THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL

ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ SOCIETY, HKUSTSU

(Adopted in 1995; Thirteenth Amendment, Apr 2018)

SECTION I: GENERAL
ARTICLE 1: NAME
a) The name of this organization shall be “The Chemical and Biological Engineering
Students’ Society, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Students’
Union”, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Society’.
b) The Chinese name of the Society is “香港科技大學學生會化學及生物工程學系學
生會”.
c) The English abbreviation of the Society is “CBESS, HKUSTSU” and the Chinese
abbreviation of the Society is “科大化工學生會”.

ARTICLE 2: AFFILIATION
The Society shall be affiliated to the “Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Students’ Union”, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Union’.

ARTICLE 3: AIMS
The goals of the Society shall be:
a) To build up a sense of unity among its members;
b) To look after the welfare of its members;
c) To provide a better insight into the profession of chemical engineering for, inter
alias, its members as well as other HKUST students, through a variety of activities
held by the Society;
d) To represent its members on matters concerning their interests in the scholastic
aspects;
e) To serve as a channel of information and views between its members and
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; and
f) To maintain a good relationship with other relevant departments in local and
international academic institutions.

ARTICLE 4: OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

a) Chinese and English shall be the official languages of the Society, enjoying equal
status.
b) Either or both may be used in official meetings and official documents.
Chinese, in its oral form, shall mean the Cantonese dialect and Mandarin.

ARTICLE 5: SESSION
A session of the Society shall commence with the conclusion of an Annual General
Meeting and shall terminate with the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting.
SECTION II: MEMBERSHIP
ARTICLE 1: MEMBERSHIP
a) FULL MEMBERSHIP
All full-time undergraduates and postgraduates who are the full members of the
Union and enrolled in a program offered by Department of Chemical and
Biological Engineering or a 4-Year Undergraduate Program offered by the School of
Engineering of HKUST with undetermined major shall be eligible for Full
Membership of the Society on payment of the prescribed fee.
b) ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP
i) All members of the staff, all full members of the Union, all past graduates of
HKUST and all part-time graduates taking courses offered by Department of
Chemical and Biological Engineering shall be eligible for Associate Membership of
the Society on payment of the prescribed fee.
ii) Any person, not being eligible for membership of the Society under any of the
above articles, who is approved by the Executive Committee of the Society, shall
be eligible for Associate Membership of the Society on payment of the prescribed
fee.
c) LIFE MEMBERSHIP
All past students of Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering who have
kept not less than three terms as members of the Society shall be eligible for Life
Membership of the Society on payment of the prescribed fee.
d) HONORARY MEMBERSHIP
All former Executive Committee Members of CENGSS, HKUSTSU or CBMESS,
HKUSTSU or CBESS, HKUSTSU with passed serving time, or persons who have
great contribution to the society shall have the right to be Honorary Member and
Honorary Membership of the Society shall be conferred on such persons with
the nomination second by at least 5 Executive Committee Members of the
Society and shall elect in Annual General Meeting.

ARTICLE 2: PRIVILEGES
a) All members of the Society shall enjoy the following privileges:
i) To attend General Meetings of the Society;
ii) To attend functions and activities arranged by the Society; and
iii) To use all facilities provided by the Society for the general use of its members.
b) All Full Members of the Society shall have the right:
i) To vote at General Meetings;
ii) To vote and nominate for election of the Society; and
iii) To be eligible for office in the Executive Committee of the Society.

ARTICLE 3: OBLIGATION
All members are under the obligation to
a) Abide by the Constitution, by-laws and regulations of the Society;
b) Abide by any resolution of a General Meeting; and
c) Refrain from acting in any manner which may be detrimental to the interests and
welfare of the Society.
SECTION III: GENERAL MEETING
ARTICLE 1: AUTHORITY
Any decision made through voting in a General Meeting shall possess the highest
authority in all matters concerning the Society.

ARTICLE 2: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

a) The Annual General Meeting shall be convened by the Chairperson of the current
session within four weeks after the Annual Election.
b) The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be:
i) To commence the meeting;
ii) To receive and, if considered appropriate, adopt the minutes of the previous
AGM and the minutes of all subsequent Extraordinary General Meeting of the
current session;
iii) To receive and, if considered appropriate, adopt the audited Annual
Report of the current session;
iv) To receive and, if considered appropriate, adopt the audited Annual
Financial Report of the current session;
v) To receive and, if considered appropriate, resign or vote for non-confidence
of any executive committee members;
vi) To receive and adopt any amendment for the Constitution;
vii) To nominate and elect any Honorary Members and Honorary Auditor;
viii) To receive and adopt the results of the Annual Election of the members of the
Executive Committee for the next session;
ix) To receive and adopt the Annual Plan of the next session;
x) To receive and adopt the Annual Budget of the next session; and
xi) To terminate the term of current session and transfer the duties to the next
session.
c) The agenda of the Annual General Meeting shall state if there is any A.O.B in the
meeting. If there is, the Society shall state that no other business is allowed to
discuss other than those listed.

