> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.auibsal.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bylaws and Standing Orders

> SAL-GOV-02 · How the Society meets, votes, appoints, elects, spends and settles disputes, step by step.

<Warning>
  **Draft 1, not yet adopted.** Dated September 28, 2026, for adoption by the Council under Article XV of the Constitution. Until then nothing below is in force.
</Warning>

<Card title="Download the PDF" href="https://auibsal.org/documents/bylaws.pdf">
  The signed and dated copy is the authority. This page is the same text, set for reading on screen.
</Card>

| Document | Version | Owner | Approved by |
| - | - | - | - |
| SAL-GOV-02 | 1.0 (draft) | General Secretary | Council (two-thirds) |

Prepared by Shaheen Farjo, Founder & President. Next review: each September, before the first General Assembly. The current version always lives in SAL Drive › 01 Governance; printed copies may be out of date.

## Why Bylaws

The Constitution says who holds power. The Bylaws say how that power is used on an ordinary Tuesday: how a meeting runs, how a vote is counted, how a new director is chosen and how a receipt becomes a reimbursement.

1. **They make us predictable.** A new member should be able to read these pages and know exactly how a decision will be made, without asking who is in charge this year.
2. **They protect the minority.** Notice periods, written reasons and a right to respond mean that the loudest voice in the room does not automatically win.
3. **They carry the Society between generations.** Old literary societies survive for centuries because their procedures outlive their members. Columbia's Philolexian Society has met since 1802 and UNC's Dialectic Society since 1795; both still run on written rules.
4. **They are easy to change.** Two-thirds of the Council can amend a Bylaw, and members can overturn any change by simple majority at the next General Assembly.

<Info>
  **Numbering.** Bylaws are cited as B-section.clause, for example B6.4 for the rule on uncontested elections. Forms are cited by their code in the Templates & Forms Pack (SAL-OPS-02), for example F-21.
</Info>

## B1. Meetings of the Council

**1.1** The Council meets at least every two weeks during term, at a regular time fixed at its first meeting of each semester. The Executive Board meets weekly, briefly, to prepare.

**1.2** The General Secretary sends the agenda and papers at least 48 hours before each meeting. Any Council member may add an item up to 24 hours before.

**1.3** The standing agenda is: apologies and conflicts of interest; minutes and actions of the last meeting; the Treasurer's report; programmes, in order of urgency; decisions; any other business; date of next meeting.

**1.4** Members declare any conflict of interest at the start. A member with a conflict may speak if invited but does not vote on that item.

**1.5** Decisions are recorded in the Decisions Log with the date, the decision, the vote and the owner. Minutes are sent within 72 hours and approved at the next meeting.

**1.6** Urgent decisions may be taken between meetings by a written vote in the Council's group, open for at least 24 hours. A majority of all seated members must vote in favour. The result is recorded in the next minutes.

**1.7** Members may join a meeting online. A member who cannot attend may send written comments but may not vote by proxy.

**1.8** Items concerning individuals (conduct cases, personal circumstances, appointments) are taken in closed session and minuted separately.

## B2. The General Assembly

**2.1** The General Assembly meets at least once each semester: an opening Assembly in the first month of the fall semester and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in April.

**2.2** The order of business at the AGM is: the President's Annual Report; the Treasurer's accounts; reports from Standing Programmes; motions; the declaration of the election results; the Ribbon; any other business.

**2.3** Any Voting Member may submit a motion in writing (Form F-09) to the General Secretary at least five days before the Assembly, seconded by one other Voting Member.

**2.4** Debate on a motion runs: proposer (three minutes), a speaker against if any (three minutes), open floor, a right of reply for the proposer (one minute), then the vote.

**2.5** Amendments to a motion are taken before the motion itself. The chair may group similar amendments.

**2.6** Any member may raise a point of order when they believe these rules are being broken. The chair rules at once; the ruling may be challenged and overturned by two-thirds of Voting Members present.

**2.7** If the President wishes to speak for or against a motion, the Vice President chairs that item.

**2.8** Votes are by show of hands, or by secure online form when requested by five members or when members attend online. Elections and removals are always by secret ballot.

## B3. Membership and Good Standing

**3.1** The Director of Membership and Community keeps the register of Members (Form F-01), and the attendance record from which good standing is calculated.

**3.2** An activity is any Society event, workshop, salon, rehearsal, meeting or volunteer shift where attendance is recorded on Form F-15 or by the event check-in.

