The society shall be called University of Manchester Hiking Club, hereafter called 'the society'.

The society was formed by the merger of MUHC and UHMC, in accordance with resolutions of general meetings of those clubs on 18th October 2004 and 18th March 2004.

The subscription for full and associate membership shall be an amount determined annually by the committee and must be paid in full before any person becomes a member.

a)Being a member of the committee brings about the following general responsibilities, as well as those specific to each role
        i)Contributing to the general organisation of the society as part of a team.
        ii)Promoting the society and maintaining a positive image of it and its members.
        iii)Doing their best to help society members, both on hikes and with general hiking requests.
        iv)To not abuse the privileges of the position and always give priority to ordinary members, especially those who are also volunteering their time.
b)The committee positions of the society shall be:
        •Chair
        •Vice-Chair
        •Secretary
        •Hike Secretary (3 Posts)
        •Weekend Secretary (2 Posts)
        •Publicity Secretary
        •Social Secretary (2 Posts)
        •Equipment Secretary
        •Website Secretary
        •Inclusion Officer
        •Training Secretary
        •Health and Safety Secretary
        •Food Secretary

All elected committee members should be University of Manchester students, unless given special dispensation by the Student Union.

Each elected officer post is one year.

c)The roles of the positions are defined as the following:
        i)The Chair shall take the chair at all meetings at which they are present and shall be available in person when necessary to ensure the smooth running of the society.
        ii)The Vice-Chair coordinates the work of the Hikes Secretaries and will stand in for the Chair when the Chair is absent.
        iii)The Secretary shall keep a record of all the proceedings and attendances at all meetings, keep the membership records, and report membership numbers to the BMC and UMSU when necessary.
        iv)The Treasurer shall keep the books and accounts and enter therein all financial transactions. They must be prepared to produce a financial statement at any general meeting or committee meeting at least once per session. Thirdly, the Treasurer is responsible for the payment of BMC membership.
        v)The Inclusion Officer shall be responsible for ensuring all members can partake in all events, all members' wellbeing, and shall act as the main point of contact for anyone seeking help or advice. In addition, they will be responsible for dealing with any sensitive issues that might arise from complaints to do with inclusions and exclusions.
        vi)The Hike Secretaries shall organise the day hikes and scrambles and shall give notice of routes to members. They shall also organise the booking of coaches, including the drop-offs and collection points, for the day hikes. They shall be responsible for passing on this information to the trip leader.
        vii)The Weekend Secretaries shall be responsible for organising weekend trips.
        viii)The Publicity Secretary shall be responsible for publicising hikes, socials, and any other society events.
        ix)The Social Secretaries shall organise social events.
        x)The Equipment Secretary shall be responsible for the purchase, safekeeping, loaning, and upkeep of the society's equipment.
        xi)The Website Secretary shall be responsible for the maintenance and development of the society's website and mailing list.
        xii)The Training Secretary shall organise events for members that will further their hiking skills
        xiii)The Health and Safety Secretary shall be responsible for creating and regularly updating the society's risk assessments, and any other safety documents related to the club, and ensuring all activities are as safe and accessible as possible
        xiv)The Food Secretary shall be responsible for the organisation and preparation of food on any society activity where food is provided
d)These positions shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall constitute the committee. Positions that are vacant can be elected at an Extraordinary General Meeting.
e)No less than six committee members shall be full members of the society.
f)The committee shall have the power to co-opt additional persons onto the committee to perform a specific duty, until such time as their specific duty is completed. Co-opted members shall contribute to quorum and shall be allowed to vote at committee meetings.