ARTICLE 3: EXTRA-ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

No Extraordinary General Meeting shall be held unless it is convened by the Chairperson
of the Society with the approval of, or at the request of the Executive Committee, or in
accordance with a written requisition signed by not less than forty, or one-third of all
the members of the Society. Any such requisition shall specify the objects of the
proposed meeting and no other matters shall be discussed.
ARTICLE 4: VOTE OF NON-CONFIDENCE
A vote of non-confidence for infringement of the Constitution, negligence of duties of
unbecoming conduct may be moved against any member of the Executive Committee at
an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting held specially for the
purpose.
a) In Extraordinary General Meeting, a vote so passed shall call for the
immediate resignation of the person(s) against whom the vote is moved
after the end of Extraordinary General Meeting. The duties of the Executive
Committee member who has been voted for non-confidence shall be
retained until the end of Extraordinary General Meeting
b) In Annual General Meeting, a vote so passed shall call for the resignation of
the person(s) against whom the vote is moved immediately after the end of
Annual General Meeting. The duties of the Executive Committee member
who has been voted for non-confidence shall be retained until the end of
Annual General Meeting.

ARTICLE 5: NOTICE
An official notice of the Annual General Meeting and any Extraordinary General
Meetings of the Society and the agenda thereof shall be posted at least five clear days
(one-hundred and twenty hours) in advance.

ARTICLE 6: QUORUM
The quorum of the Annual General Meeting and any Extraordinary General Meetings
shall consist of not less than forty, or one-third of all the members of the Society. In the
event of failure to form the quorum within one hour from the stated time, the meeting
shall be called for postponement and another meeting shall be held within seven clear
days. If the quorum still cannot be formed, all attendees shall form the quorum.

ARTICLE 7: VOTING
Motions at General Meetings shall be declared if a simple majority of votes cast for the
motion and the number of votes cast is greater than two-thirds of the Full Members
present.

ARTICLE 8: CHAIRPERSON OF MEETING

The Chairperson of a General Meeting shall be the Chairperson of the Society, or in
his/her absence, the Internal Vice-Chairperson of the society shall be the Chairperson of
the Annual General Meeting and any Extraordinary General Meetings. In the absence of
both the Chairperson and the Internal Vice-Chairperson, a popular-elected member shall
be the Chairperson of the Annual General Meeting and any Extraordinary General
Meetings. The popular-elected member shall be supported and signed by at least 40 or
one-third of all members of the Society on the Annual General Meeting and any
Extraordinary General Meetings. In Annual General Meeting, if the Executive Committee
is already dismissed, the duties of the dismissed Executive Committee members shall be
retained until the end of Annual General Meeting.
SECTION IV: ANNUAL ELECTION
ARTICLE 1: GENERAL
The Annual Election shall be held to elect the member of the Executive
Committee for the following session.

ARTICLE 2: ELECTION BOARD

a) The Society shall be responsible for the formation of the Election Board at least
seven days before the nomination period starts.
b) The composition of the Election Board shall consist of both the Executive
Committee members and other Full Members. No nominators or nominees shall
be the members of the Election Board
c) The Election Board shall be responsible for the Annual Election which includes the
following:
i) To explain the Election Regulation to nominees;
ii) To examine the eligibility of nominees;
iii) To accept or reject any complaint;
iv) To count the ballots;
v) To announce the result of the Election; and
vi) To set the maximum amount of expenses allowed for the new cabinet, and
the exact maximum amount is $10000 HK dollars

ARTICLE 3: NOMINATION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER

a) Nominations of the Executive Committee members shall be in a form of cabinets.

b) Only full-time undergraduates or postgraduates who are the full members of the
Society and the Union are eligible for nomination.

c) Each cabinet shall have a name and be composed of the following posts:
i) the Chairperson;
ii) the Internal Vice-Chairperson;
iii) the External Vice-Chairperson;
iv) the Internal Secretary;
v) the External Secretary;
vi) the Financial Secretary.
d) Each cabinet shall consist of not less than six or more than twenty candidates and
each candidate shall only join one cabinet.
e) The nomination period for the Annual Election shall be opened for at least one
week and it shall be closed four weeks before the Election.
f) The Election Board shall post a list of all nominations after the nomination period.
g) Any change of the candidates in the cabinet shall inform the Election Board. If this
change will affect the qualification of the cabinet as a whole, the cabinet shall be
disqualified.
h) If no nomination is received after the expiration of nomination period for the
Annual Election, the Annual General Meeting shall resolve the matter.
ARTICLE 4: ELECTION DAY
a) Election shall be conducted in polling on the Election Day.
b) An official notice of the Election Day shall be posted at least five clear days in
advance.
c) The election period shall last for not less than eight hours.

