Rules of Procedure of the Student Council

Note

This is a translation of the original text. Only the German version of this regulation is legally binding.

§ 1 – Scope of application

According to § 9 paragraph 5 of the statutes of the student body of the TU Ilmenau, the student council gives itself these rules of procedure, which regulate the business of the student council, especially the meetings.

§ 2 – The management

  1. The management is directly and exclusively subordinate to the student council. The work of the management is governed by the statutes of the student body and the instructions and resolutions of the student council.

  2. The duties of the management include in particular:

    • general office duties,

    • Maintenance of cash books and general financial activities,

    • Work for the substantive activities of the Student Council,

    • Participate in the public relations activities of the Student Council,

    • Activities for the student body.

§ 3 – Preparation of the meetings

The management prepares the items for discussion and draws up the agenda. If the management is prevented or the position is not filled, the upcoming meeting management takes over these tasks.

§ 4 – Applications

  1. Only members of the student council, members of student council working groups and students who have a seat in one of the following bodies have the right to make a motion - apart from motions that result in the use of financial resources (financial motions):

    • Senate and Senate Standing Committees,

    • Faculty Councils and Faculty Student Councils,

    • Equality Council,

    • Board of Directors of the Student Union,

    • Conference of the Thuringian Student Bodies.

  2. Financial applications may also be submitted by all members of the student body and by working groups of the student council.

  3. In principle, applications are free of form. Financial motions, motions relating to the statutes and the other regulations of the Student Council require text form.

§ 5 – Convening the meeting

  1. There is no written invitation to the regular meetings of the Student Council.

  2. Extraordinary meetings are held when decisions of the Student Council become necessary that cannot wait until the next regular meeting. Any member of the Student Council may call an extraordinary meeting. The date of the extraordinary meeting must be announced at least 24 hours before it starts. A textual invitation to an extraordinary meeting shall be sent to all members of the Student Council via the university e-mail address, which must be delivered at least 24 hours before the start of the meeting.

§ 6 – Public

  1. All meetings of the Student Council are open to the public. However, the Student Council may exclude the public from the meeting if

    1. legal requirements make this necessary,

    2. it is a matter of personnel issues,

    3. a member of the Student Council makes a motion to that effect and the Student Council approves the motion by a two-thirds majority vote.

  2. Guests of the meetings have the right to speak.

§ 7 – Chair of the meeting

  1. The meeting chair opens and closes the meeting. It may interrupt the meeting if desired. The time for resuming the meeting shall be announced immediately before its interruption.

  2. During the Student Council meetings, the meeting chair for the next regular meeting is determined.

  3. Extraordinary meetings and the constituent meeting shall be chaired by the Management Board. If the management is prevented or the position is not filled, the consul takes over these tasks.

  4. The chair of the meeting shall be objective and impartial. The chair of the meeting is obliged to work towards the greatest possible consensus of all those involved in the formation of opinion.

  5. The student council can elect a meeting presidium. In deviation from Paragraphs 2 and 3, a member of the Presidium shall be responsible for chairing the meeting; the allocation shall be made by the Presidium by consensus. The responsibility for the minutes according to § 18 is incumbent on the Presidium.

§ 8 – Quorum, Adoption of Resolutions

  1. The quorum of the student council is regulated by the statutes of the student body.

  2. The chairperson of the meeting shall establish whether a quorum is present.The Student Council shall pass resolutions by simple majority, unless the statutes or other regulations of the student body provide otherwise. In the event of a tie, a motion shall be deemed rejected.

  3. The right to vote can be transferred to another member of the Student Council. This must be notified to the meeting chair in text or written form and noted in the minutes. Each member may exercise a maximum of two votes at the same time.

§ 9 – Agenda

The agenda of a student council meeting must be announced at least 24 hours before it begins. It may be changed in the course of the meeting.

§ 10 – Points of order

  1. Points of order must relate to the item under discussion or to the agenda and must be directed to a resolution on the proceedings of the meeting.

  2. Any member of the Student Council may raise a point of order at any time. He or she shall be given the floor immediately after the previous speaker has finished. Discussion of the motion shall be kept to a minimum.

