The Constitution of the Queens’ College Middle Combination Room

This document was last updated in June 2021. It is due for review by the Governing Body no later than June 2026

Preamble

  1. In this Constitution: a. the expression "Governing Body" shall mean the Governing Body of the College b. the expression "affiliation to an external organization" shall include any form of membership of, or formal association with, an organisation whose purposes are not confined to purposes connected with the College, and c. the expression "Resident Member" shall mean a member of the College in statu pupillari

  2. Amendment of Constitution a. The Governing Body shall have the power to make amendments to the MCR Constitution and Appendix. b. No alteration shall be made to any part of this constitution without the approval of the Governing Body. c. No alteration shall be made to any part of the Constitution or the Appendix without the approval of the Council of the College Union. d. No alteration shall be made to any part of the Constitution or the Appendix without it first being approved by a quorate referendum of the MCR membership, as defined in this constitution. e. No alteration shall be made to this constitution that brings it into conflict with the 1994 Education Act or the Constitution of the College Union.

  3. This Constitution shall be submitted to the Governing Body for review, in accordance with the provisions of the 1994 Education Act, at intervals of not more than five years.

  4. The MCR shall operate in a fair and democratic manner in accordance with the provisions of the Education Act, 1994 and the Charities Act, 1960.

  5. The Constitution, and the Appendix, must be available to read by all members of the MCR.

Aims and Objectives

  1. There shall be a Middle Combination Room (MCR) in Queens’ College: a. to collate and express the opinions of its members in relation to their participation in college life. b. to advocate in the interests of its members to the Senior Officers of the college c. to cooperate with any similar association or organization of students in accordance with the interests of its own members, subject to the provision below under “Affiliation to Organisations”. d. to provide social entertainments for its members.

Membership & Subscription

Membership

  1. All postgraduate in statu pupillari members of Queens’ College shall by default be ordinary members of the MCR and shall continue to be members so long as they remain in postgraduate student members of Queens’ College.

  2. Membership of the MCR shall be of three kinds: Ordinary Members, Honorary Members and Associate Members. a. Ordinary Members i. All Resident Members of the College paying College fees who are: of the status or degree of Bachelor of Arts or higher, or ii. registered with the Board of Postgraduate Students shall be Ordinary Members. Ordinary Membership shall cease upon taking up a fellowship, or upon going out of residence, or upon removal from the Register of the Board of Postgraduate Studies. b. Honorary Members The following shall be Honorary Members: i. the Senior Treasurer of the College Union (formerly Vice President of the MCR); ii. the Tutors for Research Students; iii. the Tutors for Postgraduate Students; iv. any Lector or Lectrice who is a Resident Member of the College and who is not a Fellow or a member of the SCR; v. the partners of Ordinary Members; vi. any past Ordinary Members who are Resident Members of the College, and vii. such other persons who are nominated by the MCR Committee. The nomination must be posted for seven days on the MCR notice board and should any Ordinary Member object within that time, the nomination must be approved by the majority of members voting at a subsequent General Meeting. c. Associate Members The following persons shall be offered Associate Membership: i. affiliated students of the College who are of the status or degree of Bachelor of Arts or higher; ii. mature students of the College (at the discretion of the MCR Committee), and iii. any other person who applies for such membership and is approved by the MCR Committee. If the person is not a member of the College the application must be supported by a Fellow of the College, and by an Ordinary Member of the MCR. Persons offered Associate Membership shall become Associate Members upon accepting in writing. Such membership shall cease on 30 September following admission to membership, but persons shall be eligible for re-admission under the same conditions. For the purposes of this provision, a mature student shall be a student who is at least 21 years of age upon matriculation.