a)The quorum at committee meetings shall be eight.
b)The chair shall, in the case of equal voting on any matter, have the casting vote.
c)There shall be at least one committee meeting per term.
d)The time and place of every committee meeting shall be posted on the society's website, social media, and/or mailing list in advance.
e)All committee meetings shall be open to any society member to attend and speak, but not to vote, on any matter.
f)The minutes from the previous meeting shall be posted on the society's website at the request of any member.
g)Any committee member who is absent from three consecutive meetings without offering an acceptable reason will have a vote of no confidence, if the Inclusion Officer hasn't been able to open successful dialogue after the second missed meeting. After the second missed meeting, there should be some dialogue as to why and the Inclusion Officer will contact them to see if any further support is needed.
An Officer may be removed from their position by a vote of no confidence. A vote of no confidence may be made by the Society's Committee by a 75% majority or by a general meeting of that Society by a simple majority.
A vote of no confidence will only be valid if:
        i)The Officer who is to be removed is given at least two weeks' notice of the meeting where the decision is to be made
        ii)The Officer who is removed has the right to speak at the meeting where the decision is to be made, and has the right to have a statement circulated to the members of that meeting in advance
        iii)The vote is taken by a secret ballot

a)Only full, associate, and honorary life members may vote at a general meeting.
b)The quorum at a general meeting shall be twenty members, including committee members, or one third of the full membership, whichever is the smaller.
c)Notice of meetings shall be placed on the society's website, social media, and/or mailing list, announcing the date, time and place of the meeting and the agenda thereof - at least seven days before a general meeting and two weeks before the Annual General Meeting.
d)The Annual General Meeting shall be held before the Easter holiday and shall transact the following business:
        i)Approval of the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting and any subsequent general meetings.
        ii)Amendments to the constitution
        iii)Approval of the chair's annual report.
        iv)Approval of the annual accounts presented by the treasurer.
        v)Election of committee members for the following year, honorary life members, and any elected awards
        vi)Any other business the meeting wishes to conduct.
e)Voting for committee members and constitutional amendments shall be done by secret ballot, voting cards with the candidates' names and amendments being drawn up prior to the meeting. In the event of a tie, the vote should either be re-opened or a coin toss held.
f)Before the election of each position, there shall be speeches in support of each candidate by their proposer, and then by the candidate, who shall outline reasons for standing, etc. and shall also be prepared to answer any reasonable questions which may be put to themselves (the number of questions being at the discretion of the chair).
g)The fictitious person 'RON' shall be added as a nominee to all positions and if elected will trigger reopening of nominations for that position. The position shall be re-advertised to the membership and an Extraordinary General Meeting held at a later date, as decided by the committee.
h)Any person can stand for and hold multiple positions. This is dependent upon their secondary position(s) being uncontested at the general meeting. In addition, a maximum of one position from: Chair, Treasurer or Inclusion Officer may be held by a single person.
i)In the event of a candidate failing to be elected to a position, they can be nominated at the time of the AGM for any other unfilled post, without being declared earlier. If there is no such candidate willing to fill an unfilled position, a member of the general membership may stand for the unfilled position at the AGM.
j)Any person otherwise entitled to vote who cannot attend a general meeting because of their prior commitments is entitled to a proxy vote as of right, with their proxy being a full member. Proxy votes must be applied for not less than twenty-four hours before the general meeting.
k)An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called at the request of the committee or by petition of at least one third of the full membership, or twenty members, whichever is the smaller

a)In order to promote the safety of all members when on hikes, power shall be given to the committee to take disciplinary action against any member in accordance with subsection b of this section.
b)The committee may take disciplinary action if the member in question does any act while on a society event that endangers or is likely to endanger: the safety of themselves, any other society member, any other person, or any other vertebrate.
c)The executive committee may suspend any member from society events who is accused of serious misconduct, e.g. sexual or physical including harassment and intimidation, pending further investigation. The offence does not necessarily have to have happened at a society event. In the case that the allegations are found to be true, the special committee may ban said member from society events. If any intentionally false claims of misconduct are made, the accuser may also be suspended and potentially banned from the society.
        i)Any issues of sexual or physical harassment should also be reported to the University's Report and Support Service AND the SU Groups Team should be notified.
d)Any member accused under this section shall have the following rights:
        i)To have full details of the specific offence alleged.
        ii)To have reasonable opportunity to put their case orally to the committee, at a meeting in private if they so wish, notwithstanding subsection 7e of this constitution.
e)The power to expel members lies only within the current Activities and Culture Exec Officer.
f)Smoking is forbidden on club transport.