Temporary Rules

Carleton Archery Club (CAC) operations were suspended during the pandemic and the CAC has not restarted. In an effort to restart for the 2023-24 year we are hoping to establish a temporary executive to restart operations and re-register the club with CUSA. Since the club currently does not have an elected executive, these rules will act as a guide to ensure that the club can commence shooting in September and hold elections in the fall.

Constitution

A copy of the original constitution is available at carletonarchery.ca/governance-review/constitution and https://www.facebook.com/groups/carletonarchery/permalink/687726541336297

The original constitution remains in force with the following exceptions, modifications and interpretations:

Section 3.2: All members who have paid all fees in full and signed a waver (see appendix document 1) will be considered a member in good standing. A membership policy shall be drafted by the staff and approved by the president each year. This policy shall ensure Carleton students are always be allowed membership, and may open membership to community members as the president sees fit.

Rationale: In order to appoint staff, they need to be members. As the club is currently not providing services it would not be reasonable to charge fees. Further, as no archery is taking place yet, there is no need to sign a waiver. This section will be reinstated when shooting restarts. In the meantime, anyone who registers will be considered a member in good standing.

Section 4.4: “membership” shall be read as it existed at 12pm on June 1, 2023. [Interpretation to be repealed on June 2, 2023]

New section 4.41: The president may appoint any person to an executive position on a temporary basis if no one is elected to that position. Appointments under this clause expire on November 30, 2023.

New section 4.42: A general election organized under section 12 shall be held on or before November 30, 2023.

New section 4.43: Sections 4.41 and 4.42 are repealed on December 1, 2023.

New section 4.91: Despite section 4.9, the staff elected in the election held pursuant to section 4.42 are to serve from December 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024.

New section 4.92: For further certainty, section 4.41 operates notwithstanding section 4.9.

Rationale: After November 30, 2023, this section will revert to its original text. As the temporary executive will only serve until November 30, 2023, these modifications will no longer be needed.

Section 6.5: “membership” shall be read as it existed at 12pm on June 1, 2023. [Interpretation to be repealed November 30, 2023]

Section 6.6: No staff meetings, except summer committee meetings, or general meetings, are to be held outside of the academic year…  No meeting shall be held without adequate notice. [modification to be repealed September 1, 2023.]

Rationale: Staff need to be able to hold meetings to effectively restart the club.

Section 7, regarding general meetings. All sections are suspended. General meetings shall be at the discretion of the president.

Section 9.6: For the purposes of this section, those 2 executives must also be Carleton students. This modification may only be repealed by an elected executive.

Section 11 regarding the marking of bylaws, policies and rules is suspended. The temporary executive may adopt rules as needed to restart club operations. Section 11 resumes on November 30, 2023. Anything adopted under this suspension is repealed on November 30, 2023.

Section 12 is subject to the modifications the section 4.4 and new section 4.43. Any requirements imposed by these sections are deemed to have been complied with for the appointment of the temporary executive and for any temporary modifications or temporary rules that will be repealed by November 30, 2023. For further certainty, these sections will apply to any elected executive, elections to create the elected executive or any rules that will apply past November 30, 2023.

Aside from sections 9.6 and 12, nothing shall be read as preventing the temporary executive from amending these modifications with written notice before November 30, 2023.

Permanent amendments may be put to a vote of the membership consistent with section 13 and the following, after September 30, 2023. All members in good standing within the meaning of section 3.2 who also attend at least one session once they resume (i.e. anyone who has registered, no payments are required) may vote in the first election for executive and votes for changes in the constitution between October 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Further, nothing prevents the temporary executive from transferring power to an elected executive before November 30, 2023, if one is in place.

Bylaws

Bylaw 1: Finance

Bylaw remains in force with one modification. Section 5.1 requires 3 signing authorities, 3 shall be modified to 2. Three is not possible because the bank only allows two. This bylaw is also subject to the modified interpretation of section 9.6 of the constitution, which requires that all signing authorities be Carleton students.

