AGM Guide 2024

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 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 the Association. At the AGM, proposals are submitted from the membership and the UK Committee. All proposals are submitted to the Vice-Chair (Governance & Policy) prior to the AGM. The financial and annual reports are presented, and budgets are discussed for the forthcoming year.

The AGM has three key objectives that should be met by the end of the session:

1. Discuss and agree on policy;
2. Discuss and agree expenditure for the forthcoming year as well as agreeing on the level of subscriptions;
3. Hold the UK Committee accountable for the work they have carried out and expenditure made over the past year by approving the audited accounts.

ESTABLISHING QUORUM
The Chair will first 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.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
The Chair will formally open the AGM and explain the process.

MINUTES OF THE 2023 AGM
The AGM will formally accept or refer back to the minutes of the past AGM. Any clarifications or mistakes will be discussed.

REPORTS
All members of the UK Committee report to the AGM on the work that they have undertaken over the year. Each member of the UK Executive will present their report (all reports and proposals are circulated prior to AGM and are available on the HELOA website). There will then be an opportunity for comments and questions. The reports will be proposed as one report and then a seconder will be sought from the members attending who must provide their full name and institution. The Executive member will then ask all Primary Contacts or proxies to vote on the motion.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS
Audited accounts from the previous year and proposed budgets and subscription levels for the next year 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 paper will be debated and be presented by a proposer and a seconder sought before being put to a vote.

VOTING

Institutional full members are entitled to vote on motions at the AGM which is the role of the institutional Primary Contact. If the Primary Contact is unable to attend the AGM, then they may appoint another institutional HELOA member as a proxy to exercise all, or any, of that Primary Contact’s rights to attend, speak and vote. Each Primary Contact or proxy may only hold one vote. 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. They can choose to vote for, against or to abstain for each motion.

Any decision other than one falling within clause 10.4 (Decisions that must be taken in a particular way) shall be taken by a simple majority of votes cast at the meeting. In the event of an equality of votes, the chair shall either:

1. call for another vote; or
2. exercise his or her second, or casting vote.

Decisions that must be taken in a particular way including, any decision to amend the constitution, must be passed at the AGM by a 75% majority of votes cast.

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.

• Complete the HELOA AGM Form if you wish to attend, nominate a proxy or send your apologies for absence.
• Read the UK Committee reports and proposals circulated prior to AGM and available on the HELOA website.
• Discuss these reports with HELOA members at your institution, your Primary Contact and group committees.
• Submit any comments or questions for the UK Committee or to your Group Chair prior to AGM so that the executive committee can collate them and formulate a response which will help reduce the number of similar questions asked on the day and help to keep to time.
• Decide with your Primary Contact how your institution will vote on each report/proposal, where possible.
• Ensure your institution has a representative at AGM.
• Ensure your Primary Contact will be attending AGM or, where this is not possible, the Primary Contact has nominated a proxy to attend.
• 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.
• Consider nominating a HELOA member for a Commendation of Contribution or Honorary Membership. See the HELOA AGM FAQs for further details.
• Attend the AGM Q&A Drop In via Zoom 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; an explanation on how to ask questions; and how to vote at AGM.
• All full members are invited to attend, submit questions, make comments and second motions – when asked for a seconder, state your name and institution.
• Make comments or ask questions during the AGM. Please ask if there is anything that you don’t understand.
• Vote on motions. Primary Contacts will use an online voting system. Details will be sent separately from Mi-Voice on the 23rd January 2024.
• Report back to your institution on the decisions and outcomes from the AGM.