Policies

Code of Conduct

Complaints Handling

Members’ Liaison Officer 

Form for Complaints, Suggestions and Comments

Covid-19 Policies

Bylaws

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Code of Conduct 

U3A Adelaide expects that all members, tutors and other volun­teers will behave in a courteous and civilised manner in all dealings relevant to U3A Adelaide. As a member of U3A Adelaide, you therefore agree to abide by this Code of Conduct by:

  • Participating in U3A Adelaide activ­ities in a friendly and positive way at all times.
  • Being honest and ethical in all dealings with U3A Adelaide.
  • Showing respect, courtesy and consid­er­a­tion to everyone you deal with in U3A Adelaide and the general public in relation to our activities.
  • Being punctual and reliable in attending U3A Adelaide classes/events/office rosters or other commit­ments; and fore­warning of unavoid­able absences, with­drawals from classes and events.
  • Observing strict confid­en­ti­ality regarding organ­isa­tional and members’ personal inform­a­tion to which you may have access.
  • Avoiding all forms of discrim­in­atory behaviour in regard to nation­ality, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, culture, religion, age and mental or physical ability.
  • Not engaging in behaviour that is inap­pro­priate, disruptive or intim­id­ating, as would breach the rights of other persons to parti­cipate in a class/event or to carry out their desig­nated role.
  • Preserving the wellbeing and safety of members, tutors and presenters, office staff, committee and working group members by: 
    • Participating safely in each class or activity, and abiding by all reas­on­able direct­ives or prerequis­ites specified by the tutor or group leader for that participation;
    • Refraining from activ­ities or comments that would place others in a vulner­able situation;
    • Not causing any wilful damage to U3A Adelaide premises, materials, facil­ities, or equipment.
  • Promoting U3A Adelaide in a positive way.
  • Abiding by this Code of Conduct and all other U3A Adelaide published policies and proced­ures, in partic­ular, and without limiting the gener­ality of this clause, any require­ments promul­gated on behalf of the Board relating to matters of health and safety (eg COVID-19) or U3A processes and proced­ures (eg the arrange­ment of furniture in rooms).
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Complaints Handling

HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS, SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS

This document sets out the proced­ures estab­lished by the Board of Adelaide U3A for handling complaints, sugges­tions and comments. Where members wish to raise these matters, they are encour­aged first to discuss them inform­ally with the Members’ Liaison Officer (MLO). It may be that the MLO can provide or obtain satis­factory answers or resol­u­tion on an informal basis.

If not, or in circum­stances where a breach of the Code of Conduct might have occurred, the member will need to lodge the matter formally by completing the form provided for that purpose. Copies of the form are available at the office, or it can be download from the web site. The remainder of this document relates to issues raised formally.

Complaints, sugges­tions and comments relating to courses will be referred to the Program Coordinator, those relating to facil­ities will be referred to the Officer Manager. These officers may be able to provide satis­factory resol­u­tion of the issue. If not, they will refer the matter to the Board for resol­u­tion. Either way a formal response will be provided.

Where the issue relates to a possible breach of the Code of Conduct it will be referred to the MLO and dealt with in the following way as provided for by the Constitution of the U3A.

  1. The President or another member of the Board will meet with the MLO to determine whether the reported breach is serious or is a minor breach. In the latter case the board will attempt to resolve the matter by working with the member who has allegedly breached the Code of Conduct, as follows:
    1. a)  The matter will be discussed, inform­ally, with the member by the president or the vice president and another board member
    2. b)  If the member responds favour­ably then no further action need be taken.
    3. c)  A record of the interview will be kept for a period of 5 years.
    4. d)  If the member does not respond favour­ably then the matter will be dealt with as a serious breach.
    If the matter is thought to be a serious breach or as provided by (d) above the procedure set out below will be followed.
  2. Particulars of the alleged breach will be commu­nic­ated in writing to the member who has allegedly breached the Code of Conduct.
  3. The Board (or, if there is more than two weeks before the next meeting of the Board, the President acting on behalf of the Board) will appoint one or more people (not neces­sarily Board members) to invest­igate the matter.
  4. The member will have a reas­on­able oppor­tunity to be heard orally by the invest­ig­ators and to make written submis­sions to them. The member will have the right for a supporter to accompany him/her to any meetings at which he/she may be heard in relation to the alleged breach.
  5. After completing their work, the invest­ig­ators will prepare a report for the Board including recom­mend­a­tions as to whether the alleg­a­tion has been proved and, if so, what action should be taken.
  6. If the alleg­a­tion is not deemed to be proved, then the alleged offender and the complainant will be advised of the outcome and the matter will be closed.
  7. If deemed to be proved, the action might be: 
    1. a)  The member should be formally counselled,
    2. b)  The member should be removed from a partic­ular class/group either perman­ently or for a specified time,
    3. c)  The member should be expelled.
  8. If the invest­ig­ators consider the alleg­a­tion to be proved, then that decision together with the action proposed to be taken will be advised to the alleged offender in writing at least 14 days prior to a Board meeting where the recom­mend­a­tions will be considered. At that meeting the member will be able to attend to present arguments orally and/or in writing and, if they wish, be accom­panied by a supporter. After consid­ering any such further repres­ent­a­tions the Board will decide whether to accept the recom­mend­a­tions of the invest­ig­ators, acquit the alleged offender, or impose a greater or lesser penalty. In most cases the Board will accept the recom­mend­a­tion of the invest­ig­ators unless there is strong contrary argument.
  1. The determ­in­a­tion of the Board will be commu­nic­ated in writing to the member within seven days of its determ­in­a­tion. However, the Board’s consid­er­a­tion of the alleged breach may be such that the determ­in­a­tion can also be delivered verbally immediately.
  2. Incasesofexpulsion,itshallbeimmediateandfortheremainderoftheyear.Ifthepersonwishestore- enrol in the following year, applic­a­tion for enrolment would come to the Board for consid­er­a­tion and may involve discus­sion by members of the Board nominated by the Board with the person regarding his/her accept­ance of the reasons for the action taken to expel him/her.
Complaints HandlingDownload
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Form for Complaints, Suggestions and Comments