Bylaw 2: Elections Code

Bylaw is suspended for the temporary executive and remains in force for the next elected executive, with one modification. Section 2.3 is repealed as it would make the election impossible.

Bylaw 4: Summer Committee

Bylaw 4 is suspended.

Bylaw 5: Meetings

Bylaw 5 is suspended.

Staff

The temporary executive, which holds all the powers of staff, directors, executive, or other terms used in the previous constitutions and bylaws, will have three to four positions and will serve through November 30, 2023. This will consist of the president, vice president of finance (who also assumes the duties of the vp internal and vp communications), and range safety officer (who also assumes the duties of the vp equipment and secretary). Optionally, a vice president internal may be appointed.   

Previous Policies

Documents produced by the club before 2023 titled policies are repealed.

New Policies

The temporary executive shall draft, approve and post the following policies:

Equity and anti-discrimination statement

Violence and harassment prevention policy

Privacy and information management policy

Governance Review

One of the key goals of the temporary executive will be to review all policies, bylaws and the constitution and to propose a new governance model and any changes to ensure sustainable management of the club going forward. The hope is to create a model that encourages both student and community membership, details on this proposal will be forthcoming. All changes will be proposed to the membership and put up to a vote. Further details will be forthcoming. 

Preamble

This document is the guide for Carleton Archery Club (CAC) and does not supersede any of the rules of CUSA or the laws of Canada or the province of Ontario. This document and its articles are binding on all members and staff of the Carleton Archery Club and takes precedence over all bylaws, polices and motions of the Carleton Archery Club. For further guidance on archery clubs the Carleton Archery club will look to the rules and procedures of the Ontario Archery Association (OAA). This document supersedes any and all previous constitutions in their entirety, as of the above adoption date.      

Section (I)

Name

1.1   The Organization shall be known as the Carleton Archery Club, and herein after shall be referred to as CAC or the club.

1.2   The organization shall adopt any logos or other identifying symbols as they see fit to represent the club. (see appendix figure 1)

Section (II)

Purpose of the Organization

2.1 CAC shall work towards: teaching the members in handling archery equipment safely, effectively, and within the CAC’s budget.

2.2 CAC shall work to promote archery at Carleton University and within the surrounding community.

2.3 CAC will not tolerate any violent acts, glorification of violence, threats, illegal or unsafe acts. If a member participates in any acts that are deemed inconsistent with the goals of the CAC they will be dealt with in accordance with section 3.6.

2.4 The CAC shall not be officially or unofficially associated with any political party or religious group or organization.  

Section (III)

Membership

3.1 There shall be one (1) class of membership at CAC known as General Membership.

3.2 A membership policy shall be drafted by the staff and approved by the president each year. This policy shall ensure Carleton students are always be allowed membership, and may open membership to community members as the president sees fit.  

3.3 Membership shall be valid from September 1 to August 31 of the following year.

3.4 All General members have to right to attend classes given adequate space and staffing at the discretion of the range officer, attend general meetings and vote at general meetings and in elections.

3.5 If any member violates this document, rules and regulations of the CAC or rules and regulations of CUSA they may be ejected from the club in line with any processes established by CSUA, forfeiting all fees paid and may be reported to CUSA for further discipline. All actions shall be reported by CAC staff to CUSA Clubs and Societies Commissioners.  

Section (IV)

Staff

4.1 The general management of the club will be vested in the staff.

4.2 There shall be three (3) levels of staff to run CAC.

           4.1a. The staff shall be made up of the executive, directors and instructors.

4.3 The founding executive shall be appointed by the founding member of the club Ankun Fang.

      4.3a Section 4.3 will be invalid after August 31st, 2014 and shall be superseded by section 4.4

4.4 The executive shall be elected by a vote of the general membership of the club. At all times they must serve professionally and act consistently with the provisions of this document. (For names and titles see appendix document 2) This Section will come into force December 1, 2023.

