I NAME, DOMICILE AND PURPOSE

§1 Name and domicile

The association’s name is Sähkökilta ry, or Skilta for short. In this document, it will be referred to as the “Guild”. The Guild is based in Tampere and its official language is Finnish. The Guild’s age is calculated from the date of establishment of its predecessor, Sähkökilta, on 8 February 1968.

§2 Purpose and activities

The purpose of the Guild is to

• serve as a point of contact for the electrical engineering students of Tampere University;
• protect the interests of its members in education-related matters in cooperation with the Student Union of Tampere University;
• promote and develop the study and teaching of electrical engineering;
• develop and foster local teekkari culture of engineering students in cooperation with the Teekkari Union of Tampere and its member organisations.

To fulfil its purpose, the Guild will

• organise field trips, meetings, get-togethers, and other similar activities;
• manage the Guild’s communication by publishing announcements, magazines, or other material as needed;
• keep in touch with other student organisations, the Guild’s alumni, and the administrative bodies and staff of Tampere University.

To support its activities, the Guild may

• accept donations, wills, and grants;
• acquire ownership or control of movable and immovable property that is necessary for its activities;
• organise, with appropriate permission, fundraisings, lotteries, and social events;
• practice, within the meaning of Section 5 of the Associations Act, a trade or other gainful activity which is immediately related to the realisation of its purpose or which is to be deemed economically insignificant, without gaining financial profit or advantage for the members involved in its activities.

II MEMBERS

§3 Becoming a member

Guild members include full members, student support members, support members, and honorary members.

The Guild will keep a list of its members, with the full name, home municipality, and email address of each member.

Anyone who studies at Tampere University, accepts the Guild’s purpose and rules, and pays the Guild’s membership fee can become a full member of the Guild.

Students who are interested in the Guild’s work and wish to support the Guild’s purpose and activities can be admitted as student support members.

Persons and entities who are interested in the Guild's work and wish to support the Guild’s purpose and activities can be admitted as the Guild’s support members.

The decisions to admit full members, student support members, and support members will be made by the Guild’s board. A person who has been expelled from the Guild following the procedure specified in Section 6 may be readmitted as a member by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the board members.

Persons who have significantly promoted and supported the Guild’s activities can be invited, at the board’s request, to join the Guild as honorary members by a three-fourths (3/4) majority of the Guild meeting.

§4 Members’ responsibilities

The full members of the Guild are required to pay a membership fee to the Guild, the amount of which will be determined in the Guild's autumn meeting. The membership fee is paid per academic year, and payment is valid from 1 August to 31 July.

The Guild’s student support members are required to pay the Guild a student support membership fee, the amount of which will be determined in the Guild's autumn meeting. The student support membership fee is paid per academic year, and payment is valid from 1 August to 31 July.

The Guild's support members are required to pay the Guild a support membership fee, the amount of which will be determined in the Guild's autumn meeting. Support membership payments are valid until the end of the calendar year.

The Guild’s honorary members are not required to pay membership fees.

§5 Resignation from the Guild

Members have the right to resign from the Guild at any time by submitting a written notification to the Guild’s board or chairperson. Members can also resign by announcing it at a Guild meeting and having it recorded in the minutes. The resigning member must pay any personal debts owed to the Guild and give back any property belonging to the Guild.

A guild member can be deemed to have resigned from the Guild if the member has failed to pay their membership fee within two months of the due date.

§6 Expelling a member from the Guild

The Guild meeting may expel a member from the Guild if the member has failed to fulfil the responsibilities to which they committed by joining the Guild, has caused substantial damage to the Guild through their actions in or outside the Guild, or no longer fulfils the membership criteria set out in the law or in the Guild Rules. In such event, this must be mentioned in the notice of meeting, and the member in question must be given an opportunity to provide an explanation before a decision is made.

If a member has caused substantial damage to the Guild through their actions in or outside the Guild, the board may deny this member the right to participate in any events organised by the Guild for a fixed period, but not for longer than six months. On the same grounds, the board may also limit the person’s right to use the services provided by the Guild for up to six months. Before making a decision, the member in question must be given the opportunity to offer an explanation in the matter.

