Content:

• Rules

• Participating rules for events

• Meeting guidelines

• Harassment policy

• Guidelines for festive ribbons
  

Rules

(These are not the official rules, but just an unofficial translation of the Finnish rules made by a member of Stimulus opposition)

The rules of Stimulus ry

1§ Name and domicile

The name of the association in Stimulus ry., which will be called an association in these rules. The domicile of the association is Jyväskylä. Associations language of protocol is Finnish.

2§ Purpose

Purpose of the association is to act as an interest group for psychology students in University of Jyväskylä, represent its members within the university in the development of studying conditions, promote the studies of its members, broaden the social outlook of students, promote the well-being of students, organise recreational activities that bring students together, promote the legal protection of students in matters related to studies and engaging in science policy activities, maintain and promote cooperation with the Department of Psychology and to maintain contact with student associations in Jyväskylä and elsewhere.

3§ Fulfilment of purpose

To fulfil its purpose, the association organises, according to the interests of its members, lectures and discussions, lecture series, courses, reading and discussion groups, visits, keeps contact with organisations of the field and, if necessary, becomes a member of these organisations and practices publication activities. It also organises a wide range of recreational activities.

4§ Supporting actions

To support its actions, the Association is entitled to collect membership fees, the amount of which is determined by the Association's autumn meeting for a period of one year, to accept grants, donations and bequests, to organise fundraisings, raffles and festive and entertainment events, and to engage in publishing and publication activities. However, the Association's activities are not intended to be profit-making.

5§ Members

Anyone that studies psychology in the University of Jyväskylä as their main subject can join the association as a student member. The association can also have supporting, permanent supporting, exchange and honorary members. 

Supporting members may be private citizens and legal entities who are approved as supporting members by the board and who pay the supporting membership fee set by the association at the annual autumn meeting.

Permanent supporting members may be private citizens and legal entities who are approved as permanent supporting members by the board and who pay the permanent supporting membership fee set by the association at the annual autumn meeting.

Honorary members may be appointed by the board on the basis of a decision of the association to persons who have contributed in a meritorious manner to the purposes of the association. Honorary members shall not be charged a membership fee.

Exchange students studying psychology at the University of Jyväskylä who pay the exchange student membership fee determined by the association at the annual autumn meeting may become exchange student members.

6§ Membership rights and obligations

A member is obligated to comply with the rules of the association and the decisions of the board as well as, except for honorary members, pay the membership fee set in the association’s general meeting.

Student members have a right to participate, to speak and to vote in meetings of the association and a right to participate and to speak in the board meetings, if the board does not rule otherwise. Supporting, permanent supporting, exchange and honorary members have a right to participate and to speak, but not to vote in meetings of the association. 

Acquired membership rights are maintained.

7§ Resignation and expulsion of a member from the association

A member is obligated to resign from the association when he/she has completed a graduate degree in psychology at the University of Jyväskylä. The board of the association may consider a member to have graduated and thus dismiss the member after seven (7) years from the date of membership, unless the member notifies otherwise. An exchange student member is obligated to resign from the association once his/her studies in the University of Jyväskylä have ended. The board of the association may consider an exchange student member to have graduated and thus dismiss the member after 12 months from the date of membership, unless the exchange student member notifies otherwise.

Honorary, supporting and permanent supporting members may be expelled by decision of the board, if they act contrary to the objectives of the association.

A member may resign from membership of the association by notifying the board or its chairperson in writing or by announcing it to be recorded in the minutes at a meeting of the association. The board may expel a member of the association, if the member’s activities within or outside the association impede the achievement of the associations objectives or significantly damage the reputation of the association. In addition, the member may be expelled on the grounds of improper conduct as described in Article 8§. The length of the period of suspension is decided by the board on a case-by-case basis. A member has the right to submit the decision to suspend to the general meeting of the association by informing the chairperson within 30 days of the decision to suspend. Other sanctions to be imposed on a member for misconduct are set out in article 8§.

8§ Equality actions

Misconduct means harassing or abusive behaviour or conduct that violates the association’s equality plan or harassment policy. These rules apply to all conduct that occurs in the course of the associations activities.

Sanctions are the consequences of a written or oral complaint to the board. The complaint and the subject of the complaint must be known to the board in order for sanctions to be imposed. A member always has the right to be heard before a sanction is imposed. Decisions on sanctions are made at a board or association meeting. Sanctions used by the association include verbal or written warnings, suspension from association events, prohibition from serving on the associations board, committee or as an officer, and expulsion from the association. The duration of a suspension from association events may be set at between 1 and 6 months. The ban on serving on the board, committee or as an officer of the association is 12 months.

9§ Meetings of the association

If the Board of Directors or the Association so decides, the meeting may also be attended by means of a telecommunication connection or other technical aid during the meeting.

The regular meetings of the association are the spring meeting, held in February-March, and the autumn meeting, held in October-November. Other meetings shall be held at such other times as the board may deem necessary.

Meetings must be announced at least seven days before the meeting by email on the Stimulus email list and, where possible, by other means. Minutes of the associations meetings are kept, signed by the chairperson and secretary of the meeting and certified by the scrutineers.

