AGM 2024 FAQs

• Wednesday 24th January 2024, 10:00 – 12:00 via Zoom

• At the 2023 AGM, the membership voted to decouple AGM from the National Conference on a trial basis. Following the 2024 AGM, the HELOA Executive will give feedback to the membership if this format is successful. Criteria for AGM success can be found here.

• AGM stands for Annual General Meeting and it is the policy making body for HELOA. The Association has a legal requirement to hold an Annual General Meeting which gives members the opportunity to give a final stamp of approval for the work carried out by officers of the Association over the last 12 months and give approval, or not, to the proposals for the future running and development of the Association over the coming 12 months. By members using their vote they are directing the work of their Association.

• Members are encouraged to attend the AGM. Members attend the AGM in order to represent the views of their institution. Members are invited to speak, ask questions and vote (via Primary Contacts) during the meeting and are encouraged to report back to institutions on the discussions and outcomes.

• To book onto the AGM, please complete the HELOA AGM Form by Wednesday 17th January 2024.
  
  This form can also be used to book onto the AGM Q&A drop-in session on Wednesday 17th January 2024, 12:00 – 12:45 via Zoom.

• To register your apologies for the AGM, please complete the HELOA AGM Form by Wednesday 17th January 2024. If you are the primary contact for your institution, please complete this form to register your apologies and nominate a proxy.

• Make sure you are familiar with the papers and understand the reports and motions. It is useful to discuss these with the relevant people in your institution so that you are clear about your institution’s views. Decide with your primary contact how your institution will vote on each report/ proposal, where possible.
• Ensure your institution has a representative at AGM and that a proxy has been nominated to vote, should your Primary Contact be unable to attend.
• Submit any comments or questions for the UK Committee to your Group Chair prior to AGM.
• Notify the UKC VC (Membership and Administration) of any other business to be discussed at the AGM at least twenty-eight days before the meeting (27th December 2023).
• Attend the AGM Q&A Drop In on Wednesday 17th January 12:00 – 12:45 where the Chair will provide: an opportunity to ask questions; a run-down of the structure and protocols of AGM; explain how to ask questions; and how to vote at AGM.

• Discuss any comments or questions with your Group Chair prior to AGM and send any directly to the office or a member of Exec.

• Establishing Quorum – The Chair will first determine if there are enough Primary Contacts present to hold the AGM.
• Welcome and Introduction followed by Minutes of the 2023 AGM.
• UKC Reports – each member of the UK Executive will present their report (circulated prior to AGM and available on the website). There will be an opportunity for comments and questions before Primary Contacts or their proxies will vote on the motion.
• Financial Accounts – Audited accounts from last year and proposed budgets and subscription levels for the next will be presented to the AGM for debate. The AGM will then be asked to formally accept the audited accounts.
• Proposals – Matters relating to changes in policy and the Constitution will be presented separately in the form of proposals. Each proposal will be debated before being put to a vote.

• Each full institutional member of HELOA is entitled to a vote at the AGM. The Primary Contact, who represents the institution, will vote on behalf of all the institution’s members. Contact your Primary Contact to ensure that they are attending the AGM. If they are unable to attend, you can request to be nominated as their proxy.

• If the primary contact is unable to attend the AGM, the institution can nominate another member from their institution to vote on behalf of the institution. To nominate a proxy, primary contacts should complete the HELOA AGM Form by Wednesday 17th January 2023.

• In order to run AGM, the Chair needs to determine if there are enough Primary Contacts present to hold the AGM – this is called quoracy. This is set at 1/3 of the number of Primary Contacts, and if not enough are present, the AGM is unable to go ahead and conduct formal business.

  Ideally more than a third of Primary Contacts would be present, and a target of having 65% of Primary Contacts attending either in person or virtually should be achieved.

  All members are encouraged and a broad representation of membership should attend (Assistant to Director) from all backgrounds (Outreach, Recruitment, WP, International, UG, PG). A target of 15-20% attendance from the full membership should be achieved.

  AGM is a conversation space and success would also be deemed with the level of engagement, with different people seconding motions, and a broad range of questions/points being raised.

• Voting at the AGM will take place electronically via Mi-Voice, an online voting platform. Primary contacts and nominated proxies should receive an email from Mi-Voice on Tuesday 23rd January 2024 with voting details and a single-use link to join the voting site which can be accessed through a browser. It is the role of the primary contact or nominated proxy to canvas the views of their institutional HELOA members and vote accordingly during the AGM.

• Speaking – All full members are invited to make comments on the proposals to contribute to the discussion.
• Ask Questions – if there is anything that you would like clarified or don’t understand, please ask.
• Second an item – when asked for a seconder, state your name and institution.
• Voting – Primary Contacts or their nominated proxies will be invited to vote on each motion.

• • Contact your group chair or the UK VC (Membership & Administration)
  • Discuss AGM details and questions at group meetings.
  • Attend the AGM Q&A drop in, 17th January 2024, 12:00-12:45 via Zoom.
  • Access the AGM pages of the HELOA website.
  • Look out for the AGM HELOA bulletin

A Commendation of Contribution provides an opportunity for members who have gone above and beyond in service of the association, or, been influential in the development of the association to be recognised.

Individuals who are nominated for a Commendation of Contribution would normally fulfil one or more of the following:

• To have been involved with the development of initiatives that have promoted the association at national or group level and where their professional conduct has supported the aims of the association;
• To have actively been involved in representing a group of the association at national or group level and where their professional conduct has supported the aims of the Commendations of Service;
• To have served as a UK Officer of the association and where their professional conduct has supported the aims of the association.

If you wish to nominate a HELOA member for a Commendation of Contribution, please send a short paragraph (no longer than 300 words) stating your reasons for the nomination on the Commendations of Service form by 5pm on Wednesday 3rd January 2024 to office@heloa.ac.uk.

• If you wish to nominate a HELOA member for Honorary Membership, please send a short paragraph (no longer than 300 words) stating your reasons for the nomination by 5pm on Wednesday 3rd January 2024 to office@heloa.ac.uk.
  Nominations for Honorary membership should be for individuals who are no longer represented by institutional membership of the Association and are unlikely to be in the future, and therefore cannot be considered for HELOA membership, but have previously served to support the Association in achieving its aims and objectives.

• Unfortunately, only full HELOA members can attend the AGM. An alternative session will be arranged for associate members attending the National Conference to participate in while the AGM is being held.