**3.3** A Member becomes a Voting Member on their second recorded activity in the current or previous semester. The register is frozen for each election on the day notice is given (B6.2).

**3.4** A Member who has not taken part in any activity for two semesters is moved to the inactive list and invited back. They keep their membership but lose voting rights until they take part again.

**3.5** Members may leave at any time by telling the Director of Membership. Their personal data is handled under the Privacy Policy.

<Note>
  In the Nexus, event check-in records attendance automatically; shifts and meetings are recorded by hand. See [Members](/members) for how voting status is counted, including the founding-year rule for the first 100 members.
</Note>

## B4. Recognition: Fellows and Honorary Members

**4.1** Any Council member may nominate a Member as a Fellow of the Society for at least forty hours of recorded service in an academic year, for leading a programme or an edition of one, or for exceptional work that raised the Society's standing.

**4.2** Fellows are confirmed by two-thirds of the Council, announced at the AGM, and receive a certificate and a page in the Book of Fellows. Fellowship is kept for life.

**4.3** The number of new Fellows in a year should not exceed one-tenth of Voting Members, so that the honour keeps its value.

**4.4** Honorary Membership may be conferred by two-thirds of the Council on faculty, staff, alumni or guest writers and artists who have given significant support. The General Secretary sends the invitation (Letter L-08).

**4.5** Certificates of service (Form F-28) are issued to every officer, director, programme lead and coordinator who completes a term, signed by the President and the Faculty Advisor.

## B5. Appointments and the Apprenticeship

**5.1** The Society runs an Open Call at the start of each semester for every open role. Roles are advertised with their role card from the Roles & Staffing Handbook, the time needed and the closing date.

**5.2** Applicants complete Form F-03. Director and Programme Chair applicants also have a fifteen-minute interview with a panel of three: two members of the Executive Board and one person from the relevant department or programme.

**5.3** The panel scores each applicant independently on Form F-04, then agrees a decision. Applicants hear within five days of their interview. Unsuccessful applicants are offered a coordinator or team role where one fits.

**5.4** Team roles below director level begin with a three-week Apprenticeship: one small real task with a mentor. At the end, the apprentice and the director agree whether to continue. Inspired by the Harvard Advocate's "comp", but shorter and never competitive between friends.

**5.5** No person holds more than two Society roles at once, and no more than one leadership role (officer, director or programme chair), except in the founding term with the Council's agreement.

**5.6** Panel members declare friendships or other conflicts and step aside where needed.

**5.7** Appointments are confirmed by the Council at its next meeting and announced on the Society's channels.

## B6. The Elections Code

**6.1** The Council appoints the Elections Committee of three Voting Members who will not stand, by mid-March. The Committee chooses its chair. The General Secretary supports it unless standing, in which case the Committee chair takes over all election administration.

**6.2** The Committee gives notice of the election at least one week before nominations open, listing the offices, the eligibility rules and the timetable. The voter list is the register of Voting Members on that day.

**6.3** Nominations stay open for one week. Each candidate submits Form F-21 with the names of two Voting Members who second them, a statement of up to 200 words, and a six-word vision.

**6.4** Where one candidate stands for an office, members vote to elect that candidate or to re-open nominations (RON). If RON wins, nominations re-open for one week.

**6.5** Candidates present themselves at the Candidates' Reading, a public hustings: each reads the six-word vision, speaks for three minutes and answers questions from members for up to ten minutes.

**6.6** Campaigning rules:

* (a) Campaigning runs from the close of nominations to the opening of voting only.
* (b) Candidates may use personal channels and up to ten printed posters. The Society's channels carry one equal post per candidate, made by the Committee.
* (c) No gifts, food or favours in exchange for votes; no pressure on anyone to show how they voted.
* (d) Candidates may not use a current office, Society property or member data to campaign.
* (e) Campaigning is about ideas. Personal attacks, or campaigning on sect, ethnicity or party, lead to disqualification.

**6.7** Voting is online for 48 hours through a form restricted to AUIB accounts and to one response per person, checked against the voter list. The Committee may also offer a paper ballot box with the register at a staffed table.

**6.8** Where more than two candidates stand, members rank them. If no candidate has more than half of the first preferences, the last candidate is removed and their votes pass to each ballot's next preference, until one candidate has a majority.

**6.9** A tie is broken by a second vote between the tied candidates within three days; if still tied, by lot drawn at a public meeting.