4.41 The president may appoint any person to an executive position on a temporary basis if no one is elected to that position. Appointments under this clause expire on November 30, 2023.

4.42 A general election organized under section 12 shall be held on or before November 30, 2023.

4.43 Sections 4.41 and 4.42 are repealed on December 1, 2023.  

4.5 Directors shall be appointed and serve at the will of the executive, these positions are unelected.  

4.6 All directors will be terminated at the end of the mandate of the executive that appointed them (roles defined appendix document 2). 

4.7 All staff members must read and agree to all provisions of this document and all CAC bylaws and policies before accepting a position.

4.8 All members of the staff must be general members in good standing.

   4.8a The President, Vice President of Finance, and the Vice President Internal must be registered Carleton students.

4.9 All staff will serve from May 1 to April 30 of the following year.

4.91 Despite section 4.9, the staff elected in the election held pursuant to section 4.42 are to serve from December 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024.

4.92 For further certainty, section 4.41 operates notwithstanding section 4.9.

4.10 Staff roles may be changed periodically to meet the needs of the club but there must be not less than three (3) members of the executive.

   4.10a. Positions may be created for the next election cycle with permission of the executive and as subject to section 6.7

4.11 Appendix document 2 will be changed to reflect changes in staff and positions, not subject to provisions in section 12.

4.12 In the event of the absence of the president and vice president internal, the staff may appoint an interim president.

4.13 Instructors are members appointed by the staff to teach at archery classes. They do not possess staff voting powers and may be dismissed at any time by the president. Instructors must act professionally, be members in good standing and are highly encouraged to receive coaching training from the OAA. 

Section (V)

Termination and disciplinary actions against staff 

5.1 All members of the staff must fulfil their duties professionally and adhere to this document and all other rules of the CAC and CUSA or disciplinary actions will commence as defined in sections 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6. 

5.2 To maintain a position on the staff, staff must be a member in good standing, miss no more than two (2) staff meetings within a year, excluding the summer months (May-August), without explanation to an executive or disciplinary actions will commence as defined in sections 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6.  

    5.2a Staff must attend at least at least one (1) archery class per week, if a staff member misses all of the classes within any three (3) weeks within a year, excluding the summer months (May-August), without explanation to an executive, disciplinary actions will commence as defined in sections 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6.  

5.3 Directors may be terminated at any time by a simple majority (50%>) vote of the staff. The member in question cannot vote in the action against them.

5.4 Vice Presidents may be terminated by a super majority (2/3) vote of the staff, the member in question cannot vote in the action against them.

5.5 The President may be terminated by a unanimous vote of the staff, the member in question cannot vote in the action against them.

5.6 If a disciplinary vote is being debated against a member of the staff that member has the right to present his or her case to the staff.    

5.7 All votes of the staff are final, and all decisions must be in accordance with CUSA disciplinary rules.   

Section (VI)

Staff Meetings

6.1 Archery classes will occur as per the schedule set out in the document entitled Class Schedule.  

6.2 Staff meetings will occur at least bi-monthly but can occur more frequently.

6.3 All staff must attend meetings and classes in accordance with section 5.

6.4 At least five (5) days notice must be given before a staff meeting.

6.5 General meetings of all members in good standing shall be held at least once a year and must be held to announce elections or for altering this document.  

6.5a. Any member may bring about motions for consideration other then as set out in section 13 and all votes must conform to section 7.2.

6.5b. A general meeting may be called more than once a year by a majority vote of the staff (50%>). 

6.6 No meeting shall be held without adequate notice.

6.7 For a vote of the staff and/or executives to be valid a quorum of members must be established where at least fifty (50%) percent of the staff members are present. This includes the president, vice presidents and directors.

Section (VII)

General Meetings

7.1 At least ten (10%) percent of the members in good standing must be present at the general meeting for the vote to be valid and to establish a quorum.

