Rules

STATUTE of the Students’ Union at the University of Applied Arts Vienna

Pursuant to Section 16 (2) of the Federal Act on the Representation of Students (Student Union Act 2014 – HSG 2014), Federal Law Gazette I No. 45/2014, the University Representation of the Student Union at the University of Applied Arts Vienna has adopted the following statutes in its 3rd ordinary meeting on 24.01.2019.

1 Organs of the Student Union
2 Constitution
3 The University Representation
4 Meetings of the University Representation
5 Preparation of the agenda
6 Preliminary discussion of the university representation meeting
7 Procedure of the meeting
8 Motions
9 Procedure of the debate
10 Voting
11 Taking minutes
12 Chair
13 Representation of the Chair
14 The units
15 Control rights of mandataries
16 Conduct of ballots
17 Study Representations
18 Amendment and entry into force of the statutes

1 Bodies of the Student Union

(1) The organs of the Student Union at the University of Applied Arts are:

The electoral commission
The University Council
The student representation

(2) These statutes shall apply to all bodies of the Student Union at the University of Applied Arts with the exception of the Election Commission.

2 Constitution

(1) The constituent meeting shall be the first meeting of the newly elected mandataries of an organ after the announcement of the election results.

(2) The invitation to the constituent meeting shall be issued by the chair of the election commission. The invitation shall be sent out by sealed registered mail at least two weeks before the date of the meeting (date of postmark). The date of the constituent meeting shall be determined by the Chair of the Election Commission. However, the meeting shall be scheduled no later than two weeks before the end of the election semester.

(3) The chair of the electoral commission shall take the minutes and chair the constituent meeting. The agenda shall include the following items in particular:

Welcome, determination of the proper invitation, the presence and the quorum.
Approval of the agenda
Election of the chair of the university representation
Election of the first deputy of the chair
Election of the second deputy of the chair
Delegation to the federal representation
Any other business

3 The University Council

(1) Voting members of the University Representation are the mandataries.

(2) The chairpersons of the student councils are also members of the University Council without voting rights.

(3) The advisors are members of the University Council with an advisory vote and the right to submit motions for the affairs of their department.

(4) The University Council shall determine the guidelines for the work of the chairperson and of the representatives.

(5) At the request of a member of the University Council, the Chair shall call in persons to provide information at the meetings. These persons shall have the right to speak. Other persons may be granted the right to speak by the University Council by resolution with a simple majority.

4 Meetings of the University Council

(1) The University Council shall be convened by the chairperson for an ordinary meeting at least twice every semester.

(2) The invitation to the ordinary meeting of the University Council shall be sent by post at least seven working days before the meeting, stating the time, place and agenda; if the mandataries do not wish to attend, the invitation shall be sent by e-mail. The invitation has to be sent to all mandataries and speakers. Furthermore, it shall be published in a suitable form (website, notice board or mail). Important documents shall be enclosed with the invitation.

(3) In urgent matters, upon written request of at least two mandataries and simultaneous submission of an agenda, the Chair shall be obliged to convene an extraordinary meeting within five study days. The invitation shall be made as in § 4 (2). If the chair has not convened the meeting in due time, the applicants shall be entitled to convene an extraordinary meeting of the university representation themselves under the conditions mentioned.

(4) The meetings shall be held in public; upon justified request, a two-thirds majority may decide to exclude the public. (With justification in the minutes)

5 Preparation of the agenda

(1) Each agenda shall contain at least the following agenda items:

Welcome, determination of the proper invitation, presence and quorum
Approval of the agenda
Approval of the minutes of the last meeting
Report of the chair
Report of the units
Any other business

(2) Additional agenda items can be submitted by all mandataries until the date of the preliminary discussion according to § 6 (2) of these statutes.

(3) At the beginning of the meeting, the inclusion or removal of items on the agenda as well as a change in the order may be requested.

(4) No more resolutions may be passed under the item “Miscellaneous”.

6 Preliminary discussion of the University Council meeting

(1) A preliminary meeting shall be held before each meeting of the University Council.

One representative of each electoral group represented in the university representation, who is to be sent by the authorised representatives, as well as individual speakers, if necessary, are to be invited to this meeting.

(2) The preliminary meeting shall take place at least one, but no more than three working days before the meeting.

(3) The invitation shall be issued together with the invitation to the university representation.

7 Procedure of the meeting

(1) The meeting shall begin with the determination of the proper invitation as well as the determination of the quorum. A quorum shall be deemed to exist if at least half of the mandataries are present, unless the HSG requires a different quorum. If there is no quorum, the meeting shall be interrupted. If the quorum is not established within one hour, the meeting shall be terminated and a new meeting shall be convened within three working days in accordance with § 4 (2) of these Statutes.

(2) The meeting shall be chaired by the Chair. He shall deal with the items on the agenda in the order of the agenda. The Chair shall give the floor in the order in which the members have asked to speak by raising their hands.

