The Society's Council has called a Special General Meeting (SGM) as it is proposing some changes to our Bye Laws, and our Bye Laws stipulate that any changes to them must be agreed by a vote of the Fellowship at an SGM.
The SGM, which will be an announcement of the result of the ballot, will be held in-person and online at 5.00pm on Monday 3 October.
While all Fellows and Members can attend the SGM in-person or online, only Fellows can vote. Fellows will receive a voting pack by email from Civica, the company we are using to conduct the ballot, on, or shortly after, Friday 2 September.
Fellows can vote by post or digitally in advance of the SGM, or in-person at the Society on the day of the SGM.
Digital and postal votes must be received by 4.35pm on Friday 30 September. In-person votes can be cast between 3.00pm and 4.45pm on Monday 3 October.
The main proposed changes to the Bye Laws are:
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Reduce the size of Council from 21 elected Trustees and two co-optees, to a maximum of 12 elected Trustees, with a transparent process for appointing up to four additional co-optees. This is in accordance with recommended practice regarding number of Trustees.
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Retain the core representation of Research and Higher Education, Education, and Expeditions and Fieldwork, while providing greater formal representation on Council for Membership and Professional Practice.
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Standardise the terms of office of all Trustees (with the exception, as now, of the Honorary Treasurer) to four years.
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Increase the number of Council meetings each year from three to four.
Full details of the proposed changes, how Fellows can vote, and how Fellows and Members can attend the SGM are in the Members' Area of our website. (You will need to log in to the website, so if you haven’t logged in before, please set a password by using the ‘forgotten password’ link.)
If you have any questions about the SGM or the proposed changes to the Bye Laws, please do not hesitate to contact the President, Nigel Clifford, via director@rgs.org.