Our constitution
I The Group shall be known as “Teachers’ Association Scotland” (TAS).
II The purposes of the group shall be:
i. To foster the continuing development of SCD teachers.
ii. To provide workshops on the theory and pedagogy of teaching SCD.
iii. To provide a forum for teachers to meet, exchange ideas and share experiences.
iv. To assist in promoting SCD amongst non-dancers and excellence in dance for those intending to train teams for festival work.
v. To develop support structures for new teachers,
vi. To keep a database of qualified teachers.
vii. To provide a newsletter to improve communications between teachers of SCD.
III Membership shall be open to all teachers of Scottish Country Dance provided they are members of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS) and have paid the TAS annual subscription, which shall be determined by the committee for approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
IV The Group shall be led by a committee who shall have overall responsibility for managing the affairs of the group. The committee shall be the office bearers and three committee members. The Committee has power to appoint volunteers to hold responsibility for specific functions eg. Newsletter Editor.
V The office bearers shall be a chairperson, a secretary, a treasurer and a workshop organiser who shall be elected to stand for a term of office lasting three years. On completion of a term of office they shall be ineligible to stand for any position for a period of one year.
VI The three committee members shall be elected to stand for a term of office lasting three years. (One shall retire each year and shall be ineligible to stand for a committee member vacancy for a period of one year).
VII In the event of unexpected exigencies, or other mitigating circumstances, caused by extraneous events of any kind over which TAS has no control and which may temporarily suspend or stall the ongoing operation of TAS as an organisation, the tenure of office of each and/or every office bearer and committee member can be extended by the equivalent time of disruption with the consent of the aforesaid individuals and the agreement and ratification of such by a majority of the membership meeting in AGM or through an equivalent electronic means of recording a vote on the matter.
VlII The end of the financial year shall be May 31st.
IX A member not present at the Annual General Meeting may not be nominated for any election, unless they have given written consent prior to the meeting. A vacancy caused by an office bearer or committee member resigning prior to the completion of their term of office may be filled on a temporary basis, through co-option by the committee, until the next Annual General Meeting, when an election for a new office bearer or committee member shall be made for the rest of the term of office.
X All elections and motions previously notified to members, shall be determined by a majority vote at the Annual General Meeting held in the autumn. Twenty percent of the current membership shall constitute a quorum at the AGM.
XI The committee shall be responsible for:
i) keeping funds in a bank account; withdrawals being authorised by two of the office bearers one of whom shall be the Treasurer;
ii) arranging for an independent examination of the income and expenditure statement to be presented at the AGM;
iii) making preparations for two TAS meetings each year; and a short AGM at the Autumn meeting;
iv) using regional representatives to enable domestic arrangements at each meeting.
XlI A quorum for any committee meeting shall be four.
XIlI In the event of the Group winding up, after all debts and liabilities have been paid, the remaining assets shall be donated to the RSCDS.
Above constitution agreed at Annual General Meeting held on 28th August 2021