  3. Any person who would be a member of the MCR may, in written notice to the MCR President, declare that they do not wish to be a member, and in that case such person shall not be a member of the MCR. a. the written notice may be served at any time. b. A person exercising their right not to be a member of the MCR shall be removed from the MCR mailing list and have their access to the Woodville room revoked.
    c. A person who would normally qualify automatically for membership of the MCR, but exercises the right not to be a member of the MCR, shall not be unfairly disadvantaged with regard to the provision of services

Subscription

  1. The College shall pay a subscription to the MCR on behalf of each Ordinary Member, the value of which shall be determined from time to time by the Governing Body in consultation with the MCR Committee. a. No subscription shall be paid by Honorary Members. b. The subscription of those Associate Members defined in Article 8(c)(i) and(ii)shall be a fraction of the subscription paid by the College on behalf of Ordinary Members, this fraction to be decided from time to time by the MCR Committee in consultation with the Council of the Union. c. The Committee shall decide, when Membership is first granted, what fraction of Ordinary Membership shall be paid as a subscription by those Associate Members defined in Article 7(c)(iii).

Rights & Benefits of Membership

  1. Members of the MCR shall be entitled to benefits as set out in the Appendix, subject to the discretion of the MCR Committee, the Council of the College Union, and the Governing Body.

The MCR Committee

  1. There shall be a Committee of the MCR (the "MCR Committee"), composed entirely of Ordinary MCR members, to fulfil the aims and objectives of the MCR.

  2. The MCR Committee shall consist of Officers. a. The Officers of the MCR Committee shall be responsible for the day-to-day activities of the MCR including, but not limited to, the organisation of events, taking roles on College committees, and advocating to College on behalf of MCR Members.

  3. MCR Committee positions, and their duties, shall be named and defined in the Appendix, which may be revised to reflect the changing needs of the MCR, after consultation with the Council of the College Union and in accordance with Article 2(b).

  4. The MCR Committee must include, at minimum, a President, Vice-President, and a Treasurer of the MCR on the MCR Committee (the “Titled Officers”). Further MCR Committee roles are set out in the MCR Appendix.

  5. There shall be no sabbatical or paid officer in the MCR.

  6. The MCR Committee will also provide members for College Committees, as defined in the Appendix or by the Governing Body.

  7. Members of the MCR Committee may, by mutual agreement, for a specified period and with the approval of the MCR Committee, delegate responsibilities to each other.

  8. The members of the MCR Committee shall assist the President in ascertaining and representing the interests of the membership of the MCR.

  9. In addition, each member of the MCR Committee shall fulfil any other functions as laid down by the Constitution or by the decisions of MCR Policy.

Elections

  1. Elections for the Committee shall be held annually at a time between 1st May and 31st July, at the discretion of the MCR Committee and the Council of the College Union in accordance with the procedure set out in the MCR Appendix.

Removal of a Committee Member

  1. If any Committee Member is, in the opinion of two or more other Committee Members, failing to carry out their duties as defined either in this Constitution or the MCR Appendix, the Committee may, in the manner described in Article 23, vote to remove that Committee Member from the Committee. Such a resolution shall be of no effect unless ratified by an Extraordinary General Meeting, which the Committee is obliged to call within fourteen days of adopting a resolution under this paragraph. Committee Members who are removed in this way shall have the right to appeal to the Senior Treasurer of the College Union, whose decision shall be final.

  2. A resolution to remove a Committee Member from office shall be valid only if at least three-quarters of all Committee Members are present at the vote, and at least two-thirds of those present approve the resolution. Such votes must be held in the absence of the Committee Member to whom the resolution relates, although that Committee Member must first be given reasonable opportunity to make representations to the Committee. a. a referendum may be held to overturn the decision of the Committee to remove a Committee Member b. any vacancy which arises under Article 22 shall be treated as casual vacancy within the election conditions set out in section 2 of the MCR Appendix.

  3. If any Committee Member is absent from five consecutive Committee meetings during Full Term, the Vice-President or, in the event of the Vice-President's absence, the acting Vice-President shall draw the Committee's attention to: a. the absence of the member concerned, and b. its powers under Article 22

Tenure of the Office of the Committee

  1. Subject to Article 21, the Committee elected under Article 21 shall take office within 7 days following their election.

  2. Any officer elected under Article 21 or co-opted under the Committee's powers as set out in the MCR Appendix shall retire with the rest of the Committee following entry into office.

