CODE OF INTERNAL PROCEDURES 2005-2006

Members

            The Ateneo Chemical Society (ACheS) is the official student organization of the Chemistry Department of the Ateneo de Manila University. It is a member of the Ateneo Science Guild (ASG) and the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA). It is also affiliated with the Philippine Association of Chemistry Students (PACS) and the Philippine Federation of Chemical Societies (PFCS). Membership to the Ateneo Chemical Society is open to all bona-fide students of the Ateneo de Manila University. The Ateneo Chemical Society has an Executive Board (EB) composed of a President, an Executive Vice President, Vice Presidents for Finance, Special Projects, Academics, Personnel, and Publication & Documentation, a Secretary-General, PACS Representatives, a Lowerclassmen Representative, and an Upperclassmen Representative.

Meetings

A.     Definition

The nature of meetings held by the Ateneo Chemical Society shall vary based on four classifications namely: regular meetings of the Executive Board (EB), emergency meetings of the Executive Board, and seminars and general assemblies.

1.      Regular meetings of the EB

            Regular meetings of the Society’s EB will be held once a week with a standard length of one hour unless announced otherwise by the President. All EB members are required to attend these meetings. The President shall inform the EB of the time and venue of all the weekly meetings during the semester at the beginning of the semester within a week after all the EB members have finished their registration. The time and venue of the regular meetings may be moved by the President at least a day before the meeting as long as all the EB members are informed of the change.

2.      Emergency meetings of the EB

            Emergency meetings shall be held whenever deemed necessary by the President or, in the case of his/her unforeseen absence, by the highest-ranking officer available. These meetings shall last for at least thirty (30) minutes and may be announced at least an hour before the designated time. All informed EB members are requested to attend the said meetings.

3.      Seminars of the EB

            Seminars are meetings that exceed three (3) hours in length. These meetings shall be held whenever deemed necessary by any member of the EB. The details of which are announced one (1) week in advance and all the EB members are required to attend.

a.)    Planning Seminar

            The Year Planning Seminar will be held on or before the summer term. It is during the seminar that the EB will plan its projects and activities for the coming academic year. It is also during the seminar where the project heads for the projects and activities will be assigned.

b.)    Evaluation Seminar

            The Evaluation Seminar is held after the end of each semester but before the beginning of the next semester. It is during this seminar that the projects and activities of the past semester are evaluated. Projects and activities are evaluated by all the EB members depending on whether the objectives for the project or activity were achieved and whether it will be continued, modified or scrapped for the next year. It is also during the seminar where the EB members will evaluate their performances during the past semester.

4.      General Assemblies

            General Assemblies are meetings that include all the members of the Society with a length of at least an hour and a half (1 ½ hour). These meetings are held whenever deemed necessary by the EB. It is during these meetings that plans of the EB are discussed with the members. General Assemblies may also be a venue for team building and recreational activities for the members. At least two General Assemblies are held per semester.

B.     Agenda

            Everyone present during the meeting is informed of the agenda at the start of the meeting. Anyone may include an item in the agenda by informing the President before the meeting or after the former agenda has been read. The final agenda for the meeting shall be taken down by the Secretary-General on the minutes of the meeting.

C.     Minutes

            The ACheS Secretary-General must be present during all meetings and must take down all the minutes of the meetings. All minutes for all meetings must be written down in a notebook set aside by the Secretary-General for this purpose. The Secretary-General must be able to submit this notebook for inspection or verification upon the request of any member of the EB. The Secretary-General must also provide the President hardcopies of the minutes of the meetings three days after the latter’s request is made. The Secretary-General must also post the minutes of the meeting to the Society’s e-groups (ateneo_chem_soc@yahoogroups.com).

D.     Attendance

            The President and/or the Secretary-General must note the attendance at the beginning of every meeting except for emergency meetings. Attendance for emergency meetings may not be taken down or noted.

1.      Absences

Only absences from emergency meetings will not be counted against the concerned EB member. Only absences due to a required academic activity, ACheS’ activity, sickness, a grave family matter, or an official Ateneo Activity out of the hands of the officer maybe excused.  Other reasons maybe excused upon the discretion of the President.  The President must be informed of the member’s excuse for his/her absence before the meeting.

2.      Tardiness

            Any member who arrives within 15 minutes of the attendance taking during regular meetings shall be considered late. For seminars, any member who arrives after the attendance taking but within ½ of the length of the meeting shall be considered late. Beyond this, the member shall be considered absent for the meeting. Only incidents of tardiness due to academic activities, org related activities and grave family reasons shall be excused. Other reasons may be excused according to the discretion of the President.

3.      Policies and Procedures for Absences or Tardiness

            Unexcused tardiness and absences incur fines except for absences or tardiness during emergency meetings. EB members must pay 50 pesos (P50) for tardiness during weekly meetings and one hundred pesos (P100) for tardiness during seminars. No tardy fine will be collected for general assemblies. Absences during weekly meetings and general assemblies are fined one hundred pesos (P100), and two hundred pesos (P200) for absences during seminars. These fines must be paid to the VP-Finance within a week of the noted tardiness or absence.  Absences, Tardiness, and failure to pay fines may be posted at the Society’s e-mail group (ateneo_chem_soc@yahoogroups.com)

Finance

            The VP-Finance must be informed of all fees and expenses of the organization.  For more detailed procedures, the Code of Financial Procedures (CFP), proposed by the VP for Finance,and approved by the EB must be followed.

