Holding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)

An Extraordinary General Meeting, often referred to as an EGM, is held in exceptional circumstances to update and inform your members of any changes to your Student Group's normal working. It's a chance for you to be transparent with your members about what may have changed and why a choice may have been made - Has a committee member stepped down? Are your Singleton Campus sessions to be cancelled? Has a member brought the group into disrepute and their membership status is in jeopardy?

Checklist for Preparing an EGM

• Book a room if your EGM is to be held on campus
  
• Notify all your members at least 5 days before an EGM is set held, inviting them to it. Do so officially via email but also message and speak to people
• Inform members that they are able to submit motions for change up until 2 days before an EGM is set to be held. They can do so by writing to the Secretary. Motions relating to the constitution need 5 days notice, and are therefore unsuitable for an EGM unless brought forward by the committee, and are the reason for the EGM
• Set up your elections as below if you need to elect someone into an empty committee position
• The Secretary should take minutes at the meeting
• Inform the SU of any decisions made at the meeting

Elections as part of an EGM

One of the main reasons for holding an EGM is if your Student Group is electing a New Committee member, often as a result of a student taking a step back. If this is the case, you will need to follow the steps below.

You must hold all your elections via the SU website - this allows voting to be restricted to members only, and allows the Union to automatically assign new committees to their roles on our website. This also ensures that voting occurs by single transferable voting, which is a much better way of voting than a simple majority! 

 Here are the steps you should follow when electing a Committee members and informing the SU:

1. Fill out the Online Election Form attached (both sheets) to this article and send it back to us as a ticket on this Helpdesk.
2. The SU will then set up the election for you, which will be accessible through your webpage on the SU website, for anyone members interested.
3. Communicate the dates with your members and promote the election to encourage them to nominate and vote.
4. When polling closes we will send you the results through email. We aim to send results the next working day,  so keep an eye out in your Student Groups' inbox!
5. Pass on the results of your election to  your members and the successful candidate(s). This can be done in the best way you feel to reach your members, whether online or in-person.
6. We will then assign the successful candidate(s) the required permissions they need to operate on our systems e.g. if Treasurer is elected, we will assign access to the Finance system.
7. Show the new Committee members the ropes of what their role involves. Please ensure you pass on any internal access they might need i.e. social media access etc. as the SU does not have this access.

Please note - If you do not do any of the above or hold the election for a new committee member in-person or without informing us of this, this could results in your election being rendered invalid and having to conduct it again. It may also result in them not having the required permissions to conduct their day-to-day responsibilities.