Revised 2019 Constitution and By-Laws

Established, December 9, 1976
Revised, November 1, 1986
Revised, October 28, 2012
Revised, October 13, 2018
Revised, November 7, 2019

Constitution

Successive conferences of presidents of Asian Christian universities and colleges have presented in sharp focus the challenges and opportunities that the rapidly changing conditions of a resurgent Asia bring to Christian universities and colleges. Since our coming together as presidents from different countries of Asia at such conferences has not only inspired the broadening vision of closer cooperation but also created the need for more united efforts, we the signatories to the constitution, bind ourselves into an association of Christian universities and colleges in Asia dedicated to Christian witness and service in the field of education.

I. Name
Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia (ACUCA), hereafter called the Association.

II. Purposes
Through cooperation, mutual support, and encouragement, the Association endeavors to help the Christian universities and colleges in Asia:

To develop and maintain their Christian character;
To enrich the quality of their educational programmes and those of the other institutions of learning; and
To re-examine the relevance of their objectives and programmes in relation to the needs of a changing society.

III. Objectives
The objectives for which the Associations is established are, in pursuit of the purposes defined above:

To serve as a clearing house for sharing and exchanging useful and worth-while information, publications, and materials regarding Christian higher education.
To arrange for conferences, seminars, workshops, consultation, lectures, and programmes of similar nature.
To promote and facilitate exchange of faculty, staff and students among member institutions, and with other institutions of higher learning.
To foster cooperative research projects, service-learning projects, quality assurance projects, and Christian character development activities.
To encourage and support faculty and staff development.
To stimulate and promote Christian outreach towards other institutions of learning.
To serve as a liaison body to seek cooperation with and enlist the support of foundations, mission boards, business communities, governments and other organisations and agencies concerned with higher education in Asia.
To undertake any other objectives of a similar nature as may be demanded by the needs of the times.

IV. Membership of the Association is open to individual Christian universities and colleges in Asia

Whose admission is approved at the Executive Committee meeting.
Which pay the annual membership fee.

New membership is to be reported to the General Assembly, after its official approval is granted at the Executive Committee meeting.

V. The General Assembly

Membership
1. Full Member – the head of each member institution or his or her nominee. Full members have the right to vote and to stand for election.
2. Co-opted Member – up to five co-opted members who are representatives of organisations which subscribe to the purposes and objectives of the Association may be appointed by the General Assembly. Co-opted members do not have the right to vote or to stand for election.
Powers and Duties
1. The General Assembly may have vested in it the final responsibility for determining the policies, the programmes and the general affairs of the Association.
2. It shall elect from among its full members a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer and other members, each representing a country which has at least four member institutions. They shall serve on the Executive Committee.
3. It shall appoint the General Secretary who shall serve as its secretary but without the right to vote.
Meetings
It shall meet normally once every two years, and the date and place shall be decided by the Executive Committee.
Management Conference shall be attended by top leaders (Presidents, designated officials, heads of institutions) who will attend and will constitute the General Assembly.
In the intervening year, a Biennial Conference shall be held where other issues/concern in higher education are addressed, e.g. chaplaincy, collaborations.
When necessary, a special assembly can be called anytime within a year at least a month prior to the scheduled meeting.

VI. The Executive Committee

Membership
1. the President
2. the Vice-President
3. the Treasurer
4. members elected by the General Assembly from among its full members who are not elected as President, Vice President, and Treasurer, which ensures each member country has a representative on the committee (except new member countries, who may have representation when there are at least four member institutions in that country.
  At the end of the President’s 2-year term, the Vice president will automatically serve as President for the next term.
  HKBU will serve as ACUCA Treasurer unless replaced by the Board/Assembly.
  Countries with at least 4 member institutions will have a seat on the board.
  Countries with less than 4 will be grouped together.
5. The General Secretary who shall serve as its secretary but without the right to vote.
Powers and Duties
1. To recommend to the General Assembly for approval:
  1. the biennial programme and budget,
  2. members to be co-opted, and
  3. the amendments to the Constitution.
2. 1. to act on behalf of the Association, in between general assemblies,
  2. to approve projects and proposals,
    1. Secretariat shall have discretionary authority over projects subject to referendum of the Executive Committee, which shall be sent through e-mail for approval.
  3. to approve new membership of the Association, and
  4. to appoint advisers if needed.
Term of Office
It shall be from January 1 of a given calendar year to December 31 of the next calendar year or a total term of two years. Except for the General Secretary, members are eligible for re-election for one consecutive term only.
A transition period will begin from the conclusion of the Biennial Conference until December 31st of that year, during which the current Secretariat will provide all necessary documents and information to the incoming Secretariat and complete all financial and administrative tasks of their term.
The term of Office for ExeCom members shall be 4 years, non-renewable, except for the Treasurer Institution. In the case of President of the Association, the term shall only be for 2 years.
Institutional Nature of ExCo Office
Membership on the Executive Committee is taken up by the institution and not the individual serving as its president. Therefore, if the president of an institution serving as a member of the Executive Committee steps down from his/her post as college/university president, then, that institution’s next president shall serve for the remainder of the term on the Executive committee.