III ORGANISATION

§7 Board

The Guild's affairs are managed by a board that is elected for one calendar year at a time. The board consists of the chairperson and six to ten (6–10) other members who are elected in the Guild’s autumn meeting and who must be full members of the Guild.

The board must include the following members:

• the chairperson, who convenes and presides over board meetings, ensures the compliance of the Guild’s activities and represents the Guild, unless otherwise decided;
• the treasurer, who manages the Guild’s finances and writes the financial statements;
• the secretary, who takes the minutes of the meetings of the Guild and the board.

The board will elect a vice chair from among its number.

The board’s duties are to

• lead the Guild’s activities and manage its finances and property;
• represent the Guild;
• prepare the matters discussed at Guild meetings and to implement the decisions made in these meetings;
• write the annual report and financial statements, as well as the drafts for the action plan and budget;
• admit new members;
• convene Guild meetings;
• make decisions on other matters that fall outside the Guild meeting’s decision-making power.

The Guild meeting may relieve a board member from their duties for a justified reason before the end of the term of office, in which case this must be mentioned in the notice of meeting. If necessary, a new board member may be elected to replace the dismissed board member for the remaining term.

§8 Board meetings

Board meetings will be convened by the chair of the board, or, in the chairperson’s absence, the vice chair. A meeting must also be convened if at least two members of the board request it from the chairperson. The board will determine the procedure for convening the meetings.

The board has a quorum when the meeting is convened in a manner determined by the board and when at least half of the board members, including the chairperson or, in the chairperson’s absence, the vice chair, are present at the board meeting.

§9 Authority to sign on behalf of the Guild

The authority to sign on behalf of the Guild belongs to the chair or vice chair of the board. The board may grant the authority to sign on the Guild’s behalf to a full member of the Guild.

§10 Financial year and annual report

The Guild's financial period and term of office both last one calendar year. The Guild’s administration and finances are monitored by two (2) operations inspectors and deputy operations inspectors. The term of office of the inspectors is one calendar year. The operations inspectors have the right to attend and speak at guild and board meetings where matters relating to their responsibilities are discussed.

The Guild’s accounting records must be submitted to the operations inspectors no later than four (4) weeks before the spring meeting and whenever the inspectors request them for inspection. The operations inspectors must submit the documents and their inspection report to the Guild’s board no later than two (2) weeks before the spring meeting.

§11 Committees and personnel

The Guild’s board may appoint committees or personnel to carry out specific tasks for a fixed period of time, but not for longer than its own term of office. If necessary, a person who is not part of the Guild may also be appointed for these tasks. The Guild’s board may issue rules and regulations for the activities of committees and employees.

For a justified reason, the board may relieve an employee or committee from their duties in the middle of their term, in which case this must be mentioned in the notice of meeting. If necessary, a replacement may be selected for a dismissed person or committee for the remaining term.

§12 Committees

The Guild meeting may set up committees for tasks that require multi-annual monitoring. Committees are advisory or preparatory bodies of the Guild’s board or the Guild meeting. The Guild meeting will determine the rules of procedure of the committees, appoint the members, and determine their terms of office at the proposition of the board.

IV MEETINGS

§13 Guild meetings

In these rules, the Guild's general assemblies are referred to as Guild meetings. Guild meetings include a spring meeting, an autumn meeting, and extraordinary meetings. The Guild meetings will be convened by the Guild's board. The Guild meetings must be held in Tampere in a location that is as accessible as possible to the members. If the situation warrants it, the Guild’s board may convene a meeting using an electronic platform chosen by the convener.

The spring meeting will take place between January and April to discuss the following matters:

• opening the meeting;
• electing the chair of the meeting, the secretary, two examiners of the minutes, and, where appropriate, two vote counters;
• confirming the quorum and the legitimacy of the meeting;
• confirming the rules of procedure of the meeting;
• presenting the financial statements, the annual report, and the report of the auditors/operations inspectors;
• making a decision on the approval of financial statements and on releasing the board and other accountable persons from liability;
• other matters stated in the notice of meeting.