10§ Agenda for meetings

In the spring meeting, the following items must be addressed:

• Presentation of the previous year’s annual report, accounts and operations auditors’ report

• Approval of the annual accounts for the previous financial year

• Decision on the discharge of the board or on the measures to be taken on the basis of the associations management and the opinion of the operations auditors

In the autumn meeting, the following items must be addressed:

• Selection of the next years board of the association I.E. chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, treasurer and 5 to 10 other members 

• Selection of two operations auditors for the next year

• Decision on the amount of next year’s membership fee separately for student, exchange student, supporting and permanent supporting members

• Presentation of the plan of action and budget for the next term of office

11§ The board of the association

The affairs of the association are managed by the board elected for one year at a time in the autumn meeting consisting of a chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, treasurer and 5 to 10 other members, each with their own responsibilities. The board may appoint such committees and officers to assist it as it deems necessary. Only a full student member may be elected as a member of the board.

The board meets at the invitation of the chairperson, or the vice-chairperson and a quorum is reached when more than half of the board members, including the chairperson or the vice-chairperson, are present. The term of office of the board shall be one calendar year.

12§ Decisions

In the meetings of the association, decisions are made as majority decisions. If the vote results in a tie, the tiebreaker is the chairpersons vote, or in the case of elections, a lot. A proposal that has been made lapses if no one has supported it.

13§ Right to sign for the association

The chairperson of the board, vice-chairperson, secretary and treasurer have a right to sign for the association, each on their own.

14§ Operational audit

The associations accounts are closed each calendar year. Accounts and other necessary documents must be delivered to operational auditors at least three weeks prior to the spring meeting. Operational auditors must return the accounts at least two weeks prior to the spring meeting.

15§ Changes to the rules

Rule changes must be approved with at least ¾ majority of votes at a meeting of the association or at two meetings of the association held at least within two weeks, with the first proposal being approved by a simple majority of votes and the second by a 2/3 majority of votes.

16§ Dissolution of the association

A decision to dissolve the association must be made with at least 5/6 majority in two consecutive meetings of the association held at least within one month. When dissolving, the remaining assets of the association must be transferred in a manner specified by the latter meeting, in accordance with the purpose set out in article 2§.

17§ Other

The associations activities are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the current associations act.

Participating Rules for events

By virtue of the association act, the participating rules are binding policies set by the board. When you sign up and/or participate in an event organized by Stimulus, you agree to comply with the following terms:

1. If not mentioned otherwise, the events of Stimulus may not be participated without paying the participation fee and/or signing up for the event.

2. The person registered has committed to pay any participation fee for the event

3. The registration must be cancelled before the registration database is closed by contacting the person in charge of the event. If you have to cancel your participation after the registration deadline (because of, for example, medical cases and such), you are required to inform the person in charge of the event about it.

4. The registration is binding even for the free events

5. Cancellation of the registration is always done by contacting the person in charge of the event via phone or email.

6. If the registration deadline has been reached, the participant may sell his/her place to someone else. The original registrant is required to inform the new participants name to the person in charge of the event.

7. The registrant commits to follow Stimulus’ safer space principles, which apply to events.

8. One may not bring illegal drugs to Stimulus events, nor can one participate them under the influence of illegal drugs. The police is contacted if problems arise.

9. Photos taken in Stimulus’ events are published only in Stimulus’ own social media accounts, such as in Facebook or Instagram. A person registered to an event is committed to inform Stimulus’ head of communications if he/she does not want his/her photos to be published.

10. For the event participation, priority is given to the actual members of Stimulus. If there are leftover places, honorary members have a right to participate in the events.

Any breach of these rules will be discussed with the parties concerned on a case-by-case basis and, if necessary, action will be taken.

Meeting guidelines

In associations meetings, each member of Stimulus has a right to participate, to speak and to vote. Meetings are held once a month (excluding summer months), of which the regular meetings are the autumn meeting and the spring meeting.

Proposing an agenda item and an online decision

Each Stimulus member has a right to propose an agenda item in a board or association meeting. In the case of, for example, budgeting decision, the proposal should include a justification for the need for the budget, its amount and breakdown of what it consists of, and whether any of the amount will be returned to Stimulus. You can find a model for this in the minutes of the meetings here

If the proposal should be covered before the next meeting, the members can also send an online decision proposal to the board. It is important to notice however, that primarily all of the decision-making is made in the meetings, so an online decision will not be made if it is not absolutely mandatory timewise. In these situations, a proposal for an online decision may be sent to pj@stimulus.fi. An online decision proposal is subject to the same guidelines as the proposal presented at the meeting, with the difference that an online decision must be timewise urgent and important in substance. The proposal must be accompanied by a written justification of the decision. For more detailed instructions for both the (budgeting) proposal presented at the meeting and the online decision proposal, contact the chairperson for example via email pj@stimulus.fi.

Harassment Policy

Harassment policy of Stimulus ry sets out guidelines for dealing with harassment situations and defines harassment. The harassment policy provides guidance if you experience harassment at an event organized by Stimulus or an external party. You can find the harassment policy here in Finnish.

Harassment contact persons of the University of Jyväskylä student union help all students in situations where one has encountered harassment, assault or other inappropriate treatment. You can find additional information on the website of the Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä here.

Guidelines for festive ribbons

Stimulus ry has a festive ribbon that is used in academic ceremonies such as the annual ball. The more in-depth instructions regarding the ribbon are found here in Finnish.