Trinity Hall Computer Society

Minutes of the THCS EGM, 27th September 2008

Present were:

• Rob Bricheno, PR officer
• Malcolm Scott, mascot and acting secretary
• Matt Johnson
• David Simner
• Malte Schwarzkopf

1. Discussion on how to fix THCS
   • Constitution:
     • The constitution was deemed ambiguous and/or unenforced on the topic of alumni.
     • Arguably several of the current committee are not members.
     • This will be dealt with at a later date.
   • Formation of alumni society:
     • The activities of the society have recently mainly consisted of social events in London.
     • Rob proposed that these activities be transferred to a separate alumni social society.
     • This will not be a student society, nor affiliated with the JCR. However there is believed to be a facility for official alumni societies.
     • Action: Rob to obtain more information about the formation of an official alumni society from the college Development Office.
   • Suspending or dissolution of THCS:
     • THCS has not held an AGM since March 2007, for which no minutes were published.
     • The following options exist:
       1. The formation of a new, student committee (which Malcolm noted seems unlikely to happen given the current lack of interest);
       2. The suspension of THCS pending sufficient interest to form a student committee (which may or may not be possible under college society regulations);
       3. The official dissolution of THCS.
   • Assets:
     • THCS has approximately £1500.
     • The constitution specifies how these assets would be distributed in the event of the society's dissolution — they would be passed to the Student-Run Computing Facility (SRCF).
     • According to the society's founders (via Rob) this clause was not written with the expectation that the society would have significant assets. The founders have expressed an interest in the fate of this money and object to it being given to the SRCF without thought.
     • Malte pointed out that if the money were to go to the SRCF it would be put to good use promoting student computing.
     • Rob pointed out that the money mainly arose out of an agreement with the college that the sale of college-owned computer equipment could be donated to THCS for the purposes of promoting student computing at Trinity Hall. However, since there is no current interest in student computing at Trinity Hall, we may be faced with a choice between donating it either towards student computing or to Trinity Hall as a whole.
     • Other options were presented:
       • Matt suggested leaving the money in trust with college pending the creation of a "new THCS"
         • Malte pointed out that this presents a risk that the money may not be used as the society would like it to be.
       • Stuart Rowan suggested (via Rob) donating the money to college for the purpose of purchasing projectors for function rooms
         • This would not benefit student computing.
       • Matt suggested using the money to fund a prize awarded to a student of the Computer Science Tripos at Trinity Hall each year, for example £100 per year to the student achieving the highest class
     • It was agreed to postpone this decision until those who have expressed an interest can participate in a meeting. The constitution as it stands remains in force until such a meeting has taken place.
   • Motion proposed by Rob and seconded by Matt:

     The society must hold a meeting by the end of Lent Term 2009 to decide on the manner in which THCS will be wound down, and specifically to decide on the manner in which the assets will be distributed, unless four student members can be found to form a new committee by then. The meeting may be called by any member of the society, and must be advertised a month in advance to the THCS mailing list, website and IRC channel. The chair of the meeting will be chosen from those present by vote before the meeting formally starts. If this meeting is not held for whatever reason, the society will dissolve as per the current constitution.

     • A vote was held, and the motion passed unanimously.
     • The current committee will stay in office until the end of the proposed meeting, despite preemptive nominations of Jason Morley and Kristian Glass for election to the post of PR officer today.
       • Rob noted that he would have voted for Kristian Glass had an election taken place.
2. The meeting was closed by Matt.