Members to vote on fresh changes to Royal Charter and By-laws ahead of AGM
25th April 2019
Voting Members (Fellows and Chartered Members) of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) are being invited to vote on proposed changes to the Institution’s Royal Charter and By-laws ahead of its upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 20 May.
Last year, Voting Members approved a number of amendments to IChemE’s Royal Charter and By-laws to allow for the existence of a Board of Trustees and the newly formed Congress. At the time, it was agreed that the governing documents would be kept under continual review to allow any necessary amendments to be brought forward on a regular basis.
Special Resolution
Ahead of the 2019 AGM, to be held on 20 May in Rugby, UK, the Institution is now asking Voting Members to vote on a single Special Resolution to update the Royal Charter and By-laws once again. A small number of changes have been proposed in order to provide further clarity to the current documentation, and to simplify some aspects.
All Voting Members will have received an email from the Institution’s Chief Executive, Jon Prichard, with a link to the voting page and their Unique Voter Code (UVC). The email will be sent via Democracy Technology Ltd (Mi-Voice), who have been appointed by the Board of Trustees to provide independent electoral services and to conduct the voting process.
Votes must be cast for or against the Special Resolution by 23:59 (BST) on Wednesday 15 May 2019. Members also have the option to abstain. There will be no voting on the Special Resolution in the room. Members requiring any assistance using the voting site, should contact Mi-Voice via 02380 763987 or support@mi-voice.com.
An overview of the Special Resolution, and the proposed changes to the Royal Charter and By-laws that it encompasses, can be found below. Further details are included in the voting email (Appendix A) and are available via the IChemE website.
Royal Charter – proposed changes
There are two minor changes proposed to the Royal Charter: to change a typographical error (Trusteees to Trustees), and to change the reference to ‘company’ to read ‘Institution’.
By-laws – proposed changes
The proposed changes to the By-laws reflect:
- Amendments to the membership grades and processes in line with the changes proposed by the Qualifications Committee, which includes introducing a new regulation to provide further detail on the requirements of referees for applications;
- Clarification to the time scale before the names of members in arrears of subscription, or those who have not complied with continued professional development (CPD) requirements set out in the Regulations, can be removed from the Register of members by the Board;
- Clarification to the time frame allowed for Extraordinary General Meetings to be called and held. The proposed change provides the requisitionists with a longer time period within which to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting, should the Board fail to do so;
- Clarification in relation to the notice of, and participation in, General Meetings;
- Removal of some of the detailed clauses, specifically those referring to the Code of Conduct, from the By-laws to the Regulations, where it is deemed more appropriate for them to appear; and
- Re-numbering of some By-laws as a result of the above changes.
The AGM will be held in Rugby, UK on Monday 20 May from 18:00 – 19:00 BST. It will be live-streamed via GoToWebinar.
Members who wish to attend in person should register their attendance by confirming their name and membership number to Beverley Garratt via BGarratt@icheme.org.
All members may attend the meeting, but only Voting Members are entitled to vote.
Members who are unable to attend the AGM in person (including online participants) will have the opportunity to raise questions related to the Annual Report and Financial Statement in advance of the meeting by emailing them to the Communications team via communications@icheme.org on or before 15 May 2019.
Links
IChemE Annual General Meeting 2019
The Trustees' Report & Financial Statements for 2018
IChemE
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) advances chemical engineering's contribution worldwide for the benefit of society. We support the development of chemical engineering professionals and provide connections to a powerful network of around 37,000 members in 100 countries.
We support our members in applying their expertise and experience to make an influential contribution to solving major global challenges, and are the only organisation to award Chartered Chemical Engineer status and Professional Process Safety Engineer registration.
More information: www.icheme.org