Complaints-Suggestion-nov22

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Members’ Liaison Officer (Ken Johns 2022)

MEMBERS’ LIAISON OFFICER POSITION DESCRIPTION

  • The Members’ Liaison Officer (MLO) will act as a channel of commu­nic­a­tion and liaison between indi­vidual U3A members and the President, Board and/or its sub-committees.
  • The MLO will receive comments, sugges­tions or complaints from members. Initially this may be on an informal basis and the MLO will attempt to resolve the matter inform­ally. If this is not possible, or in the case of an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct, the MLO will advise the member to submit the matter on the Form approved by the Board. Copies of the Form can be obtained from the Office or down­loaded from the website.
  • Where a matter that is raised relates to an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct the MLO will raise it with the President or other member of the Board so that it can be dealt with in accord­ance with the require­ments of the Constitution.
  • Other matters that are relat­ively minor may be dealt with by the officer to whom the form has been referred.
  • Significant or major issues will be referred to the President imme­di­ately, who will then decide if they need to be considered by the Board.
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Covid-19 Policy — Nov 2022


The Board has decided that, consistent with practice across the community, the require­ment for people attending at the Box Factory to be vaccin­ated will no longer apply from 1 January 2023. In taking this decision, the Board draws the attention of members to the advice from govern­ment health officers that vaccin­a­tion is strongly recom­mended; for our members this will generally mean that four doses are received. While vaccin­a­tion cannot guarantee protec­tion from contracting COVID, it is clear that it can reduce the impact of the disease if you do catch it.
The Board has also reit­er­ated an earlier decision that mask-wearing is no longer mandatory.
Again, members should consider their own circum­stances when deciding whether or not to wear a mask. Factors to consider are the ability to maintain a social distance, the level of ventilation/air low at locations where you are, and consid­er­a­tion of the needs of others.
Finally, please do not attend courses if you are feeling unwell, partic­u­larly if you have any flu-like symptoms.

By-Laws

By-laws of U3A-Adelaide Inc. U3A Adelaide Board N ‑U3A Adelaide By-Laws 14/06/2020

These By-Laws do not form a part of the U3A Adelaide Constitution. However, as policies estab­lished by the Board, they are binding on members. By-Laws are determ­ined and endorsed by the Board in the interests of best practice and may be amended by the Board at a formal meeting.

  1. Non U3A-Adelaide members
    1. a)  Anyone other than U3A Adelaide members, may enrol for one-off sessions only at a cost of $10 per session. An addi­tional fee for Out and About courses may also be appro­priate. Such fee does not entitle the visitor to any other member­ship rights. People using the visitor enrolment should be advised it may be more economic to pay a half year subscrip­tion, thus also obtaining member­ship rights.
    2. b)  Members from other branches may have associate member­ship for a fee of $40. Reciprocity is determ­ined by indi­vidual U3A branches.
  2. Half year enrol­ments
    Members may enrol for half a year (either half) for 50% of the current fee. July 1st is the cutoff point.
  3. Tutor Membership
    Tutor member­ship does not entitle enrolment in any other course, or in a position ofrespons­ib­ility, unless full/half year member­ship fees are paid.
  4. Life Membership
    1. a)  Once a member’s nomin­a­tion for Life Membership is approved, a paragraph, setting out the reasons for making the award, should be incor­por­ated into the minutes of the Board.
    2. b)  A Life Members Minute Book is to be used to record inform­a­tion pertaining to the granting of Life Membership, along with any salient inform­a­tion and, where possible, a photo­graph. Individual pages should be used for each Life Member and that member’s name is to be recorded on the Honour Roll on the U3A Adelaide website.
    3. c)  A Life Membership badge should be presented to the nominated member at the AGM or other appro­priate time.
  5. Death Notices
    Only the deaths of long serving tutors or volun­teers will be recog­nized in the Newsletter
  6. Hot weather policy
    • During the summer months the cancel­la­tion of classes is at the discre­tion of the indi­vidual tutor. This may occur on an ad hoc basis or decided, in consulta­tion with class members, at the beginning of Session in which the course is held.Where it is an ad hoc decision members will be advised by the office, or the tutor, via email or phone.
    • Some venues used for Out and About classes have their own Hot Weather Policy and members will be advised of any cancel­la­tion via email or phone.
  1. Course contentU3A Adelaide does not endorse any courses which promote or endorse any partic­ular religious or political views, nor courses which promote or endorse any medical practices which purport to have bene­fi­cial outcomes, unless those practices have the full backing of main­stream medicine. U3A-Adelaide reserves the right to determine the type and content of courses offered as a part of their programme.
  2. Priority EnrolmentPriority in enrolment can be accessed by any member who has signi­ficant involve­ment in U3A Adelaide in the role of tutor, volunteer or formal committee member during the current year. This priority will be at the discre­tion of the Board.
  3. Member Re-enrolment
    1. a)  To maintain progres­sion in their learning, all current language students will be eligible tore-enrol in their ONE class in each language
    2. b)  Language students may not enrol in more than one class of any one language. They may enrol in courses for a number of different languages, although in no more than one of each.
    3. c)  Re-enrolment for other courses is at the discre­tion of the Board.
  4. Distribution of Third-party Information/AdvertisingWe do not seek or accept advert­ising in our public­a­tions or website, nor do we distribute third party inform­a­tion by email or letter. Links to inform­a­tion may be made available on the website at the discre­tion of the Board.

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