7.2 If a quorum is established than a simple majority (50%>) will be required for a successful vote of any matter.

Section (VIII)

Communication

8.1 All official club communication and notices must be communicated through email, Facebook, posted on the website and/or verbal announcement to all affected members. This does not preclude additionally posting by other means.   

8.2 All general meetings and classes must be announced via one or more of the forums mentioned in section 8.1.

8.3 Communication tools must be used professionally and for club business only.

8.4 Informal votes may take place through the Facebook group or other electronic means, these polls can be used for scheduling meetings and other informal maters and class times or gathering comments about the club.

8.5 The CAC must maintain a list of the email addresses of all club members for official notices.    

Section (IX)

Financial 

9.1 A Vice President must be in charge of all financial matters of the club. 

9.2 CAC can raise funds for the use of the club.

           9.2a. Membership, instruction and rental fees may be set by the executive

9.3 All financial documents must be made available to CUSA or their agents upon request.

9.6 At least two (2) members of the executive must sign all cheques, contracts and authorization for the expenditure of resources of the CAC.

9.61 Further, those two members must be currently registered undergraduate Carleton students.

9.7 All money, resources and equipment is property of the CAC and should not be used for personal gain by any staff or for any act that does not further the goals of the CAC.   

   9.8a All assets worth more than one hundred (100) dollars must be registered with CUSA as long as they provide the forms to do so and require it.  

Section (X)

Dissolution

10.1 Upon the dissolution of CAC all liabilities will be repaid and all assets gained from CUSA will be returned to them forthwith.

10.2 All other assets will be donated to CUSA for use in any future archery club that may be established at Carleton University.

10.3 The club shall be dissolved with a majority (50%>) of the CAC executive vote and by a majority (50%>) vote of the general membership. Both must conform to section 6.7 and 7.2 respectively.  

Section (XI)

Bylaws, Polices and Motions

11.1 Bylaws, polices and motions will make up the remainder of club documents.

11.2 Bylaws must be tabled by the executive at a staff meeting, approved by the staff and then posted for five (5) days and approved by a general meeting. Both votes are simple majorities (50%>) and must conform to section 6.7 and 7.2. They are the strongest rules outside of the constitution, and are used to narrow the broad scope of the constitution on specific items. 

11.3 Polices must be tabled by the staff and only require a majority vote of the staff (50%>) conforming to section 6.7. They are 3rd to Bylaws and the constitution and in a conflict bylaws and the constitution overrule policies.   

11.4 Motions may be brought by any member at a general meeting or staff at a staff meeting and are non-binding, they require a majority vote to pass (50%>).

11.5 All of the above must be posted for public viewing before they officially take effect.    

Section (XII)

Elections

General

12.1 All executive positions must be contested for election through ranked choice balloting every year before the expiry of the term as set out in section 4 and subject to section 4.42.

12.2 Elections will be held by secret ballot, voting will be held in conjunction with regular class time for all classes held by the CAC in one week and it may additionally be conducted electronically. Members are only allowed to vote once for each position.  

12.3 All members in good standing are eligible to vote and must be provided adequate notice of any  election.

12.4 Members running for an executive position have the right to campaign and be given a reasonable opportunity to campaign during club activities or using club forums, subject to any policies under section 11.

12.5 During counting in the event of paper ballots, every candidate may appoint scrutineers to be present during the counting. Scrutineers are members who are not a candidate.

12.6 If an electronic voting method is used, any member has the right to request details and explanations from the Director of Elections to satisfy themselves that the system is secure, accurate and is able to exclude third parties from voting.

12.7 The staff may make policies regarding standardized ballots or layouts for electronic voting. Any such policy must provide at least the following:

12.7a Ballots must be organized alphabetically by last name with one line provided to the left of each name to allow the member to mark their ballot with their ranking choice. Preferred names may be used.

