Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Students’ Union) Rules

The crest of the Union shall be that of the Polytechnic.

The place of business of the Union shall be the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Clementi Road, Singapore.

The Union shall —

The Union shall not engage in such activity as the Council of the Polytechnic may determine to be of a political nature.

The Council of the Polytechnic may let any building or room at the Polytechnic to the Union upon such terms and conditions as the Council thinks fit.

Every full-time student shall be a member of the Union.

A person shall not be a member of the Union unless he is a full-time student.

A member may speak and vote at a general meeting of the Union and may participate in the Union’s activities and shall abide by the provisions of these Rules.

No person other than a member of the Union shall participate in any activity thereof without the prior approval of the Council of the Polytechnic.

The Union shall have a council to manage its affairs.

The council shall consist of —

The council shall have a chairman elected in accordance with rule 19.

A Union representative shall be elected from a management committee by the members thereof.

Where there is a vacancy in the executive committee, the executive committee may appoint a member to fill the vacancy.

The executive committee shall not appoint any person to be a member of the committee under paragraph (5) without the approval of the Principal.

Where the executive committee fails to fill a vacancy in the committee, the Principal may appoint a person to fill the vacancy.

A Union representative shall cease to be a member of the council if, before the expiry of his term of office, he ceases to be a member of the management committee of the constituent body which he represents and, if he is chairman of the council, he shall forthwith cease to be the chairman.

A member of the executive committee shall vacate his office if he resigns from the council.

A motion of censure or of no confidence passed against the council shall not take effect unless it obtains the endorsement of two-thirds of the management committees of all the constituent bodies.

A Union representative shall not be removed from his office except by a majority of members of the management committee which voted him in.

A member of the executive committee shall not be removed from his office except by a majority of the members of the constituent body which voted him in and the endorsement of two-thirds of the members of the council present at a meeting.

A person who is co-opted into the council under rule 6(5) or (7) shall not be removed from office except with the approval of the Principal.

A member of the council who represents two or more management committees shall have only one vote.

A member of the executive committee who represents two or more constituent bodies shall have only one vote.

The ratio of Union representatives to the members of a management committee shall be 1:5.

A person who is appointed to be a member of a management committee by the committee itself under the Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Clubs) Rules (R 2) shall not be a Union representative.

A member of the executive committee shall not concurrently be a member of a management committee.

A member of the executive committee shall be elected from a constituent body by the members thereof.

There shall be one executive committee member for a constituent body with up to 500 members and two executive committee members for a constituent body with more than 500 members.

Membership of the executive committee shall be confined to members of the Union who are Singapore citizens.

The council may —

The council shall ensure that the activities of the executive committee and all other committees of the Union are not prejudicial to the public interest and that rules 40(2) and 41 are strictly complied with in respect of all publications of the Union.

The election of every member of the council by the management committee of a constituent body shall be completed by the sixth week of the first semester of an academic year.

A member of the council shall hold office from the date of his election until the date of the election of the next council in the following academic year.

The council shall hold at least one ordinary meeting every two months.

The honorary general secretary of the council shall give 7 days’ notice of the meeting.

A member of the council shall give at least 3 days’ notice to the honorary general secretary of any proposed amendment to the agenda.

An extraordinary meeting shall be held when a matter requiring urgent attention arises or when a written request for such meeting signed by at least 5 members of the council is received by the honorary general secretary.

The meeting shall be held within 5 days’ of the receipt of any request.

Only those matters for which the meeting is convened shall be discussed at the meeting.

The honorary general secretary shall give at least 3 days’ notice of the meeting unless he decides that the urgency of the agenda requires a shorter notice, the decision being subject to a ratification by the council when it meets.

The minutes of a meeting of the council shall be submitted for adoption at the following meeting.

A general report of every meeting shall be put on all the Union’s notice boards within 10 days of the meeting.

A member of the council who absents himself from more than two-thirds of the total time of 3 successive meetings of the council without submitting a written explanation to the honorary general secretary shall cease to be a member of the council.

If, at the third meeting, a written explanation for his absence is submitted, the council shall consider the explanation and decide by a simple majority whether or not the absent member shall remain in the council.

A member of the council may absent himself for more than 15 minutes from any meeting of the council with the permission of the chairman to whom he shall also submit a written explanation.

The honorary general secretary shall produce such explanation if called upon to do so by the council.

The first ordinary meeting of the council shall be convened by the honorary general secretary of the previous council not later than the eighth week of the first semester of the academic year and at least 4 weeks before the annual general meeting of the Union.

