Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology

CONSTITUTION OF THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION FOR EDUCATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY

SECTION ONE: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: Name
The name of the Association shall be “The Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology”, hereinafter referred to as “the Association”. (中文名：香港教育傳意與科技協會)

Article 2: Address
The mailing address of the Association shall be:
P.O. Box 7864,
General Post Office,
Hong Kong.

Article 3: Purposes
The purposes of the Association shall be:
(1) To promote for the public benefit the advancement of Educational Communications and Technology.
(2) To advance the professional quality and standards of educational technology and related issues in Hong Kong.
(3) To share the professional experiences by means of meetings and conferences on subjects of general and special interest in Educational Communications and Technology.
(4) To hold workshops for those who desire to pursue further development in the related area.
(5) To generate interest in research for the publication of a journal or related publications through the Association.
(6) To broaden the goals and influences of the Association to other local and international educational associations and media industries.

Article 4: Administrative and Financial Period
The administrative and financial period of the Association shall be from January 1 to December 31 in the same year.

SECTION TWO: MEMBERSHIP

Articles 5: Type
The Association shall consist of two types of members, namely:
(1) Professional Members
(2) Student Members

Article 6: Qualifications
(1) Professional membership is generally open to educators who are actively engaged in the field of educational communications and technology; and all other individuals who are deeply involved in the fields of educational communications and technology;
(2) Student membership is generally open to all interested students currently enrolled in higher education institutes.

Article 7: Admission
An applicant shall become a member when his or her application is approved by the Executive Committee and the prescribed fees are paid.

Article 8: Rights
(1) Professional Members shall enjoy the right to elect and to be elected members of the Executive Committee of the Association, to initiate and to ratify changes to the Constitution of the Association. They are entitled to take part in all activities organized by the Association and to partake of all the benefits there from;
(2) Student Members are entitled to take part in all activities organized by the Association and to partake of the benefits there from.

Article 9: Obligation
(1) All members shall abide by the Constitution of the Association and the resolutions passed by the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting, where appropriate;
(2) All members shall pay the prescribed annual membership fees as approved by the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting, where appropriate.

SECTION 3: ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS

Article 10: Functions of the Annual General Meeting
The supreme authority of the Association shall be vested in the Annual General Meeting. Its functions shall be:
(1) to review/approve the General Annual Report and the Budget of the Executive Committee;
(2) to review/approve the audited account of the Association of the previous financial year;
(3) to ratify and to amend the Constitution of the Association;
(4) to determine the policies of the Association;
(5) to deal with matters concerning the election of the new Executive Committee;
(6) to discuss and pass resolutions on other related matters.

Article 11: Functions of the Extraordinary General Meeting
During the recess of the Annual General Meeting, the Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called to deal with urgent matters. Its functions shall be:
(1) to change policies of the Association;
(2) to transact any other businesses requested by the Executive Committee.

Article 12: Functions of the Executive Committee
During the recess of the Annual General Meeting, the general management of the Association shall be in the hand of the Executive Committee. Its functions shall be:
(1) to implement the resolutions passed by the Annual General Meeting and the Extraordinary General Meeting;
(2) to prepare for the annual budget and make recommendations to the Annual General Meeting;
(3) to plan and arrange for seminars/workshops and other activities.

Article 13: Members of the Executive Committee
(1) The Executive Committee shall consist of:
1 President
1 Vice-president
1 Secretary
1 Treasurer
1 Public Relations Officer
(2) The President shall represent the Association, direct the various officers of the Executive Committee in their work, take overall charge of the work of the Association and preside overall all the meetings.
(3) The Vice President shall assist the President with his or her work and shall action for him or her when he or she is absent, on leave or has vacated his or her office.

Article 13(A): Board of Past Presidents
(1) All past Presidents of the Association shall automatically be appointed “Honorary and Past Presidents” and members of the Board of Past Presidents.
(2) The Executive Committee may seek advice from the Board of Past Presidents as and when necessary.
(3) Members of the Board of Past Presidents have no voting power in the Executive Committee.
(4) Subject to (5) below, membership of the Board of Past Presidents is a life membership.
(5) A member of the Board of Past Presidents shall cease to hold office if he or she
(a) is removed by resolution of the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting; or
(b) becomes incapable by reason of mental disorder, illness or injury of managing and administering his or her own affairs; or
(c) notifies in writing to the Executive Committee a wish to resign from the Board of Past Presidents; or
(d) is re-elected again to become a member of the Executive Committee of the Association.

