UNICA CONSTITUTION

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NAME

  1. The Association shall be called The Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes (UNICA), and it shall be properly and legally established in such countries as may be determined by its members.

    2. OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION

  2. The Object of the Association shall be:

    A. To foster contact and collaboration between member universities and research institutes and research centres by:
    • the holding of conferences and meetings of a general or specific nature; 
    • encouraging multilingualism among the members of the institutions that constitute the Association;
    • circulating information by means of a web site, newsletters, bulletins, and handbooks or directories giving statistics about enrollment, development plans, staffing (indicating recruitment possibilities), scholarships and fellowships, admission requirements, building programmes and other relevant matters;
    • encouraging staff and student exchanges;
    • promoting collaboration between groups of research institutes and professional faculties such as Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture, Law, Education, and Social Sciences;
    • facilitating cooperation and the pooling of institutional resources in research and otherwise dealing with specific priority problems or areas of concern to promote increased efficiency and to expedite the attainment of results;
    • sponsoring studies of the systems of higher education in the region through seminars, surveys, research papers, publications;
    • serving as a point of contact between other international and national university associations which pursue the development of the resources of the region.
    B. To operate its affairs at all times exclusively for scientific or educational purposes in support of the object and activities previously set out.
    MEMBERSHIP
  3. There shall be three categories of membership:

    (i) Voting Membership. This category of membership shall be open to all accredited institutions of university level and to all research centres and research institutes in the Caribbean region.

    (ii) Associate Membership. This category of membership shall be open to all university level institutions outside the Caribbean region that have academic commitments in the Caribbean region.

    (iii) Affiliate Membership. This category of membership shall be open to associations sponsored by UNICA and to other regional associations and organizations with similar purposes to those of UNICA.

  4. Research Institutes and Research Centres that are parts of universities shall not be eligible for separate membership of the Association.

  5. Universities, institutes and associations may apply or be invited to apply for membership of UNICA, and UNICA shall determine in each case whether the application shall be accepted.

  6. Any member which shall desire to terminate its membership of the Association shall so signify in writing to the appropriate officer of the Association

  7. To retain the rights of membership, all members of the Association shall pay an annual fee, the level of such fee to be determined from time to time by the Association.
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

  • There shall be an Annual General Meeting of the Association.

  • Each member institution shall be invited in writing and by electronic mail to attend the Annual General Meeting, and notification of the Annual General Meeting shall be given to members at least twenty-one (21) days before the date of the proposed meeting.

  • Each member institution shall be represented at the Annual General Meeting by a delegation led by the Head (President, Rector, Vice-Chancellor, Director) of that institution or by such other individual as designated by the Head of the member institution. At any meeting of the Association, any person so designated shall have all the powers normally exercised by the Head of the member institution.

  • The Annual General Meeting shall consider reports of the Association's activities, scrutinize the accounts, approve work plans, and transact such other business as it may deem necessary.

  • Voting members of thesing in support of the Association's projects and activities.

  • The quorum for the Annual General Meeting shall be three voting members, two of whom should represent different linguistic/cultural sub-regions
    • THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

  • The business of the Association shall be managed between Annual General Meetings by an Executive Committee, the size of which shall be determined from time to time by the Annual General Meeting.

  • The members of the Executive Committee shall be proposed by the Nominating Committee and shall be formally elected, whenever necessary, by the Annual General Meeting.

  • The composition of the Executive Committee shall reflect the linguistic/cultural sub-regions that are represented in the Association; and it shall be the Nominating Committee's responsibility to ensure this is effectuated, particularly by proposing at least one member institution from each linguistic/cultural sub-region for membership of the Executive Committee.

  • Members of the Executive Committee shall be Heads of member institutions but such Heads so identified may designate an alternate to discharge the responsibilities of membership of the Executive Committee.

  • Members of the Executive Committee shall serve a term of two years in the first instance; one-third of these members must retire at the end of each two-year term; and no member shall serve on the Executive Committee for more than three consecutive two-year terms at any time.

  • In the event of any vacancy in the Executive Committee outside of an Annual General Meeting, the remaining members of the Executive Committee shall have the power to fill that vacancy, and shall report their action to the next Annual General Meeting.

  • The quorum for a meeting of the Executive Committee shall be fixed by the Executive Committee and, unless so fixed, it shall be two (2).

    • OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
  • The officers of the Association shall be a President, three Vice-Presidents selected from those linguistic/cultural sub-regions not represented by the President, and a Secretary General.

  • The President and the Vice-Presidents shall be proposed by the Nominating Committee from among the members of the Executive Committee, and these officers shall be elected when necessary by the Annual General Meeting.

  • The President and the Vice-Presidents shall hold office for a term of two years and shall normally not be eligible for re-election to the offices they previously held until a period of two years has elapsed.

  • In the event that the President resigns or is in any way debarred from discharging the duties of the office, the Executive Committee shall appoint one of the Vice-Presidents to serve as President for the remainder of the term of office. Any individual appointed to the office of President in such circumstances shall be eligible for election to the office of President on the expiry of that term of office.

  • The Secretary General. The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the Executive Committee on such terms and conditions as it may think appropriate; and her/his appointment may be terminated by the Executive Committee.

  • The Secretary-General shall be the executive officer of the Association and shall be ex officio a member of the Executive Committee.

  • The Secretary General shall be responsible for the efficient discharge of the Association's business. In particular, she/he shall ensure that

    a) full records are kept of deliberations of meetings of the Executive Committee and of the Annual General Meeting;
    b) proper books of account are kept;
    c) an up-to-date register of members is maintained;
    d) regular and appropriate returns are made to Registrars of Companies in those jurisdictions where the Association is legally registered;
    e) member institutions are adequately informed of the Association's activities and programmes;
    f) liaison is maintained between the Association and similar regional associations;
    g) appropriate attention is given to fund-raising in support of the Association's projects and activities.

    • AUDIT

  • The books of account of the Association shall be audited annually by auditors appointed by the Annual General Meeting.

    • WORKING LANGUAGES

  • The working languages of the Association shall be Dutch, English, French, and Spanish

  • The Association shall not be dissolved except by resolution at an Annual General Meeting specifically summoned for this purpose that is supported by not less than two-thirds of the voting members present. If there is no quorum at that Annual General Meeting, the proposal to dissolve the Association shall be submitted to a General Meeting which shall be held no less than sixty days later, and the notice of which must be sent to members at least thirty days before the day appointed for the meeting.

  • Any clause of this constitution may be amended by resolution of the Annual General Meeting, provided that written notice of the proposed amendments is given to all members, and provided that the amendment is supported by at least two-thirds of the voting members present at the Annual General Meeting.

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