) should be
preserved and kept appropriately for future reference.
Chapter 10
Amendment of the Constitution
24. All members can express their opinions through different ways. Any omissions of this Constitution
can be brought to the General Meeting through a written request by the Council President or half of
the Council members for discussion, resolution and amendment. Please refer to Appendix III
(Procedure of Amending the Constitution).
This Constitution is written in both Chinese and English, and in case of discrepancy between the two
versions, the English version shall prevail.
Last Update: 30 May 2014
CNEC Christian College
Student Council Constitution
Appendix I- Rules of Procedure
1. The quorum of the General Meeting of the Student Council (hereinafter referred as the General
Meeting)
a. If the quorum is insufficient and an address has been made by a council member to the Council
President, the Council President shall adjourn the meeting temporarily for 15 minutes and call the
council members to attend the meeting. When the quorum is still insufficient after 15 minutes, the
Council President shall adjourn the meeting. Motions that have not been discussed or passed shall
stand over until next General Meeting.
b. If the quorum is insufficient, the voting process in the meeting shall be stopped. Procedures
prescribed in Rule 1a shall be followed.
2.
Initiation of Motions
a. Except as otherwise stated in Rules of Procedure, no motions shall be moved in the General
Meeting unless a notice of it has been given to the Council President not less than 7 school days
before the General Meeting.
b. The Council President shall publish the agenda and the motions to all council members not less
than 3 school days before the General Meeting.
3.
Passing the Motions
a. Conducting the readings of a motion
(i) First reading: Introducing the motion
(ii) Second reading: Discussing, asking, and answering questions
(iii) Third reading: Passing the motion
A motion shall be carried when over half of the council members vote in favour of the motion.
(The Secretary should count and record the number of council members who vote for Yes, No
and Abstain in the Minutes of the General Meeting for future reference).
b. If the motion is an initiation of an activity, a sub-committee will be set up after the motion is
passed. The initiator of the activity shall be the ex-officio person-in-charge of the activity. He will
be responsible for monitoring and organising the activity. When the activity ends, he will complete
a written report within a month and submit it to the Council President. He will make an oral report
in the General Meeting.
Last Update: 30 May 2014
CNEC Christian College
Student Council Constitution
Appendix II- Election under Different Conditions
1.
2.
3.
4.
In a condition of having more than 2 candidate cabinets:
a. In a condition of having more than 2 candidate cabinets with none of them getting the required
number of votes of confidence (refer to point 14(V) under Chapter 5), the 2 candidate cabinets
with the highest number of votes will enrol to a re-election, which will be held within 7 school
days.
b. In the re-election, if the 2 candidate cabinets get the same number of votes and both can get the
required number of votes of confidence, a casting vote will be given to the Honorary Consultants
and Executive Consultants.
c. In the re-election, if the 2 candidate cabinets get the same number of votes but none of them
getting the required number of votes of confidence, a casting vote will be given to the Honorary
Consultants and Executive Consultants.
In a condition of having 2 candidate cabinets:
a. In a condition of having 2 candidate cabinets with the same number of votes and both can get the
required number of votes of confidence, a re-election will be held within 7 school days.
b. In the re-election, if the 2 candidate cabinets get the same number of votes and both can get the
required number of votes of confidence, a casting vote will be given to the Honorary Consultants
and the Executive Consultants.
c. In the re-election, if the 2 candidate cabinets get the same number of votes but none of them
getting the required number of votes of confidence, a casting vote will be given to the Honorary
Consultants and the Executive Consultants.
In a condition of having 1 candidate cabinet:
a. In a condition of having 1 candidate cabinet and it fails to get the required number of votes of
confidence, the Honorary Consultants and the Executive Consultants will appoint students to form
the Executive Committee.
In a condition of having no candidate cabinets:
a. In a condition of having no candidate cabinets, the Honorary Consultants and the Executive
Consultants will appoint students to form the Executive Committee.
Last Update: 30 May 2014
CNEC Christian College
Student Council Constitution
Appendix III- Procedure of Amending the Constitution
1. Council members of Student Council can propose a motion to amend the constitution (the Motion) to
the Council President, 14 school days before the Student Council General Meeting is presided. The
Council President shall propose the Motion along with the agenda to all council members 7 school
days before the General Meeting is presided.
2. Conducting the readings of the Motion.
(i) First reading: Introducing all the amendments proposed in the Motion
(ii) Second reading: Discussing, asking and answering questions
(iii) Third reading: Passing all the amendments proposed in the Motion separately or jointly
3. The Executive Committee of the Student Council shall report and publish the amended Student
Council Constitution within 14 school days.