The autumn meeting will take place between November and December to discuss the following matters:

• opening the meeting;
• electing the chair of the meeting, the secretary, two examiners of the minutes, and, where appropriate, two vote counters;
• confirming the quorum and the legitimacy of the meeting;
• confirming the rules of procedure of the meeting;
• approving the action plan and budget;
• determining the membership fees for full members, support members, and student support members;
• electing the chair of the board and other board members;
• electing two operations inspectors and deputy inspectors;
• other matters stated in the notice of meeting.

An extraordinary meeting will be held if the Guild meeting so decides, if the board finds it necessary, or if at least one tenth of the Guild’s voting members request it to discuss a matter. The meeting must take place within two (2) weeks of the submission of the request to the board in the period between September and March or within four (4) weeks of the request in the period between April and August.

§14 Right to vote and examination of the minutes

In Guild meetings, each full member of the Guild has one vote. Other members only have the right to be present and speak in the meetings. Proxy voting is not allowed. Only the full members of the Guild are eligible for election. The right to attend and speak at meetings may also be granted to a non-guild member by the decision of the Guild meeting.

Two (2) examiners of the minutes, who must be full members of the Guild, will be selected in Guild meetings. The examination must be carried out within two (2) weeks of the meeting.

§15 Procedure for convening a meeting

The board must convene Guild meetings at least 5 weekdays prior to the meeting by publishing a notice of meeting on the Guild's bulletin board and in the members' email newsletter. The notice of meeting must state the time and place of the meeting. The notice of meeting must also include the agenda.

The Guild meeting has a quorum if it is convened in accordance with the rules.

§16 Decision-making procedure

The decision of the Guild meeting will be, unless otherwise provided for in the Rules, the opinion that is seconded by more than half of the votes cast. In the event of a tie, the chair of the meeting will have the casting vote, whereas electoral ties will be resolved by lot.

An open ballot system will be used for voting unless a secret ballot is requested by at least two (2) voting members present at the meeting or, in the case of an election, by at least one (1) voting member present at the meeting.

If there are several proposed resolutions, the voting will follow an appropriate voting procedure determined by the chair of the meeting. The chair of the meeting will issue more detailed voting instructions before voting.

§17 Election

If there is only one candidate in the election, the candidate must receive at least half (1/2) of the votes cast to be elected. If none of the candidates receive an absolute majority of the votes in the first round, a new vote will be held between the two (2) candidates who received the most votes on the first ballot.

§18 Secret ballot

When using the secret ballot system, the chairperson will make the voting instructions available in the meeting room or issue the same voting instructions orally. The voting instructions must specify at least the proposals or candidates to be voted on and the way each proposal or candidate should be marked on the ballot paper. Votes marked in a manner that is against the voting instructions will be invalid.

Ballots with no markings are blank votes.

The following will not be taken into account in vote counting:

• persons eligible to vote who did not vote due to not attending the meeting, not wanting to vote, or not having the formal voting rights in the meeting or matter in question;
• any blank or rejected votes.

V SPECIAL PROVISIONS

§19 Flag and Emblem Protocol

The Guild’s emblems and decorations are specified in the Flag and Emblem Protocol of Sähkökilta ry, adopted by the Guild meeting.

§20 Amending the Rules

Amendments to these Rules may be made if the proposed amendment is approved by a three-fourths (3/4) majority at two (2) consecutive Guild meetings held at least two (2) weeks apart. The notice of meeting must mention the amending of the Rules.

Amendment proposals can be made by the board or ten (10) full members of the Guild in writing to the board. Motions made by the Guild’s full members must be addressed in the next Guild meeting.

§21 Dissolving the Guild

The decision to dissolve the Guild must be taken by a five-sixths (5/6) majority at two consecutive Guild meetings held at least one (1) month apart. The notice of meeting must mention the dissolution of the Guild.

When the Guild is dissolved or closed down, its assets will be allocated to the purposes defined in Section 2 of the Rules in accordance with the decision of the dissolution meeting.

§22 Entry into force

These rules will enter into force on 10 November 2020.