(3) In order to ensure the orderly conduct of the meeting, the Chair shall have the right to use the following means:

The reference to the matter
Rejection of insulting expressions
Call to order
The request to be brief
Suspending the meeting for a maximum of 1 hour (in total)
Withdrawal of the floor for this agenda item, if 1- 5 was not sufficient for the statute-conform course of the meeting, after a resolution with simple majority and with reason in the minutes.

(4) Likewise, all mandataries are entitled to reject insulting expressions.

(5) Also, each electoral group can demand an interruption of the meeting in the course of each meeting at most 2 times for a total duration of (altogether) at most 1 hour. The Chair shall then interrupt the meeting for the period requested.

8 Motions

(1) Motions shall be submitted in writing as:

main motions: A main motion is a motion first made on an item.
Counter-motions: A counter-motion is a motion that deals with the subject matter of a main motion in a manner inconsistent with the main motion in terms of content and form.
Supplementary motions: A supplementary motion is a motion that expands, concretizes, or limits a main motion or countermotion.

(2) If several motions are submitted, the voting shall proceed as follows:

The main motion shall be voted on before the supplementary motion, and the countermotion before the main motion. If the countermotion is adopted, the main motion is defeated. If the countermotion is rejected, the main motion shall be voted on.

The order of the motions shall be determined by the Chair.

In the case of elections, each motion shall be voted on separately and by secret ballot.

(3) Motions can be withdrawn by the proposer until the vote.

(4) Motions are to be formulated in such a way that they can be voted on with “yes” or “no”.

(5) Motions which violate valid laws are not to be admitted by the chair.

9 Procedure of the debate

(1) The proposer or rapporteur gets the floor at the beginning of the debate.
(2) The order of the marked speakers is interrupted if a person requests the floor to speak:

Statutes
Correction
Question
Minutes
Proposal

(3) Anyone wishing to speak “on the Articles of Association”, i.e. to draw attention to a matter that is contrary to the Articles of Association or the law, shall be given the floor immediately.
(4) Who wants to speak “to the correction”, i.e. to clear up a present mistake, furthermore, “to the application” the word asks, receives it if the respective speaker has pronounced.
(5) The negotiations on a motion or an item of the agenda shall be interrupted if a person makes a formal motion for:

Adjournment of the matters (with reasons in the minutes).
End of the list of speakers
End of the debate on a motion
End of the debate on an agenda item
Adjournment of the meeting
End of the meeting

(6) For all motions under § 9 (5) one speaker and one counter speaker are given the floor. Afterwards the motions will be put to the vote.

10 Voting

(1) For the adoption of a motion, the presence of at least half of the members entitled to vote and, unless otherwise stipulated in the HSG, a simple majority of the valid votes cast is required. An abstention shall be considered as a vote not cast. Resolutions requiring a two-thirds majority include, but are not limited to: Dismissal of delegated student representatives, dismissal of the chair as well as the deputy, dismissal of speakers as well as amendments to the statutes.
(2) When voting on a motion, the votes shall be determined as follows:

Pro votes
Abstentions
Against votes

(3) In the event of a tie, the motion shall be deemed rejected.
(4) A vote shall be invalid if cast by a person not entitled to vote or after the close of voting.
(5) The Chair shall request a roll call vote if the result appears doubtful to her. The chair must do this if this is requested by at least two mandataries.
(6) At the request of at least two mandataries, a secret written vote shall be held.
(7) Elections and motions for deselection are to be voted by secret ballot in any case.

11 Taking minutes

(1) The course of the meeting shall be recorded in minutes. The minutes shall give a true picture of the meeting and shall contain:

Date, beginning and end of the meeting.
The names of all members and respondents present.
The agenda.
The motions put forward for each item on the agenda and the resolutions adopted in verbatim form, together with the names of the proposers.
The result of the vote on each motion.
The main content of the interventions on each item of the agenda.
Minutes taken at the request of a member.

(2) The minutes shall be drawn up immediately. It shall be sent to the members of the University Council with the invitation to the next meeting.
(3) Minutes of public meetings shall be published in an appropriate form or made available for inspection.

12 Chair

(1) The chairperson of the University Council, or the deputy if the chairperson is prevented from doing so, shall represent the Union of Students externally. The chairperson shall be responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of the University Council and the handling of current business. All organs of the Student Union shall be bound by the instructions of the chair within the framework of the resolutions of the University Council.
(2) If other organs of the University Students’ Union do not perform tasks, the chair of the University Council shall ensure that these tasks are performed by the University Council.
(3) The chairperson shall be authorized to negotiate and sign on behalf of the students’ union.
(4) The chairperson, in cooperation with the student representatives, shall be responsible for the management of all administrative institutions and for the coordination of the activities of all bodies of the Student Union.
(5) The chairperson and his/her deputies shall observe the laws, ordinances, statutes and resolutions and shall be responsible to the governing bodies for their activities.
(6) In urgent university representation matters, the chairperson alone shall be authorized to make decisions, but shall take into account any decisions already made by the university representation. A matter shall be considered urgent if the convening of a meeting of the university representative body would make it impossible to deal with it in time or if there is imminent danger. Decisions on urgent matters shall in any case be reported at the next meeting of the university representative body.
(7) The chair shall inform the university representative body of the nominations received for the individual units. The chairperson shall be authorized to suspend from their duties any officer who neglects his/her office or acts contrary to his/her duties and to submit the matter to the university council for a decision.
(8) The responsibility, rights and duties of the chair expire at the end of the term of office or on the day of resignation or deselection.