**6.10** Complaints about the election go in writing to the Committee within 24 hours of the conduct or of the results. The Committee decides within 48 hours. Its decision may be appealed once to the Faculty Advisor, whose decision is final.

**6.11** The Committee declares the results with the vote counts at each round (Form F-23). Ballot data is kept for one year, then deleted.

**6.12** Elected officers shadow the outgoing officers from the AGM until the handover date, and together with them appoint the incoming directors through an open call (B5).

<Note>
  The Society runs these ballots in the Nexus: notice freezes the voter list (6.2), only AUIB accounts can vote (6.7), ranked choice is counted as in 6.8, and ballot data is deleted after one year (6.11). See [Members, roles and elections](/members#elections-online).
</Note>

## B7. Committees

**7.1** The Conduct Panel hears conduct cases. It is chaired by the Vice President, with one other Council member and one Voting Member drawn by lot from a list of volunteers each semester. The Faculty Advisor may advise. Any member of the Panel with a conflict is replaced.

**7.2** The Audit is the Faculty Advisor, or a Voting Member not on the Council whom the Faculty Advisor chooses, who checks the ledger against receipts each semester and reports to the Council and the General Assembly.

**7.3** The Elections Committee is formed each spring under B6 and dissolves once the results are final.

**7.4** The Council may create other committees or working groups by resolution, with a remit, a chair, members and an end date. Committees report in writing.

## B8. Programmes and Programme Charters

**8.1** Any Member may pitch a programme on Form F-10 to the relevant Director, who brings it to the Council within two meetings.

**8.2** The Council greenlights a programme when it has: a named lead, a clear purpose linked to a pillar, a dated plan, a budget, a risk check (Form F-11 for events), and no clash with the calendar. The decision and the reasons are recorded.

**8.3** A greenlit programme has a Programme Charter: one page setting out its purpose, lead, team, reporting line, budget, key dates, success measures and the date it will be reviewed.

**8.4** Each edition of a programme ends with a report (Form F-25 section B) within three weeks, which goes to the Council and the archive.

**8.5** A programme that has run successfully for two consecutive semesters may be declared a Standing Programme by the Council, with a Programme Chair and its own handbook.

**8.6** A programme that has not run for two semesters lapses. Its files go to the archive; it may be revived by a new pitch.

**8.7** Editorial independence (Constitution 10.3): if the Council has concerns about a selection or content, the President raises them with the Programme Chair first. The Council may only overrule on grounds of law, safety or University policy, by majority, with written reasons shared with the Chair.

## B9. Money

**9.1** In the second week of each semester, the Treasurer drafts the semester budget from the Directors' requests (Form F-12). The Council adopts it by the fourth week.

**9.2** Spending authority follows Constitution 13.2: up to 50,000 IQD by a Director with the Treasurer; up to 250,000 IQD by the President and the Treasurer; above that by a vote of the Council. Nobody approves a payment to themselves.

**9.3** Every purchase has a receipt, photographed and uploaded to the finance folder within 48 hours. Members claim reimbursement on Form F-13 within 30 days; the Treasurer pays or refers within 14 days.

**9.4** Cash is counted by two people, recorded on Form F-14 and signed by both. It is never kept overnight by one student: it is handed to the Office of Student Life or its agreed safe, the same day.

**9.5** The Treasurer keeps the ledger in the Operations Tracker and reports balances and spending against budget at every other Council meeting.

**9.6** Sponsorship and donations are accepted only under the Partnerships Policy, recorded in the ledger and acknowledged in writing.

**9.7** Money raised for a charitable cause is held separately, never used for costs, and handed to the beneficiary in a witnessed handover with a signed receipt.

**9.8** The Treasurer and the President may not be the same person, nor close relatives, nor share a household.

## B10. Complaints and Discipline

**10.1** Anyone may raise a concern about conduct with any officer, the Faculty Advisor or Student Life, in person or on Form F-20. Concerns about the Vice President go to the President; concerns about the President go to the Vice President and the Faculty Advisor.

**10.2** The concern is acknowledged within three days. Most concerns are settled informally: a conversation, an apology, a clarification. The person raising it chooses whether to go further.

**10.3** A formal case is heard by the Conduct Panel. The member concerned receives the concern in writing, at least five days to respond, and the right to bring a supporter who is an AUIB student or staff member.

**10.4** Outcomes, in proportion to the conduct: no action; guidance; a written warning; removal from a role; suspension from activities for a stated period; removal of membership (which requires two-thirds of the Council).

