PARKSVILLE-QUALICUM RETIRED TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION

Constitution and By-Laws

 

Table of Contents

 

Section

Article

 

Definitions 

 

Constitution

By-Laws:

 

Part 1:

Membership

Part 2:

Fees

Part 3:

Meetings

Part 4:

Rules of Order

Part 5:

Executive Committee

Part 6:

Duties of Officers

Part 7:

Finances

Part 8:

Policies and Procedures

 

 

 

 

PARKSVILLE-QUALICUM RETIRED TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION

 

 

DEFINITIONS

“Branch” means the Parksville-Qualicum Retired Teachers’ Association (PQRTA).

“Association” means the British Columbia Retired Teachers’ Association (BCRTA).

 

 

CONSTITUTION (Fully revised Oct. 24th, 2007)

 

1.     The organization shall be known as the Parksville-Qualicum Retired Teachers’ Association (PQRTA), a branch of the British Columbia Retired Teachers’ Association (BCRTA).

2.     The branch shall operate under and be bound by the Constitution and Bylaws, and pertinent Policies and Procedures, of the BCRTA. Should conflicts between the Bylaws of the PQRTA and those of the BCRTA arise, the Bylaws of the latter shall prevail.

3.     The purposes of the branch shall be:

        a)    to serve and promote the welfare of its members; and

        b)    to encourage and aid in the preservation of records of the history of education in School District #69 (Qualicum), and the collection and cataloguing of equipment, materials and supplies that illustrate changing times in the schools of the district.

BYLAWS (Fully revised Oct. 24th, 2007)

 

PART 1 MEMBERSHIP

        1.1   Membership in the branch shall be granted in accordance with the Bylaws of the BCRTA, and shall fall into one of the following categories:

               1.1.1    Active Members

                           Fee-paying, voting members, eligible to hold office, and consisting of:

                           a)   those persons who, upon retirement, draw a pension from the Teachers’ Pension Plan of British Columbia; and

                           b)   the spouses of deceased Active Members.

               1.1.2    Affiliate Members:

                           Fee-paying, voting members, eligible to hold office, and consisting of:

                           a)   post-secondary teachers who draw a pension from  the College Pension Plan of British Columbia

                                 and

                           b)   post-secondary educators who draw a pension from a plan other the College Pension Plan of British Columbia.

               1.1.3    Life Members:

                           Non-fee-paying, voting members, eligible to hold office, and consisting of those persons who have been Active or Affiliate Members in good standing for at least 10 years, and who have reached the age of 85.

 

               1.1.4    Associate Members:

                           Fee-paying, non-voting members, not eligible to hold office, and consisting of:

                           a)   spouses of living Active Members;

                           b)   persons who retired from staff positions with the BCTF, BCTF locals, BCSSA, BCP&VPA, FPSE, TQS, the College of Teachers and the BCRTA;

                           c)   other retired public educators who draw their pensions from a jurisdiction outside of British Columbia;

                           d)   any person granted this type of membership by Special Resolution of the BCRTA Board of Directors.

               1.1.5    Honorary Members:

                           Non-fee-paying, non-voting members, not eligible to hold office, and consisting of persons other than retired educators, upon whom an Annual General

Meeting of the BCRTA or PQRTA has conferred this honour.

       

        1.2   A member remains in good standing who:

               a)   has been granted membership in accordance with Article 1.1, above;

               b)   has paid the annual fees and any levees of the BCRTA and the PQRTA; and

               c)   has not been expelled from the branch and/or the association.

        1.3   A member may be expelled by Special Resolution, voted on by secret ballot, and passed at a General Meeting of either the branch or the association.

 

PART 2 FEES

        2.1   The annual branch fee shall be established by an Annual General Meeting (AGM), and shall remain in effect from year to year until changed by a subsequent AGM.

        2.2   The annual fee applies to the year beginning July 1st, and may be pro-rated quarterly for persons joining the branch part-way through its fiscal year.

        2.3   Fees shall be paid in the manner prescribed by the BCRTA, which may require that persons holding certain categories of membership will have their fees deducted in September from their Teachers’ or College Pension Plan payment.

 

PART 3 MEETINGS

        3.1   The business of a meeting shall normally include adoption of the agenda, adoption of the minutes of the previous meeting, reports from the treasurer and other officers, and discussion of other matters relevant to the purposes of the branch or association.

        3.2   General meetings constitute the sovereign body of the PQRTA, and their decisions take precedence over those of the Executive Committee and/or any of its officers.

               There shall be three types of general meetings:

               3.2.1    The Annual General Meeting, which shall be held in June of each year, and include in its business the election of officers for the coming year, and

consideration of the amount of the annual fee.