13 Representation of the Chair

(1) The Chairperson shall be represented by his/her deputies if he/she is prevented from attending.
(2) The Chair may delegate precisely defined parts or areas of responsibility to his/her deputy. In this case the deputy acts on behalf and under the responsibility of the chair.
(3) Upon proposal of the chair, the university representation may transfer precisely defined areas of responsibility to its deputy. In this case, the deputy shall act on his or her own behalf and responsibility.

14 The Units

(1) In order to manage the administrative affairs of the Students’ Union, departments for the following matters have been established:

The Economic Department
The department for education and politics
Department for social affairs
Department for Public Relations
Department for International Students
Department for Intersectional QueerFeminist Content
Department for Art and Theory
Department for Communication
Department for Feminist Politics
Department for anti-racist intervention

(2) The units shall be under the direction of the speakers. Until a resolution is passed on the appointment, the chair may temporarily entrust appropriately qualified persons with the management.
(3) The University Council may decide on a temporary non-occupation of individual units.
(4) A hearing with all candidates shall be held prior to the election of the department heads. At least all mandataries shall be invited to this hearing in a suitable form.
(5) The election of the speakers shall take place by simple majority on the proposal of the chair.
(6) According to the budget, administrators can be appointed in the individual units.
(7) The officers shall be accountable to the Chair and to the University Council.
(8) The officers shall submit a written report to the University Council once per semester.
(9) If speakers enter into negotiations with legal or physical persons in the name of the students’ union, they shall immediately report to the chair.

15 Control rights of mandataries

(1) The mandataries are entitled to demand information from the chair and the speakers at any time about the matters falling within their competence.
(2) If an immediate oral provision of information is not possible, the chairperson, his/her deputy or the speakers shall provide the information in writing within two weeks.
(3) Against reimbursement of the costs, all documents are to be handed over to the mandataries in copy with reference to the official secrecy. The acknowledgement of this official secrecy shall be recorded in writing.

16 Conduct of ballots

(1) The ballot must be conducted within 3 months, excluding lecture-free periods, after the resolution by the University Council by the chairperson. (easier readability: by)
(2) The vote must be announced in a suitable form at least one week before the vote, stating the place, time and the question to be voted on.
(3) Votes that take place in the same month as ÖH elections must be combined with them.
(4) Regular students of the University of Applied Arts are entitled to vote.
(5) Voting must be in writing, secret and in person.
(6) The question to be voted on must be answerable with “yes” or “no”. The results shall be counted by representatives to be nominated by the authorized representatives of the parliamentary groups represented in the University Council.
(7) The announcement of the results shall be made in an appropriate form and within a maximum of one week after the voting has taken place.

Section 17 Student Representatives

(1) The study representatives established at the University of Applied Arts are:

The Student Council for Architecture
The Student Council for Art & Science
The Student Council for Fine Arts
The Student Council for Stage Design
The Student Council for Cross-Disciplinary Strategies
The Student Council for Design
The Student Council for Doctoral Studies
The Student Council for Industrial Design
The Student Council for Conservation and Restoration
The Student Council for Teacher Education
The Student Council for Media Art
The Student Council for Social Design – Arts As Urban Innovation
The Student Council for Language Arts
The Student Council for TransArts

(2) The tasks of the student representation are:

To represent the interests of the students as well as to promote them in their field of activity;
Nomination of the student representatives to be delegated, in particular for curricula, appointment as well as advisory commissions.
Disposal of the budget allocated to the student representatives.
Issuing statements on draft laws and ordinances.

(3) Student representatives shall hold at least 2 meetings per semester. In particular, financial decisions regarding the budget allocated to the student representatives as well as the nomination of student representatives shall be made in the form of resolutions. These decisions shall be recorded in writing and forwarded to the university representative body.
(4) If a student representative body is not in a position to fulfill its duties, these shall cease to apply, including the financial resources to the university representative body.

18 Amendment and entry into force of the statutes

(1) Amendments and supplements to the statutes are possible in university representative meetings with a two-thirds majority of the votes cast. The proposed amendments or additions to the Statutes must be announced as an agenda item together with the proposed amendment or addition.
(2) The present Statutes shall enter into force upon approval by the University Council and shall supersede any previously published Statutes of the Students’ Union of the University of Applied Arts.