September 2022
Name : The Special Interest Group (SIG) will be known as BALEAP STEM SIG.
This SIG is an addition to the growing catalogue of SIGs as part of our BALEAP community and thus the acronym is well recognised among EAP practitioners and other professionals with BALEAP membership both individual and institutional.
The acronym STEM represents disciplines relating to science, technology, engineering and maths is also well recognised within higher education.
The founding members felt that BALEAP should be placed within the name as this is the community which connects us and would be a recognising feature in our website and social media presence.
At the time of producing this constitution, BALEAP are considering a potential change in name. This SIG will monitor and implement change if necessary within the annual general meeting.
Purpose
The BALEAP STEM SIG was conceived to connect EAP practitioners and HE teachers and lecturers working with students and lecturers within STEM based subjects at different levels including foundation year to PGR from module teaching to programme level design.
The SIG intends to collate and disseminate examples of good practice amongst our community.
Through the SIG we hope to develop and share understanding of linguistic and genre features within both formal and informal STEM discourse. In addition, to develop our genre and discourse analysis approaches to STEM discourse.
The SIG will encourage further scholarship and research connecting EAP and STEM disciplines.
The SIG intends to support practitioner transition into EAP for STEM through discussions, reading groups, forum and a shared blog space for reflections.
Membership
Membership of the group is rolling and individuals can request to be a member at anytime and can equally cancel their membership through contacting the SIG email address: stem@baleap.org.
Any events, reminders or website notices may go through the BALEAP mailing list but members of this group do not specifically need to be an individual or institutional member of BALEAP but it is encouraged.
In line with the BALEAP SIG handbook, committee members will have individual or institutional BALEAP membership.
The founding committee of the group are:
● SIG Convenor: Laura Duncan, University of Southampton.
• Secretary: Lori-Ann Millin, University of Southampton.
• Treasurer: Natasha Rust, University of Leeds.
• Web co-ordinator: Sanchia Rodrigues, University of Warwick.
• Events Coordinators: Lori-Ann Millin, University of Southampton and Natasha Rust, University of Leeds.
• Ordinary members: Ana Vucicevic and Patrick Fitzgerald.
The responsibilities of the members is detailed below as an extract from the BALEAP SIG Handbook.
Convenor
The Convenor provides leadership to the SIG and has oversight of its activities. The Convenor will: ● Serve as the primary point of contact between the SIG and the BALEAP SIGs Officer. ● Work with the SIG Events Officer and other SIG Committee members to plan a programme of activities.
● Oversee SIG content hosted on the BALEAP website.
● Together with the Treasurer, produce and submit an Annual Report to the BALEAP Executive Committee by 31 March.
Secretary
The Secretary will provide administrative support to the SIG Convenor, Treasurer, and Events Officer as required. Responsibilities include:
● Taking minutes at SIG meetings.
● Responding to and or/triaging general enquiries.
● Maintaining an accurate record of SIG membership information.
Treasurer
The SIG Treasurer is responsible for managing finances on behalf of the SIG. Responsibilities include: ● Opening a bank account on behalf of the SIG.
● Processing invoice and expense payments from the SIG bank account.
● Maintaining a clear and accurate record of all financial transactions.
● Assisting the SIG Events Officer with budgeting for events.
● Producing a financial statement as part of the Annual Report.
Events Coordinator
The SIG Events coordinator is responsible for organising events to promote the specific interest of the SIG. Responsibilities include:
● Planning events together with the SIG Convenor, Treasurer, and Secretary. ● Agreeing a budget with the SIG Treasurer.
● Identifying suitable venues and/or online platforms.
● Liaising with the BALEAP Events Officer re the theme and timing of SIG events. ● Liaising with the BALEAP Information and Publicity Officer to advertise SIG events on the BALEAP website.
● Informing the wider BALEAP membership of events and activities through the BALEAP JISC discussion list ensuring that all messages are clearly signposted as coming from the specific SIG.
● Acting as main contact for queries about events.
WEB Coordinator (optional)
The SIG WEB Coordinator is responsible for:
● Setting up a SIG website.
● Providing information about the SIG for the BALEAP website including a brief description of the SIG (100-150 word) and links to the SIG’s Email, Twitter handle (if applicable) and Website.
● Ensuring that information on the SIG website and information about the SIG on the BALEAP website is kept up to date.
Social Media Coordinator (optional)
The SIG Social Media Co-ordinator is responsible for overseeing SIG communication via social media. Responsibilities include:
● Working with SIG Committee members, and in liaison with the BALEAP SIGs Officer and BALEAP Information and Publicity Officer, to devise an overall approach to communication, including guidelines
● Overseeing the SIG’s communication via social media
Ordinary Member
Ordinary members can be asked to assist with specific tasks that sit within the remit of other office holders and/or contribute to specific projects as agree by the committee.
Meetings, including AGM
Regular meetings
Regular meetings will take place 4 times a year within semester time to discuss possible events, media presence and SIG development (how we are meeting our goals). These meetings will take place on Teams. Members will be automatically invited and BALEAP members will be invited through the BALEAP mailing list.
Annual general meetings
An annual general meeting (AGM) will take place each year and members will be given 4 – 6 weeks notice of the location, time and proposed/standing agenda for the meeting via the SIG mailing list. Members will be given three weeks to submit agenda items before the agenda is finalised 1 – 3 weeks before the AGM. These agenda items should be submitted to the SIG email address.
