Minutes of Meeting on 21/03/24 at 5:00pm

Minutes by AI (Whisper and Claude). Tweaked by Vincent.

Meetings notes

Constitutional Amendments:

The committee conducted a thorough review of the proposed changes to the Compsoc constitution, discussing each section in turn:

Membership

Proposal: Add Clause - “All matriculated Informatics students are considered default Compsoc members unless they opt out.” Discussion:

Could significantly boost reported membership
Ensures all Informatics students are represented and covered by constitution
May require changes to membership tracking and engagement reporting Decision: Clause added

Committee Oversight

Proposal: Add clause allowing executive officers to unilaterally issue warnings to underperforming committee members. Discussion:

Concerns over potential for abuse due to vague criteria for “underperformance”
Suggestions to require co-signing by another executive or allow appeals process Decision: clause added.

Quorum and Voting

Proposals:

Clarify that SIG leaders count towards quorum if present but are not required for quorum.
Specify that no individual gets multiple votes even if holding multiple roles. Discussion:
Current wording ambiguous on SIG leader impact on quorum
Low probability of one person holding enough roles to significantly alter outcomes Decision: only elected committee roles are counted towards quorum, but SIG presidents can still vote.

SIG Assets on Dissolution

Proposal: Add clause specifying SIG assets transfer to Compsoc if SIG dissolves, with allowance for exceptions by committee vote. Discussion:

Question of what currently happens to SIG assets and funds if SIG shuts down
Some SIGs have valuable assets from independent grants that they don’t want seized
Acknowledgment that Compsoc technically owns all SIG assets as subgroups of Compsoc
Decision: Each SIG dissolution should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. By default, SIG assets belong and must be returned to CompSoc, but exceptions may be granted.

Legal Status

Proposal: Remove Clause 1.5.6 prohibiting Compsoc incorporating as an independent legal entity. Discussion: Clause seen as redundant with existing requirements to operate under EUSA oversight.
Decision: Clause removed unanimously.

AGM and EGM Planning:

AGM scheduled for Wednesday, April 3, 6pm, Informatics Forum Room G.03.

Some concern raised over potential conflict with SDP Industry Day event same afternoon
Consensus that AGM should still have adequate turnout as Industry Day will end by 7pm
Agreement to proceed as scheduled and send announcement to members immediately to maximize notice

STMU Talks:

Ali reports difficulty confirming speakers for AGM.

Faculty speakers citing exam schedules and end-of-term workload as reason for unavailability
Committee suggests broadening search to PhD students, postdocs and alumni in industry

TODO:

Draft AGM announcement emails and send to membership by end of today
All committee members to widely advertise openings and encourage candidates to run for election
All committee members to suggest potential speakers to Ali ASAP