  3. Any officer elected under Article 21 shall take office upon the announcement of the election result and shall retire on such date as the MCR Appendix prescribes, but may not, unless elected or co-opted afresh, serve as a Committee Member for a period of more than 12 months.

MCR Committee Meetings

  1. Annual General Meeting (hereinafter "A.G.M.") a. An A.G.M. shall be held during each Easter Term, not later than 15 May, at which Vice-President and Treasurer shall present reports on the undertakings of the MCR Committee, and any Motions submitted in accordance with Article 28 shall be debated. b. Notice of an A.G.M. shall be sent to all Ordinary Members not less than 7 days before the date of the meeting. This notice shall state the following: c. "Motions for debate at the above meeting must be sent to the Secretary so as to arrive five days before the date of the meeting. Each Motion must be proposed by and seconded by an Ordinary Member of the MCR" d. Only Motions thus received may be debated at the A.G.M.

  2. Extraordinary General Meeting (hereinafter "E.G.M.") An E.G.M. shall be held: a. on the request of the Committee. The Committee shall give all Ordinary Members a minimum of five days' notice of the meeting, together with details of the business to be discussed; or b. within fourteen days of the Secretary receiving the signed request of fifteen Ordinary Members, together with details of the business to be discussed. The Committee shall notify all Ordinary Members of the meeting at least five days before the date of the meeting. c. A General Meeting may discuss proposals to alter the provisions of this Constitution or of the MCR Order, embodied in a Motion submitted as in Article 28. Such proposals shall become effective only with the consent of two-thirds of those present and voting at the General Meeting and, in the case of proposals to change this Constitution, subject to Article 2. Other Motions shall become effective if approved by a simple majority. Only Ordinary Members may vote at a General Meeting. No Motion shall be binding if fewer than 20 Ordinary Members are present at the vote being taken. d. An agenda shall be posted by the Secretary in the Combination Room for four days before the General Meeting.

Referenda

  1. The MCR Committee may hold non-binding referenda to illicit the opinion of the MCR membership on matters of importance, including changes to this Constitution as required in Clause 2(d). The procedures for triggering and running referenda are set out in the MCR Appendix, section 9.

Policy

  1. The MCR Committee may set policies to ensure institutional memory is maintained. The procedure for adopting, altering, and removing policies is set out in the Appendix.

Affiliation to Organisations

  1. Affiliation to organizations a. If the MCR, independently of the College Union, decides to become affiliated to any external organization, it shall publish to all its members, and to the Governing Body, a notice of this decision stating the name of the organization and the details of any subscription or similar fee paid or proposed to be paid, and of any donation made or proposed to be made, to the organization. b. The MCR shall publish annually to all its members, and to the Governing Body, the names of all external organizations to which it is affiliated independently of the College Union, and the details of any subscriptions or similar fee paid, and of any donation made or proposed to be made, to the organizations within the year covered by the accounts. c. Upon the request of at least three per cent. of its members, the MCR shall submit for the approval of its members a list of the organizations to which the MCR is affiliated independently of the College Union. If at least five per cent. of the members so require, the question of continued affiliation to any particular organization shall be decided by a secret ballot at which all members are entitled to vote. The outcome of any such vote shall be determined by applying a rule of simple majority.

Relationship with the College Union

  1. The Senior Treasurer of the College Union shall have the right to inspect the accounts of the MCR.

  2. The Council of the College Union shall assist the MCR Committee to implement the aims and objectives of the MCR.

  3. Members of the MCR Committee will fulfil duties as laid out in the Constitution of the College Union.

  4. The Senior Treasurer of the College Union, and the Council of the College Union shall fulfil duties as laid out in this Constitution.

Changes to the Constitution

  1. Any person who would normally qualify for automatic Ordinary Membership of the MCR or any group of such members who are dissatisfied in their dealings with the MCR Committee, or who claims to be unfairly disadvantaged by reason of having exercised the right not to be a member of the MCR, may complain to the Senior Treasurer of the College Union. An appeal against the decision of the Senior Treasurer of the College Union may be made to the Governing Body, who shall have the absolute power to provide such effective remedy, if any, as they consider appropriate.