The minutes of the first meeting shall be recorded by the honorary general secretary of the previous council.

The first item on the agenda of the first meeting shall be the election of the chairman of the new council.

The election shall be presided over by the chairman of the previous council who shall have no vote unless he is also a member of the new council.

The council, presided by the newly elected chairman, shall then elect the office-bearers of the executive committee from among the members of that committee.

At the first meeting the provisional budget for the ensuing year as proposed by the financial committee of the previous council shall be considered and recommendations shall be submitted to the Principal for the approval of the Council of the Polytechnic.

The second ordinary meeting of the council shall be held not later than two weeks after the annual general meeting.

The standing committees of the Union may be appointed at that second meeting.

The executive committee shall consist of —

All the members of the executive committee, except the honorary financial secretary, shall be eligible for reappointment.

The executive committee shall carry out the policies of the council.

All communications between the Union and the Polytechnic or any other person shall be carried out through the executive committee.

The executive committee may —

Subject to the approval of the Council of the Polytechnic, the executive committee may make standing orders to regulate the procedure for all meetings of the Union, the council, the executive committee and all standing committees of the Union.

A member of the executive committee shall hold office from the date of his election until the first meeting of the council elected in the following academic year.

A member of the executive committee shall not hold more than one office in the executive committee.

The executive committee shall meet at least once a month.

The honorary general secretary shall give at least 3 days’ notice of the meeting unless he decides that the urgency of the agenda requires a shorter notice, the decision being subject to ratification by the executive committee when it meets.

A meeting of the executive committee shall be convened by the honorary general secretary as directed by the president or at the request of at least 3 members of the executive committee.

At least half the members of the executive committee shall constitute a quorum.

Any member of the executive committee who absents himself from 3 successive meetings of the executive committee, without submitting a written explanation to the honorary general secretary, shall cease to be a member of the executive committee.

If a written explanation for his absence is submitted by the third meeting, the executive committee shall consider the explanation and decide by a simple majority of those at the meeting whether the absent member shall remain in the executive committee.

The president or, in his absence, the vice-president shall preside at a meeting of the executive committee.

In their absence, one of the members present, other than the honorary general secretary, shall be elected to preside at the meeting.

The president of the Union —

The president or any person acting in his capacity shall have a casting vote at a meeting of the executive committee at which he presides.

If the membership of the council falls below two-thirds of its possible maximum number of members through resignation or any other cause or where a vote of no confidence is passed on the council, the entire council shall resign.

The council may also resign en bloc voluntarily, but may do so only at an extraordinary general meeting of the Union convened for that purpose.

Where the entire council resigns from office, a new council shall be elected within 4 weeks in accordance with rule 6.

Pending the election of a new council, there shall be an interim council.

The interim council shall consist of not more than 15 members comprising not more than two representatives from each management committee of the Union’s constituent bodies.

The members of the interim council shall be elected at a joint meeting of all the management committees.

The meeting shall be convened as early as possible by the outgoing honorary general secretary.

A member of the management committee of a constituent body against whom a vote of no confidence has been passed shall be disqualified from standing for election to the interim council.

The Union’s financial committee shall consist of —

The financial committee shall —

The Union’s publications committee shall consist of —

The publications committee shall —

The policy of every publication of the Union or a constituent body thereof shall be decided by the council.

The policy shall reflect the aims of the Union as set out in these Rules.

No matter of Union policy may be published without a written directive from the council.

No printed matter shall be published unless it is an article submitted by a member of the Union or a member of the Polytechnic Staff.

Every article submitted to the publications committee shall bear the name of the author, but a pseudonym may be used when the article is printed.

An article from a publication other than that of the Union may be reprinted in a Union’s publication if the source of that reprint is specified.

The Union’s students’ welfare committee shall consist of —

The students’ welfare committee shall —

The students’ welfare committee may —

The financial year of the Union shall be from 1st April to 31st March.

The Union and each of its constituent bodies shall submit a budget for the approval of the Council of the Polytechnic.

All fees and subscriptions shall be paid by a member of the Union directly to the Bursar.

Any income of the Union shall be paid by the honorary financial secretary to the Bursar for credit to the appropriate account.

All bills of expenditure of the Union and any of its committees, properly incurred in accordance with any budget approved by the Council of the Polytechnic, shall be submitted to the honorary financial secretary.