12.7b For paper ballots, a ‘vote’ is a clear and unequivocal number on one line for each position.

           12.7c  Electors may stop ranking at any point.

12.7d Any ballot with the same number repeated or written more than once, or where the ranking sequence cannot be determined is considered spoiled at the point which the director can no longer determine the ranking sequence.

12.7e A no confidence option will be included at the bottom of the ballot. In the event the no confidence option wins, a special election must be called and the position remains vacant.

12.8 Counting of the votes:

           12.8a First round votes will be counted.

12.8b If a candidate receives 50% +1 vote on the first round votes, they will be considered elected to the position

12.8c If no candidate received 50% +1 vote on the first round vote, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated and all votes preferencing that candidate as their first choice will tally second choice votes and add those totals to first round totals.

12.8d The above process will be continued for as many rounds as necessary to arrive at a candidate receiving 50% +1 votes. That candidate will be considered elected to the position.

Timelines

12.9 After an election is called the date for that election must be at least three (3) weeks after the announcement.

12.10 Nominations must be accepted for a period of at least one (1) week after an election is called.

12.11 One (1) week before the election, the club will be closed to new members until voting is completed.

12.12 Campaigning must be open for at least the 7 days that precede the start of voting but is prohibited during the voting period.

12.13 Exact dates for each election are to be set in accordance with policies adopted by the staff before an election. Once an election commences, only the Director of Elections may alter a date or schedule and the Director is not permitted to shorten any timeline or schedule.

12.14 The Director of Elections must announce the results as soon as possible but no later than 24 hours after the voting period ends.

Director of Elections

12.15 After an election is called, a Director of Elections will be appointed for that election. The Director of Elections is the CAC’s designated succession officer. The director is entitled to the membership list and is required to set the list of eligible electors and establish a system to receive nominations from those electors.

12.16 The Director of Elections must be a neutral party to all elections they oversee. An individual director may oversee more than one election, as long as they remain eligible.

12.17 The executive will strive to first select a neutral club member. If one is not available, the staff must then search for external candidates. The executive shall make all efforts to appoint a member or third party based on consensus. When that is not possible, a recorded vote in a first past the post majority or plurality vote winner will be appointed Director.

12.18 In the event the executive cannot find a neutral member or interested third party then the executive must request an appropriate CUSA official per CUSA policy.

12.19 The Director is completely independent of the executive and staff and shall be provided reasonable assistance by the executive to ensure their independence and so that they can carry out their election functions. The Director must carry out their duties in the best interest of the club membership.

12.20 The Director is subject to all policies, rules, and bylaws of the CAC, and this constitution, as they existed on the day the director is appointed.

12.21 In the event the Director needs funds to carry out their duties, they are subject to all club financial controls and must provide a budget justifying their expenses. The executive shall not unreasonably withhold funds outlined in this budget. The Director shall provide any proof required by the VP finance to ensure financial control.

Special Elections

12.22 In the event a position becomes vacant, the remaining executive may call a special election if they wish to fill the position.

12.23 If the President or Vice president of finance positions become vacant, the staff must call an election under this section within 1 month or becoming aware of the vacancy. Special elections do not have to be called when a regular election will occur within 60 days or if the vacancy occurs over the summer (May-August).

12.24 All rules apply to special elections.

Disputes

12.25  Appeals, complaints, or conflict may be made at any time to either the Director of Elections or the appropriate CUSA official(s) per CUSA policy.

12.26 For further certainty, nothing prevents a member from bringing a complaint to CUSA even if they have attempted to resolve it informally or through the Director of Elections.

12.27 In the event the Director of Elections feels unable to resolve a situation that has been referred to them, they may refer the matter to the appropriate CUSA official at any time.

Section (XIV)

Amendments to this Constitution

13.1 All proposed amendments must be posted as per section 8.2 at least five (5) days before a vote is held.

13.2 All amendments must be voted on at a general meeting with a quorum of members as defined in section 7.2