§ 11 – Consultation, list of speakers

  1. The chair of the meeting calls the items for discussion in the order of the agenda.

  2. He shall give the floor in the order of the reports, which shall be made by a show of hands. In doing so, he shall be guided by the concern for proper completion and expedient organization of the discussion and consideration for speech and counter-speech. In the event of simultaneous reporting, the chair of the meeting shall determine the order of speakers. The chair of the meeting may take the floor at any time.

  3. Each member should be allowed to speak only once on the same matter. The chair of the meeting may allow someone to speak on the matter more than once. If the decision of the meeting chair is objected to, the panel shall decide.

  4. If a motion is referred back to the proposer or adjourned, this concludes the discussion. In this case, open requests to speak shall be disregarded.

§ 12 – Speaking time

  1. The speaking time for an individual contribution should not exceed five minutes. The chair of the meeting may set a different speaking time.

  2. If a speaker exceeds his/her speaking time, the chairperson of the meeting shall withdraw the right to speak after issuing a single warning.

§ 13 – Call to order, withdrawal of speech

  1. The chair of the meeting may refer the speaker who digresses from the subject of the meeting to the matter at hand. He can call members of the Student Council to order if they violate the order by mentioning their name. The call to order and the reason for it may not be dealt with by the following speakers.

  2. If a speaker has been called to the point or to order three times during a speech and the consequences of a third call to the point or to order have been pointed out to him on the second occasion, the chair of the meeting shall withdraw the right to speak from him and may not give it to him again in the same debate on the same subject matter.

§ 14 – Closing of the list of speakers, closing of the debate

Motions to close the list of speakers or to end the debate are admissible as points of order at any time during the discussion.

§ 15 – Voting procedure

  1. At the end of the discussion, the chair of the meeting shall establish the final version of the motion and put it to the vote. If there is no written vote, he shall always ask who agrees with the motion and then establish the rejections and abstentions by way of cross-checking.

  2. The chair of the meeting shall establish the voting result without delay and announce it. Doubts about the voting result and procedure may only be raised immediately after the determination. In this case, the vote shall be repeated without delay.

  3. Once a motion has been voted on, no further debate on it is possible.

§ 16 – Circulation procedure

  1. In exceptional cases, voting by written circulation is possible upon request if no member objects to this request in the meeting or during the circulation procedure. Each voting member shall be notified immediately of the implementation of the circulation procedure by text to the university e-mail address.

  2. The duration of a circulation procedure shall be at least 6 days, but not longer than the next meeting.

  3. In deviation from Paragraph 1 Sentence 1, resolutions on the agenda pursuant to §9, to which invitations have been duly issued pursuant to §5, may be carried out by written circulation procedure if the meeting is not quorate.

  4. After expiry of the circulation procedure, the result shall be announced at the next possible meeting at which a quorum is present. The resolution of the circular procedure shall be legally binding immediately after the expiry of the period pursuant to para. 2.

  5. Any voting member may object to the circulation procedure within the time limit set forth in Paragraph 2. All voting members are to be informed immediately of the objection in text form via the university e-mail address.

§ 17 – Requests

  1. Questions on individual agenda items may be put informally to the chair of the meeting, the proposer or the rapporteur at any time. They will be answered without discussion.

  2. Other questions must be given the opportunity to be answered at the end of the meeting. They shall be answered by the chair of the meeting as far as possible immediately, but at the latest at the following meeting. In the case of extensive questions, written answers may be sent to the questioner.

§ 18 – Protocol and information

  1. Minutes shall be taken of the proceedings. The minutes shall contain the agenda as adopted in the course of the meeting and the wording of the resolutions. They shall contain the main points of the discussions and debates.

  2. The minutes are to be published as a draft immediately after the end of the meeting. It is to be reviewed by the following meeting of the Student Council and subsequently adopted.

§ 19 – Interpretation of the Rules of Procedure

The chair of the meeting decides on the interpretation of these rules of procedure in individual cases. The Student Council decides on the basic interpretation.

§ 20 – Entry into force

  1. These regulations come into force with the decision of the StuRa from 30.06.1999.

  2. The first amendment version of these regulations comes into force with resolution 29/50-S01 of the StuRa of 29.05.2019.

  3. The second amended version of these regulations shall enter into force with resolution 30/75-O01 of the StuRa of 25.11.2020.