ARTICLE 5: VOTING
a) Voting shall be in straight secret ballots.
b) Each Full Member shall only have one vote.
c) A quorum of one-fifth of all members should be achieved.
d) The method of simple majority shall be based.
e) An abstained vote is a vote that does not indicate confidence or non-confidence to
a running cabinet, and shall not be counted as 'for' or 'against' the cabinet.
f) The cabinet receiving more confidence votes over non-confidence votes shall be
regarded as successful in the Election, provided that only one cabinet runs in the
Election.
g) If there is more than one cabinet, the successful cabinet shall be the one receiving
the highest number of votes for.
h) A teaching staff of Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering shall be
invited to supervise the proceedings of the Election.

ARTICLE 6: VALIDITY
a) The counting of votes shall be finished within twenty-four hours after the closure
of the voting and official result shall be announced thereafter.
b) Objections to the result of vote-counting can only be made to the current
Chairperson before the announcement of the official result.
c) Result of the Election shall be effective upon the official announcement by the
Chairperson in the Annual General Meeting.

SECTION V: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

ARTICLE 1: AUTHORITY
The Executive Committee which shall be the administrative body of the Society shall be
vested with the following power:
a) To represent the members on matters concerning the Society;
b) To carry out functions so as to implement the aims of the Constitution and
resolutions of General Meetings;
c) To appoint members of any executive sub-committees;
d) To make all regulations and exercise authority which are necessary and proper for
execution of the foregoing powers.
ARTICLE 2: COMPOSITION
a) The Executive Committee of the Society shall normally be composed of:
i) the Chairperson
ii) the Internal Vice-Chairperson
iii) the External Vice-Chairperson
iv) the Internal Secretary
v) the External Secretary
vi) the Financial Secretary
vii) the Academic Affairs Secretary
viii) the General Secretary
ix) the Information Technology Secretary
x) the Marketing Secretary
xi) the Promotion Secretary
xii) the Public Relation Secretary
xiii) the Publication Secretary
xiv) the Sports and Recreation Secretary
xv) the Welfare Secretary
b) The number of Executive Committee members shall not be less than six and the
following posts shall be included:
i) the Chairperson
ii) the Internal Vice-Chairperson
iii) the External Vice-Chairperson
iv) the Internal Secretary
v) the External Secretary
vi) the Financial Secretary

ARTICLE 3: DUTIES OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

a) The Chairperson of the Executive Committee shall be chief executive of the Society,
representing the Society in all affairs and presiding at all meeting of the Society.
b) The Internal Vice-Chairperson shall assist the Chairperson in fostering internal
coordination of the Society and shall be the ex officio Chairperson of the executive
committee in the absence of the Chairperson.
c) The External Vice-Chairperson shall assist the Chairperson in external affairs of the
Society.
d) The Internal Secretary shall assist the Internal Vice-Chairperson in all his/her
duties and shall be responsible for all administrative matter of the Society.
e) The External Secretary shall assist the External Vice-Chairperson in all his/her
duties and be responsible for all external liaisons.
f) The Financial Secretary shall be responsible for all matters relating to the finance of
the Society.
g) The Academic Affairs Secretary shall be responsible for all matters relating to the
organization of academic activities of the Society.
h) The General Secretary shall be responsible for the general booking affairs of the
Society.
 i) The Information Technology Secretary shall be responsible for all matters relating to
the information technology of the Society.
j) The Marketing Secretary shall be responsible for the marketing activities of the
Society.
k) The Promotion Secretary shall be responsible for all general publicity activities of
the Society.
l) The Public Relation Secretary shall be responsible for promoting the public
relations of the Society.
m) The Publication Secretary shall be responsible for all matters relating to the
publications of the Society and shall be an ex officio member of the Editorial Board of
the Society.
n) The Sports and Recreation Secretary shall be responsible for all sports and
recreation activities of the Society, and shall handle all related correspondence
and arrange matches with other bodies.
o) The Welfare Secretary shall be responsible for promoting of the welfare of the
members.