Voting

    A.   Voting Power

All EB members have the right to vote during all meetings on issues presented by the President or other EB members. Each EB member, except for the President, may carry, at the most, two votes upon being granted another EB member’s voting power upon the latter’s foreseen absence as long as the absence is excused. The President is given only one vote at all times.

2. Quorum

A quorum must be achieved during meetings for purposes of validating a policy which may be voted upon. A policy which was voted upon during a meeting which did not reach its specified quorum is considered invalid.

1.      Regular Meetings and Seminars

                  Two-thirds (2/3) of the Board shall constitute a quorum. Unless deemed otherwise by the presider, a simple majority vote may suffice to pass any measure or policy.              

2.      General Assemblies

                  50% + 1 of all the members shall constitute a quorum. Unless deemed otherwise by the presider, a simple majority vote may suffice to pass any measure or policy.

3.      Emergency Meetings

                  No quorum is needed for emergency meetings. A simple majority vote of all the attending members may suffice to pass all measures during emergency meetings.

4.      Elections

                  A voter turn-out of 50% + 1 of all the members shall validate an election.  Candidates must receive at least 50% + 1 of all the votes in order to win the elections.

3. Abstain

All voting members have a right to abstain in cases where a voting member feels that he doesn’t agree with the choices presented. Abstain votes shall be considered in the total number of votes. In cases where abstain is the clear majority then the President or any member of the EB may provide another alternative or decide to drop the issue.

4. Voting Procedures

The EB or the whole organization may adopt any of the following forms of voting:

1.       show of hands,

2.       secret balloting (dropped in a ballot box), or

3.       by general consent in line with the ACheS Constitution.

Project Head And Committee Selection

1         A member of the executive board will be chosen to facilitate or oversee any project.  This EB member shall be known as the project’s facilitator or director.

2         The executive board facilitator has the option to head the project him/herself.  It is recommended, however, that a non-EB member is made to be the project head.

            PROJECT FACILITATOR/DIRECTOR

            PROJECT HEAD

            SUB-COMMITTEE HEADS

            SUB-COMMITTEES

4     SELECTION of a PROJECT HEAD

1.1     A regular, non-probationary member, may apply as the project head of a pre-approved activity by the Society’s executive board.  This is done through submission of a letter of intent.  Applications are accepted after the first presentation of the project to the members.

1.2     The facilitator must screen the applicant project heads through interviews.

1.3     The facilitator has the power to choose the project head for the activity.

1.4     If the facilitator deems that the applicants are incapable of heading the project or if no applicants are available, s/he can appoint a member deemed capable or responsible.

1.5     Upon acceptance of the position, the recommended member automatically becomes the project head.

1.6     If the facilitator fails to find a suitable project head, s/he must take the position for him/herself.

1.7     It is highly recommended that a project head is selected at least 4 weeks before the project’s implementation.

2         SELECTION OF A COMMITTEE

2.1     Committee members are determined through voluntary sign-ups during general assemblies or special meetings.

2.2     For each project, the following sub-committees must always be present: Secretariat and Documentation.  The ACheS Vice Presidents for Publication and Documentation must ensure the presence of a documentation sub-committee for every project.

2.3     In the cases of projects with financial dealings, a Finance sub-committee must be present.

2.4     Selection of sub-committee heads is left to the discretion of the facilitator and project head.

2.5     The project committee core (with all committee heads) must be completed at most a week after the project head is selected.

3         PROCEEDINGS

3.1     Projects must be well-documented from start to finish.  Minutes of all committee meetings must be taken and filed.

3.2     Evaluation of projects must be done by the committee at most a week after the last official project day.

3.3     All pertinent documents like letters and minutes, photographs, videos, and evaluations must be organized into a project portfolio by the documentation committee of the project.  These will be submitted to the ACheS Secretary General as an organized project portfolio.  Suggested project portfolios are copies of all documents in folders / envelopes, CD (digital/softcopy) portfolios, and bound portfolios.

Complaints

            All complaints regarding non-compliance with, or violation of, guidelines of the ACheS Code of Internal Procedures must be submitted in a formal letter addressed to the ACheS President and ACheS Secretary-General. The ACheS EB will investigate the case and decide whether the person/s concerned deserves to be sanctioned. The accused must produce whatever documents or requirements which the ACheS EB may ask for or else warrant additional sanctions. The final decision will be made by the ACheS President.

Transitory Provisions

            The existing Provisions of the ACheS Code of Internal Procedures may not be amended until the next school year.  Provisions, however, may be added to the Code of Internal Procedures when deemed necessary by the ACheS EB.

The 2005 Code of Internal Procedures of the Ateneo Chemical Society is ratified this 18^th of May 2005.