All such bills shall be signed by the honorary financial secretary and the president and forwarded to the Bursar for payment.

A payment in respect of any expenditure properly incurred by the Union or any of its constituent bodies shall be made by the Bursar from the appropriate account.

A committee of the council shall, before making any collection on behalf of the Union, obtain the permission of the executive committee and the approval of the Council of the Polytechnic.

All funds collected shall be paid by the honorary financial secretary to the Bursar for credit to the appropriate account.

The auditors of the Union’s accounts shall be the auditors of the Polytechnic’s accounts or any other auditor approved by the Council of the Polytechnic or by the Principal.

The fees for the audit of the Union’s accounts shall be paid from the Union’s funds.

The annual general meeting shall be held in September and the agenda for the annual general meeting shall consist of —

The notice of the annual general meeting shall be posted on all the Union’s notice boards together with a provisional agenda at least 7 days before the meeting.

Any business in the final agenda shall be handed in to the honorary general secretary by any two members of the Union at least 96 hours before the meeting.

An extraordinary general meeting of the Union shall be held —

The notice of an extraordinary general meeting shall be posted on all the Union’s notice boards at least 5 days before the meeting.

No matter shall be on the agenda except that for which the extraordinary general meeting has been called.

An emergency general meeting of the Union shall be held when the council, the executive committee or the president thinks it necessary.

The notice of an emergency general meeting shall be posted on all the Union’s notice boards not less than 10 hours before the meeting.

No matter shall be on the agenda except that for which the emergency general meeting has been called.

Five per cent of the members of the Union or 200 members thereof, whichever is the less, shall be present at the commencement of an annual general meeting or an extraordinary general meeting before the meeting can proceed.

Where the required number is not present the meeting shall be postponed and another meeting shall be called within one week, but not within 72 hours, of the postponement and at such meeting, irrespective of the number of members present, the business fixed for the previous meeting shall be considered.

No alteration of the agenda shall be made during the postponement.

Ten per cent of the members of the Union or 400 members thereof, whichever is the less, shall be present at the commencement of an emergency general meeting before it can proceed.

Where the required number is not present, the meeting shall be cancelled.

No member shall vote by proxy.

Voting at a general meeting shall be by ballot.

Voting other than by ballot may be carried out if the unanimous consent of the persons present is obtained.

The motion at a general meeting of the Union shall be decided by a simple majority vote.

A vote of censure or no confidence against the council or any member thereof may be taken only at an annual general meeting, extraordinary general meeting or emergency general meeting, if it has been included in the agenda for that meeting.

When such a vote is passed against the entire council, the motion of censure or no confidence shall take effect only if it is approved by at least two-thirds of the members of all the management committees of the constituent bodies.

When such a vote is passed against a representative of the Union, the motion of censure or no confidence shall take effect only if it is approved by a majority of the members of the management committee of the constituent body which elected him to the council.

When such a vote is passed against a member of the executive committee, the motion of censure or no confidence shall take effect only if it is approved by —

The Council of the Polytechnic shall inform the honorary general secretary of any amendment made to these Rules.

The council may request the Council of the Polytechnic to make such amendment to these Rules as the council thinks fit, if at least two-thirds of the members of the council present at a meeting thereof have voted in favour of the amendment.

All the members of the Union shall comply with these Rules and with the standing orders of the Union as may be approved by the Council of the Polytechnic.

A breach of these Rules or the standing orders shall be a disciplinary offence punishable under the disciplinary rules of the Polytechnic.

Where an alleged infringement of any of these Rules or any standing orders comes to the knowledge of the president or the council, the president or the council shall, if not less than two-thirds of the members of the council present at a meeting so decide, refer the alleged offence to the disciplinary committee constituted under rule 64.

The disciplinary committee shall investigate into the alleged offence and shall, after due investigation, submit its findings to the Principal.

The Principal shall take such action under the Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Students — Conduct and Discipline) Rules (R 3) as he thinks fit.

There shall be a disciplinary committee which shall consist of 5 students who shall be selected by the Principal from the most senior students of the Polytechnic with not more than one member from a department.

The members of the disciplinary committee shall elect a chairman from among themselves.

The honorary general secretary shall be the secretary of the disciplinary committee, but he shall not take part in its deliberations.

The Principal shall nominate a member of the staff of the Polytechnic to sit on the disciplinary committee to provide such guidance and assistance to the committee as may be necessary.

The member of the disciplinary committee shall be appointed by the council for a period of one academic year.