               3.2.2    General Meetings, which shall be held in accordance with the programme of activities approved by the Executive Committee at its inaugural meeting of the year, and modified from time to time by the Programme Committee;

               3.2.3    Special General Meetings, which shall:

                           a)   be called by the president at the request of three or more members of the Executive Committee, or of fifteen or more members of the branch;

                           b)   require that members be given by telephone, or by paper or electronic mail, at least ten days notice of the date, time and business of the meeting; and

                           c)   deal only with the special matter that has led to the meeting being called.

        3.3   Executive Committee Meetings shall be called by the president:

               a)   at least once in July or August of each year; and

               b)   at additional times as deemed necessary by the president or at least three members of the Executive Committee.

 

PART 4 RULES OF ORDER

        4.1   Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with BCTF Rules of Order, unless otherwise directed by the Bylaws of the BCRTA or the PQRTA.

        4.2   Voting shall be limited to Active, Affiliate and Life Members present at a meeting, and shall be by show of hands; except that a secret ballot shall be conducted:

               a)   for the election of officers, unless the meeting agrees to waive this requirement;

               b)   to decide a Special Resolution regarding a person’s membership status; or

               c)   where a meeting has voted in favour of deciding a question by secret ballot.

        4.3   Questions put before a meeting shall be decided by simple majority vote, except that amendments to these Bylaws shall require an enriched majority of 66%.

        4.4   A quorum of the Executive Committee is two-thirds of its members; and of a General Meeting is 40 voting members.

 

 

 

PART 5 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

        5.1   The Executive Committee shall consist of a president, a vice-president, the immediate past president, a recording secretary, a treasurer, a branch historian, any branch member who is a director of the BCRTA, and the chairpersons of the following committees: membership, communications, programme, sunshine, and heritage.

        5.2   Any Executive Committee vacancies not filled by the AGM, or that occur during the year, may be filled by the Executive Committee, subject to ratification on request by a General Meeting.

 

PART 6 DUTIES OF OFFICERS

        6.1   The president shall:

               a)   have general oversight of the affairs of the branch between meetings;

               b)   chair, or designate a member to chair, Executive and General Meetings;

               c)   ensure that all officers are aware of their duties as prescribed by these Bylaws and the Policies & Procedures of the branch;

               d)   advise the membership when changes to the Bylaws and/or Policies & Procedures appear to be necessary or advisable;

               e)   be a voting member, ex-officio, of all PQRTA committees;

               f)    be a PQRTA delegate to the Annual General Meeting of the BCRTA; and

               g)   ensure that retiring Executive Committee members receive a card of thanks.

 

6.2   The vice-president shall:

               a)   assume the duties of the president when the latter is unavailable;

               b)   chair, or designate a member to chair, elections at the AGM;

               c)   be a member, with the past president, of the AGM nominating committee; and

               d)   co-ordinate administration of the PQRTA’s Oceanside Graduate Bursary.

 

6.3   The immediate past president shall:

               a)   co-ordinate the sale of 50/50 draw tickets; and

               b)   be a member, with the vice-president, of the AGM nominating committee.

 

6.4   The secretary shall:

               a)   keep minutes of Executive Committee and General Meetings of the branch, and present such minutes to a subsequent meeting for adoption;

               b)   keep a current version of the branch’s Bylaws and Policies & Procedures for perusal by any member; and

               c)   send or cause to be sent to the BCRTA, each July, a report on the branch’s activities over the past year, along with a list of the upcoming year’s Executive Committee members’ names and addresses.

 

6.5   The treasurer shall:

               a) That the Treasurer shall submit a proposed budget to the first regular meeting of the Executive Committee following the Annual General Meeting.

               b)   keep a financial record of branch revenues and expenditures, and present a financial report to each Executive and General Meeting;

               c)   ensure, each year, that the signatures of at least three Executive members, as signing officers, are filed with the branch’s bank or credit union; with the signatures of any two of those officers to be required on each cheque issued by the branch;

               d)   send or cause to be sent to the BCRTA, each July, an annual financial statement, and notification of any change in the branch’s membership fee that has been agreed to by the Annual General Meeting.

              

6.6 Other Executive Committee members shall be responsible for ensuring that their work is carried out in accordance with the Bylaws and Policies & Procedures of both the branch and the BCRTA.

 

PART 7 FINANCES

        Borrowing to cover branch operating expenses is not permitted.

 

PART 8 OPERATING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

        Policies and Procedures consistent with the Bylaws of the PQRTA and the BCRTA, and designed to regulate and guide the operation of the branch, may be adopted from time to time by resolution of the Executive Committee or a General Meeting.