A quorum of 3 members must attend the meeting for it to elect officers or make decisions on behalf of the group.
The purpose of the AGM is for the co-ordinating committee to
• inform the membership of the work that has been done, highlighting key achievements. • share financial information.
• approve annual accounts.
• elect SIG Committee Members if required.
• discuss and approve amendments of the SIG constitution if required.
A typical AGM agenda will include:
• Minutes of last AGM (from the second AGM onwards).
• Issues raised and Action taken (from the second AGM onwards).
• Annual Reports (from SIG Convenor, Secretary, Treasurer, and other committee members if applicable) • Elections, if relevant.
• AOB.
Committee Members and elections
Following the inauguration of the BALEAP STEM SIG, committee members were established through expression of interest and are to be ratified at the first AGM. After this, the nomination and change of roles will follow the procedures outlined in the BALEAP SIG handbook:
Election procedure
This procedure is from the BALEAP SIG Handbook and may evolve as the SIG develops and we continuously evaluate the process.
Eight weeks prior to a committee position(s) falling vacant:
1) The SIG committee secretary will put out a call for expressions of interest in the position among the SIG membership and BALEAP list members (appendix 1) through the SIG mailing list, BALEAP mailing list and the BALEAP STEM SIG website.
2) Nominee either contacts a proposer and seconder OR proposer and seconder contact the nominee. NB Proposer, seconders and nominees must be members of the SIG and nominees and proposers must also be members of BALEAP (individual or institutional).
3) Nominee sends an email to the SIG admin mailbox (copied to proposer and seconder) stating the position as a subject line and including a short statement (max 150 words) about themselves and how they would hope to contribute to the SIG through the role (appendix 2).
4) Nominations close no less than 2 weeks following the call for nominations. 5) The list of nominees (with proposer, seconder and statement) will be circulated to the SIG membership list and the BALEAP discussion list in the following week.
6) Where there is more than one nomination, elections will take place electronically. 7) New members will be confirmed in their roles at the SIG AGM.
8) If a co-ordinating committee member stands down earlier than the end of their term, their role will be covered by other committee members until nominations are invited in line with the AGM.
Finances
A reiteration of the financial position of the SIG from the BALEAP SIG handbook to be reviewed annually through the AGM each year and this constitution should be amended accordingly.
Each SIG will receive up to £200 per year (August to July) towards expenses incurred in the running of the SIG. A record of how the subsidy is spent will be included in the Annual Report.
At present, the BALEAP STEM SIG does not have its own bank account, but should one be needed, the SIG Treasurer will open a bank account in their name. Bank details including the sort code, account number and signatories will be sent to the BALEAP Treasurer and the BALEAP SIGs Officer.
The accounting year runs to 31 July. Each year, the SIG Treasurer will prepare an account showing income and expenditure. The SIG Accounts will be made available to the SIG members at the SIG’s AGM and to the BALEAP Executive Committee as part of the Annual Report by 15th October of each year. If the SIG has no income or expenditure to report, it will submit a declaration of no financial activity.
The following documents, as applicable, should also be scanned and made available to the SIGs Officer and BALEAP Treasurer:
• Bank statements
• Invoices and receipts
• Records of all cash transactions
When planning for a SIG event, a budget should be prepared. Event budgets in year one of SIG activity should be sent to the SIGs Officer. Thereafter, such information can be included in the Annual Report.
Setting up and closing a SIG
This SIG was set up following an expression of interest from at least 15 interested parties and was officially supported at the BALEAP conference in April 2022. While the proposal for the group and the aims set out in this document are to stay the same, it is agreed that these aims may be enacted differently in certain years and this shall be laid out at each AGM going forward.
If there is no longer sufficient membership support or interest in a SIG, this should be reported to the BALEAP Executive Committee.
If a SIG fails to submit an Annual Report for two years and if there is a lack of activity for one year, BALEAP will close a SIG.
Code of conduct
The SIG is to create a co-operative and collegiate environment for the aims of the SIG to be realised. The SIG is to be transparent and ethical its approach to disseminating the actions and progress from the SIG.
Amendments to the constitution
The constitution is to be agreed at each AGM and suggested amendments to be discussed and agreed within the AGM. Once an amendment is actioned, the constitution will be modified and redistributed and shared for the year.
Appendix 1
Elections – Suggested format and text for the call for nominations
BALEAP: [name of SIG]
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Nominations are invited for the following position(s) on the BALEAP [name of SIG] Committee:
| [position] ([start date] to [end date]) [position] ([start date] to [end date]) etc. |
[Provide a brief description of the position and its responsibilities or refer the reader to the relevant information on your SIG website.]
Appendix 2 Elections – Suggested format and text for nominee template
Position ([start date] to [end date]):
| Name of nominee: Proposer: Seconder: |
Personal statement: (c 150 words) [Suggested explanatory text: ‘ If you are interested in putting yourself forward for the position(s) noted above, please contact two members of the SIG who would be prepared to support your nomination for the position. The first (your Proposer) should also be an individual or institutional member of BALEAP. The second (your Seconder) need only be a member of the SIG’. Your Proposer and Seconder are not required to provide a statement in your support but should agree to be named above.]