Article 13(B): Appointments of Honorary Advisors
(1) The Executive Committee may nominate and the Association may appoint Honorary Advisor(s). Any such honorary appointment shall be approved by the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting.
(2) An Honorary Advisor so appointed may or may not be a member of the Association.
(3) Subject to (4) below, the office of an Honorary Advisor is to be held for the life of the person appointed.
(4) An appointed Honorary Advisor shall cease to hold office if he or she
(a) is removed by resolution of the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting; or
(b) becomes incapable by reason of mental disorder, illness or injury of managing and administering his or her own affairs; or
(c) notifies in writing to the Executive Committee a wish to resign from the concerned honorary post; or
(d) becomes a member of the Executive Committee of the Association.
(5) In accordance with the procedures stipulated in Article 14, the Executive Committee shall provide reasonably sufficient information including but not limited to the personal particulars of a nominated candidate, his or her contribution to the Association, and details as to whether he or she is a fit and proper person for such honorary appointment for the consideration of the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting, where appropriate.
(6) For the avoidance of doubt, an Honorary Advisor so appointed is not a member of the Board of Past Presidents as provided for in Article 13(A).

SECTION 4: MEETINGS

Article 14: General Meetings
(1) The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall meet once a year before 1 January and it shall be convened by the President.
(2) The quorum for an Annual General Meeting shall be one-fifth of Professional Members. Written notice of the meeting together with the agenda shall be circulated to members at least two weeks before the meeting.
(3) If there are not sufficient Professional Members to constitute a quorum, for the Annual General Meeting, the President shall reconvene a General Meeting as soon as possible. Should the number again fall short of a quorum, those Professional Members present will constitute the quorum for the meeting.
(4) The Extraordinary General Meeting is attended by Professional Members only. The meeting is called either
(a) by order of the Executive Committee, or
(b) at the written request of not less than one-quarter of Professional Members.
(5) The quorum for an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be one-sixth of Professional Members. Written notice of the meeting together with the agenda shall be circulated to members at least one week before the meeting.

Article 15: Executive Committee
(1) The Executive Committee shall meet at least once every three months.
(2) The quorum for Executive Committee meetings shall be a number exceeding half of the committee membership. A motion is adopted if favoured by the majority of the members present.

SECTION 5: ELECTION AND RE-ELECTION

Article 16: Nominations and Length of Services
(1) The Association shall biennially elect the Executive Committee at the Annual General Meeting by all Professional Members of the Association present at the Meeting.
(2) Any Professional Member of the Association, with his or her personal consent, may be nominated for election to the Executive Committee by any two Professional Members, with one being a proposer and another being a seconder.
(3) The election shall take place in the following manner:
(a) If the number of candidates duly nominated equals or is less than the number of vacancies to be filled, the said candidates shall be deemed to have been elected to the Executive Committee with immediate effect after the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting at which the vacancies are to be filled.
(b) If the number of candidates duly nominated exceeds the number of vacancies to be filled, the election shall be by a show of hands or by secret ballot as decided by the President of the Association or by a member of the Executive Committee who chairs the Annual General Meeting at which the vacancies are to be filled if the President is absent from the Meeting, and the candidates to be elected shall hold office with immediate effect after the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting.
(c) If any office remains unfilled, such vacancy shall be treated as a casual vacancy in the Executive Committee. The newly formed Executive Committee shall have the power to find any Professional Members to fill any casual vacancies.
(4) Results of the election shall be announced at the Annual General Meeting.
(5) The office of the Executive Committee shall be two years. Their terms of office shall start on January 1, after the announcement at the Annual General Meeting.
(6) When a term of office expires, a member of the Executive Committee shall be eligible for re-election up to a maximum of two more consecutive terms in the same office of the Executive Committee, not to exceed six consecutive years. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not a consecutive term if a member of the Executive Committee is re-elected to another office of the Executive Committee in a new term of office.

Article 17: Awards
The Executive Committee may subject to the approval of the General Meeting, present letters of Commendation to those who have offered meritorious services to the Association.

Article 18: Penalties
Members of the Association who commit one of the following breaches may, subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting, be warned or expelled from the Association by the Executive Committee:
(1) infringement of the Constitution of the Association and resolution passed by the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting;
(2) conviction of a criminal act under the Hong Kong law;
(3) false use of the name of the Association in unlawful acts, thereby impairing its reputation.

Fees already paid or donations made by members who withdraw voluntarily or are expelled from the Association shall not be recoverable. If the members concerned are office bearers, they shall relinquish their offices automatically.

SECTION 7: USE OF FUNDS

Article 19: Usage
Fund of the Association shall be applied solely to meet its recurrent expenditure and for the enterprises stipulated in Art. 3 regarding the purposes of the Association and shall not be used for any other purposes.

SECTION 8: DEBTS AND LIABILITIES

Article 20
Any debts of the Association shall be borne by all members of the Executive Committee of the term in which debts are incurred.

SECTION 9: APPENDIX

(1) In case the Association should dissolve, it shall be approved by the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting and assented to by over half of the members of Association. Any remaining assets of the Association upon its dissolution shall be donated to local charitable organizations.
(2) Any amendment to the Constitution of the Association shall be passed by the Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meeting and approved by the Registrar of Societies before it goes into effect.

(Approved by the Extraordinary General Meeting on March 12, 2016)