ARTICLE 4: RESPONSIBILITY
a) The Executive Committee shall be responsible to the General Meeting for all the
undertakings of the Executive Committee.
b) The Society shall be responsible to send two representatives from the
Executive Committee to join the Engineering Council.
c) The Society shall issue public notice to inform their members the following events:
(a) The Annual General Meeting or the Extraordinary General Meetings
(b) Election
(c) Any change of the office-bearers; and
(d) Any amendment of the Constitution
d) The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Financial Secretary shall not hold more
than one post in the society.

ARTICLE 5: MEMBERSHIP STATUS OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

In case any Executive Committee member(s) no longer fulfill the requirement of Full
membership, e.g. not enrolled in a program offered by either Department of Chemical
Biological Engineering or School of Engineering, he/she is eligible for office in the
Executive Committee of the Society continuously in the current session irrespective to
his/her membership status as Associate Membership. This exception is not allowed on the
Chairperson of the Society who must fulfill the requirement of Full membership.

ARTICLE 6: RESIGNATION OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

a) Resignation of any Executive Committee member shall be accepted in the
Annual General Meeting or in any Extraordinary General Meetings.
 b) If the resigned member is not the Chairperson, the Committee shall appoint
another member of the Society for the vacant post due to the resignation. If the
Chairperson resigns, the Internal Vice-Chairperson shall be vacant. The vacancy
arising from such a situation shall be filled by another member of the Society,
subject to the approval of the Committee.
c) The Executive Committee is automatically dismissed when any six members
of the Executive Committee resign from office.
d) If any one of the Executive Committee use some illegal method to decide some
disapproved matter, then a resignation should be requested by that
*person automatically, the final decision about the resignation is under the rest of
the Executive Committee. The resignation is only be approved when more than 2/3
Executive Committee agree. Moreover, a perfect report is required to explain what
had happened throughout the matter.

* If that person is the Chairperson and the resignation is approved, then the place of
Chairperson should be replaced by Internal Vice-Chairperson and the place of Internal
Vice-Chairperson should be replaced by another person who is approved by the rest of
Executive Committee. If that person is not the Chairperson, then another approved
person will replace the post of that person.

ARTICLE 7: DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY

a) The Executive Committee is automatically dismissed when any six members of the
Executive Committee resign from office or the number of the Executive Committee
members is less than six.
b) The duties of the Executive Committee shall be retained until the end of the
Extraordinary General Meeting.
c) Executive Committee is required to submit and distribute to all members of the
Society a full report stating the current financial position of the Society in the
Extraordinary General Meeting. Any remaining net assets and liabilities of the
Society shall be discussed in the Extraordinary General Meeting.
d) Public notice of dissolution shall be posted within one day (twenty four hours) for at
least seven consecutive clear days (one-hundred and sixty eight hours) by one of the
members elected in the Extraordinary General Meeting.

SECTION VI: FINANCE

ARTICLE 1: FINANCIAL YEAR
a) The financial year of the Society shall coincide with the session of the Society.
b) The Financial Secretary of the Executive Committee shall be responsible for the
proper keeping of all books of accounts of the Society.

ARTICLE 2: ANNUAL BUDGET

The Annual Budget shall be prepared by the Financial Secretary of the Executive
committee and shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting for adoption.
 ARTICLE 3: ANNUAL REPORT
The audited Annual Financial Report shall be presented by the Financial Secretary of the
previous session in the Annual General Meeting for adoption.

ARTICLE 4: HONORARY AUDITOR

An Honorary Auditor shall be elected in the Annual General Meeting and shall audit all
the financial reports of the Society.

ARTICLE 5: BANK ACCOUNT

The bank account of the Society shall be operated by the Chairperson and the Financial
Secretary of the current session of the Society.

ARTICLE 6: LOAN
The Society shall not apply or accept any loan outside the Union.

SECTION VII: THE CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE 1: AMENDMENT
a) Any amendments to this Constitution shall only be proposed by the Executive
committee, through a motion in a General Meeting as a specific agendum.
b) The Constitution might be amended only if more than 40 or one-third of members
are present in the General Meeting and an amount of at least half of the valid
votes for the amendment proposal is attained.
c) By-laws shall only be set up if passed by the General Meeting, to supplement the
Constitution for the efficient running of the Society. This shall be proposed by the
Executive Committee only.
d) An official notice of the amendment to the Constitution shall be posted within five
clear days (one-hundred and twenty hours).

ARTICLE 2: INTERPRETATION
The interpretation of the Constitution shall rest with the Executive committee of the
session during the period between General Meetings.