**10.5** Where there is a risk to anyone's safety, the President and the Vice President may suspend a member from activities at once, pending the case, and inform the Faculty Advisor.

**10.6** Decisions are given in writing with reasons within 14 days of the hearing. An appeal may be made once, within seven days, to the Faculty Advisor and one officer not involved.

**10.7** Anything that may involve a crime, harassment under University policy or a risk to a child is referred straight to Student Life. The Society does not investigate it.

**10.8** Case records are confidential, kept by the General Secretary in a restricted folder and deleted two years after the case closes.

## B11. Handover and Continuity

**11.1** Every officer, director and programme chair keeps a handover dossier during their term (Form F-24): contacts, passwords held (not the passwords themselves), calendar, open items, lessons and files.

**11.2** Incoming officers shadow outgoing officers between the AGM and the handover date. The outgoing officer stays available for questions for one month after.

**11.3** Access to accounts, drives and groups is transferred within seven days of handover and removed from anyone who has left a role. Every account has at least two administrators on the Council.

**11.4** The Ribbon: at the AGM, the outgoing President hands the incoming President a new ribbon for the Society Typewriter. The Society's first act of each year is a new page typed by the incoming Council.

## B12. Records, Channels and Amendment

**12.1** The official channels are the Society's Instagram (@auibsal), its Telegram channel (The Common Room), its AUIB email address and the all-student email sent through Student Life. The President or a person they name speaks for the Society in public.

**12.2** Files are kept in the Society Drive under the structure in the Operations Playbook, named SAL\_Area\_Document\_YYYY-MM-DD.

**12.3** These Bylaws may be amended by two-thirds of the Council. Changes are published to members within seven days and reported to the next General Assembly, which may overturn them by simple majority.

**12.4** Any Bylaw that conflicts with the Constitution or University policy has no effect.

## Election season

The first election under this Constitution, spring 2027. Dates move with the academic calendar but the order and the gaps stay the same, and everything must finish before final exams.

| Date | Step |
| - | - |
| Sun, Mar 14, 2027 | Elections Committee appointed |
| Sun, Mar 28 | Notice of election and the list of offices |
| Sun, Apr 4 – Sun, Apr 11 | Nominations open |
| Tue, Apr 13 | The Candidates' Reading (hustings) |
| Wed, Apr 14 – Thu, Apr 15 | Voting, 48 hours online with AUIB sign-in |
| Thu, Apr 15 | Results declared |
| Tue, Apr 20 | Annual General Meeting and the Ribbon (handover ceremony) |
| Apr 20 – May 13 | Shadow period; incoming officers appoint directors |
| Thu, May 13 | New Council takes office |

| Offices elected | Who can vote | Who can stand |
| - | - | - |
| President, Vice President, General Secretary and Treasurer. Directors are then appointed by open call. | Every Voting Member on the register the day notice is given: two recorded activities in the current or previous semester. | Any Voting Member. For President and Vice President: one semester as a member and one semester in a Society role. |

**The Ribbon.** At the AGM the outgoing President hands on a fresh ribbon for the Society Typewriter, and the new Council types the first page of its year. It takes two minutes, and it makes the handover something people remember.

## Counting ranked votes

A worked example, so the Elections Committee can count with confidence and every candidate can check the result.

| Round | Candidate A | Candidate B | Candidate C | What happens |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 42 | 38 | 20 | 100 ballots; 51 needed. No majority, so C (fewest) is removed. |
| 2 | 48 (+6) | 52 (+14) | – | C's 20 ballots move to their second choice. B passes 51 and is elected. |

**The steps**

1. Export the responses; remove any that do not match the voter list or repeat a voter.
2. Count first preferences for each candidate.
3. If someone has more than half, they win.
4. If not, remove the last-placed candidate and move each of their ballots to its next ranked candidate still in the race.
5. Repeat until one candidate has more than half of the ballots still active.
6. Record every round on Form F-23.

**Good practice**

* Two Committee members count independently; the third checks.
* Candidates may watch the count or send one observer.
* Ballots that rank nobody still in the race are set aside as exhausted and reported.
* A spreadsheet in the Operations Tracker does the arithmetic; the Committee still checks by hand.
* Publish the rounds, not just the winner.


## Related topics

- [The Society's documents](/documents/overview.md)
- [The Constitution](/documents/constitution.md)
- [Glossary](/documents/glossary.md)
- [Roles and Staffing](/documents/roles-and-staffing.md)
- [Policy Manual](/documents/policy-manual.md)


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