Executive Board - briefing for new members

1. The members of SCONUL's Executive Board are the directors of a limited company and the trustees of a charity (SCONUL as a 'company limited by guarantee' is both)



2. The Charity Commission produces guidance for trustees, and their guidance needs to be followed. (certain paragraphs are irrelevant to SCONUL so for clarity the following have been removed from this briefing: pages 8, 9 and 11, sections F1, pages 17, 23, 24, 25, 31)



3. Additionally, the law firm Jordan’s has produced some general advice for trustees, and some key points are listed here.



4. Board members are elected by the AGM for three years, with no immediate possibility of re-election.



5. Meetings (normally six a year) are generally held at SCONUL’s office in London, though for convenience they may be held elsewhere. During the summer a residential strategic planning meeting is held away from London, from lunchtime on one day to lunchtime the next. Chairs of Working Groups also attend that meeting.



6. Travelling expenses are paid for attendance at meetings and a claim form is available on the website and from the office.



7. Papers for meetings are distributed by e-mail a week in advance of each meeting. Board members may raise any item to add to the agenda – unless the circumstances are exceptional this should be done two weeks in advance.



8. At some stage during their tenure, all Board members take part in a group undertaking detailed planning of a SCONUL conference.
   
   
9. A closed e-mail list is used for discussion by the Board and Chairs of SCONUL Groups. Current Board papers are in a password- protected area of the website.



10. The Memorandum, Articles of Association, and Rules for the Conduct of Business are available at http://www.sconul.ac.uk/about_sconul/constitution.html The relevant extracts can be found here.

Toby Bainton
Secretary of SCONUL
14 October 2008