BBS rules - British Bryological Society

1. Name
The Society shall be called THE BRITISH BRYOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

2. Objects
(a) To promote and advance all branches of bryology throughout the world and especially in relation to bryophytes of the British Isles.

(b) To facilitate the exchange of information among bryologists by organising field meetings, conferences, lectures and exhibitions, publishing the results of bryological study and research, maintaining a library, and other appropriate means.

3. Membership
The Society shall consist of Honorary Members, Ordinary Members, Senior Members, Junior Members, Student Members and Family Members.

(a) Honorary Members shall be bryologists who have rendered outstanding service either to bryology or to the Society. They shall be nominated by the Council and elected at an Annual General Meeting. They shall pay no subscription but shall have the same privileges as Ordinary Members.

(b) Ordinary Membership shall be open to any individual with an interest in bryology. Ordinary Members shall be admitted on payment of their first annual subscription. They shall be entitled to vote at meetings and to receive the Journal of Bryology and the Bulletin of the British Bryological Society.

(c) Senior Members shall be Ordinary Members who have been members of the Society for forty or more years and who opt to pay a reduced annual subscription. They shall enjoy the same privileges as Ordinary Members.

(d) Junior Members shall be members under the age of 21. They shall pay a reduced annual subscription and enjoy the same privileges as Ordinary Members.

(e) Student Members shall be members who are full-time students, irrespective of age. They shall pay a reduced annual subscription and enjoy the same privileges as Ordinary Members.

(f) Family Members shall be members of the family of, and resident with, an Ordinary Member or an Honorary Member; they shall pay a nominal annual subscription and enjoy the same privileges as Ordinary Members except that they shall not be entitled to receive the Society’s publications.

Council may terminate the membership of any member whose activities are considered to bring the Society into disrepute or be prejudicial to its objects.

4. Subscriptions
(a) The annual subscriptions shall be as determined from time to time at Annual General Meetings or at Special General Meetings of the Society. Members shall be informed of any proposal to alter the annual subscriptions at least four weeks before the meeting, and any changes shall require the agreement of at least 60% of those voting.

(b) The annual subscription is due in advance on 1 January in each year. Members who have not paid their subscription by 31 March shall not be entitled to receive the Society’s publications until the subscription is paid. Any member whose subscription is more than one year in arrears shall be suspended unless the Council shall decide otherwise.

5. Management of the Society
(a) The officers of the Society shall be President, Vice-President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Editor or Editors (including the Managing Editor of the Journal of Bryology but excluding the Scientific
Editors), Librarian and such others as the Society may appoint. The President and the Vice-President shall not be debarred from simultaneously holding one of the other offices of the Society apart from those of General Secretary or Treasurer.

(b) The management of the Society shall be in the hands of a Council which shall consist of the officers, six Elected Members, and the immediate Past-President who shall remain a member of the Council for two years after he or she ceases to hold office. The immediate Past-President may also hold one of the other offices of the Society, apart from those of General Secretary or Treasurer. The Council shall meet at least once each year but its business may also be conducted, at the discretion of the President, by correspondence. The Council shall have power to co-opt.

(c) The officers shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting for a term of two years dating from 1 January following the meeting and shall be eligible for re-election, except that the Vice-President shall automatically succeed the President. Officers shall be eligible for election to another office immediately after retiring from an office but retiring officers shall not be eligible for election as Elected Members until after an interval of two years. Vacancies occurring among the officers shall be filled at the next Annual General Meeting for a two-year term. With the exception of the Librarian, officers of the BBS shall have a normal limit of tenure of 10 years. Officers who have served for 10 years or more can be re-elected, but only if proposed from the Chair and seconded by the Vice-President or a Past-President.

(d) The six Elected Members shall ordinarily serve for three years, two being elected at each Annual General Meeting. Vacancies occurring among the Elected Members shall be filled at the next Annual General Meeting for the remainder of the unexpired term. Elected Members whose initial appointment was for, and who have served, the full term shall not be eligible for re-election in this capacity for three years after their term expires.

(e) Any member of the Society may propose members for election as officers or Elected Members of Council. Such proposals shall be made to the General Secretary at least four weeks before the Annual General Meeting. The Council may also make nominations at any time before the Annual General Meeting.

(f) An Executive Committee comprising the President, Vice-President, General Secretary and Treasurer shall have power to act on urgent matters arising between Council meetings. The Executive Committee shall report its actions to Council at the earliest opportunity.

(g) The Council may appoint from its own body, with or without the addition of other members, such other committees as may be needed. The Council may also appoint assistants to any officer; such assistants shall be entitled to deputise for the respective officers at meetings.

(h) All Council Members shall be Trustees of the Society within the meaning of the Charities Act 1993.

6. Financial Matters
(a) The powers of Council under the terms of 5(b) above, to incur expenditure on behalf of the Society shall be consistent with their powers and duties as trustees, subject to any item of expenditure in excess of an amount equal to 100 times the annual subscription for an Ordinary Member first being considered as an agenda item.

(b) The powers of the Executive, under the terms of 5(f) above, shall be limited in financial matters to expenditure of an amount equal to 50 times the annual subscription for an Ordinary Member on any one issue where the expenditure under consideration is not incurred on normal Society business.

(c) Members who wish to propose expenditure in excess of an amount equal to 50 times the annual subscription for an Ordinary member at an Annual General Meeting must give written details of the proposal to the General Secretary at least eight weeks before the meeting so that the details can be included with the agenda for the meeting. For clarification; this will not preclude members from putting such proposals to the General Secretary for consideration by Council in the normal way.

7. Meetings
(a) An Annual General Meeting and at least one field meeting shall be held each year. Other meetings may also be held at the discretion of the Council. The places and times of such meetings shall be decided, as far as possible, at a previous Annual General Meeting.

(b) The President shall normally chair all meetings of the Society or its Council. In the absence of the President, meetings shall be chaired by the Vice-President, General Secretary or Treasurer in that order of precedence. The procedure and order of business shall be decided by the officer who is chairing the meeting who shall have a casting vote.

(c) Subject only to 7(b) above, no member of Council shall have more than one vote at Council meetings irrespective of whether or not that person holds two offices simultaneously (see 5(a) and 5(b) above).

(d) Notice of Annual General Meetings, of Special General Meetings, and of Council Meetings, shall be sent to all members who are eligible to attend at least four weeks in advance of the meeting. Ten eligible members shall constitute a quorum at Special General Meetings or at Council meetings. A Special General Meeting may be called at any time at the discretion of Council, or at the written request of any 50 members.

8. Publications
(a) The Journal of Bryology and the Bulletin of the British Bryological Society are the official organs of the Society and shall each be published at least once a year. They shall include the results of original research, reviews, information on the biology, systematics and distribution of bryophytes, an official record of the activities of the Society and such other matter as will, in the opinion of the Editor or Editors, promote the Society’s objects. The Editors shall be responsible to Council. The publications shall be on sale to non-members, and to libraries and other institutions, at such prices as the Council shall determine, unless the Council delegates this power in respect of the Journal of Bryology to the publisher.

(b) The Society may publish such other publications as the Council may from time to time determine.

9. Alteration of Rules
(a) Changes in these Rules may be made only at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting. No alterations, variations or additions shall be made to the Rules which will make the objects of the Society not exclusively charitable or the funds and assets of the Society applicable otherwise than for exclusively charitable purposes.

(b) Proposals for changing the Rules must be submitted to the General Secretary in writing not less than eight weeks before the meeting. The General Secretary shall send to all members of the Society notice of such proposed changes at least four weeks before the meeting. Changes in the Rules require the agreement of at least 60% of those voting.

September 2006