VII. Powers and Duties of the ExCo Officers

The President of the Association –
1. to preside over the meetings of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee.
2. to be the official representative of the Association.
3. The President has the prerogative to appoint the General Secretary who may not necessarily come from the same institution.
The Vice-President –
1. to assist the President and to act for the President in his or her absence and
2. to perform such other duties as may be assigned by the President.
The Treasurer –
1. to receive financial reports from the General Secretary and
2. to make an annual report to the Executive Committee and a report to the General Assembly concerning finances and related matters.
The General Secretary –
1. to serve as the secretary of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee,
2. to manage and supervise the office of the Association,
3. to carry out the decisions of the Executive Committee and the General Assembly,
4. to maintain contact with member institutions regarding the implementation of projects sponsored by the Association,
5. to manage the finances within the provision of the budget and submit semi-annual financial statements and audited financial report to the Treasurer, and
6. to present to the General Assembly and the Executive Committee a report on the activities of the preceding year(s) and proposals for the programmes of the coming year(s).

VIII. Amendments to the Constitution
The General Assembly may amend the Constitution by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, provided that there is a quorum and that the notice of the amendment(s) as proposed by the Executive Committee should be communicated through e-mail to all members at least three months before the meeting.
You may download a PDF document format here (“[2019 REVISED] ACUCA Constitution and By-Laws.pdf“).

By-Laws

Membership of the Association
1. Guidelines for Admission to Membership: An institution in Asia which confers a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent shall be eligible for membership of the Association provided it satisfies the criteria set by the General Assembly on the following:
  1. its Christian character and purpose,
  2. its involvement in service to the community,
  3. the quality of instruction as judged by the preparation and performance of its students,
  4. the participation of its faculty in scholarly activities and research, and
  5. the scope of its educational programme.
2. Procedure in joining ACUCA
  1. The prospective institution should contact the ACUCA Secretariat for information on the Executive Committee member of their home country.
  2. The appointed Executive Committee member will assist the prospective institution in gathering one letter of recommendation from an ACUCA member institution of the home country and one letter of recommendation from an ACUCA member institution of another country.
  3. After the application form has been filled in, all documentation should be sent to the Secretariat for processing.
    1. A completed Application form
    2. Endorsement by an Executive Committee member from the home country
    3. One letter of recommendation from an ACUCA member institution of the home country
    4. One letter of recommendation from an ACUCA member institution of another country
    Applicants from new countries will be required to receive endorsements from three Executive Committee members
  4. The Secretariat will take all of the documentation to the next sitting of the Executive Committee meeting, at which a decision will be made as to the approval of the prospective institution.
  5. The General Secretary will inform the institution of the result of their application.
  6. New membership is to be reported to the General Assembly, after its official approval is granted at the Executive Committee meeting.
  7. The institution will pay the membership fee for the designated period. Membership fees vary according to the country.
The General Assembly
1. Full Membership
  If the head is the normal representative but sends a temporary nominee for a limited number of meetings, the temporary nominee will rank as a full member of the General Assembly, except that he or she shall not be eligible for membership of the Executive Committee. If, however, the head declared in writing that he or she will be the institution’s representative and appoints a permanent nominee, the permanent nominee will in addition be eligible for membership of the Executive Committee and election to office.
2. Co-opted Membership
  Representatives of organisations or associations which subscribe to the purposes and objectives of the Association may be co-opted upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee to the General Assembly for a term of two years. A co-opted member may send a temporary nominee to the General Assembly.
3. Procedure
  1. The General Secretary, with the consent of the President, shall convene the General Assembly. He or she shall give at least three months’ notice from the day the letter is posted by e-mail.
  2. The Executive Committee may convene an extraordinary general assembly at any time, and must do so upon the written request of either the President or at least one-third of the full members not later than two months after receiving the request. As least one month’s notice shall be given from the day the letter is posted by e-mail.
  3. The quorum for general assembly meetings shall be a simple majority of the full members.
The Executive Committee
1. Membership
  1. With the exception of the General Secretary, there shall not be more than two members from any one country.
  2. If a member withdraws during his biennial term of membership, the Executive Committee shall have the power to appoint a replacement for the remainder of the term and as a rule, the appointed member should be from the same country as the one replaced.
2. Quorum
  At the meetings of the Executive committee, the quorum shall be a simple majority of the full membership.
3. Meetings
  The Executive committee shall meet at least once a year. At least three months’ notice of its meetings shall be given starting from the day the letter is communicated through e-mail using the official e-mail of the respective institutions.
4. Appointment of General Secretary
  The appointment of the General Secretary shall be for a term of two years and is renewable by mutual agreement.
5. Succession of Executive Committee Members during the Term of Office
  1. If the president of the institution serving as ACUCA secretariat resigns during that institution’s term of office as secretariat, then, pending the approval of the Executive Committee, the institution’s next president shall serve out the rest of its term as ACUCA president.
  2. If the president of an institution serving as ACUCA vice-president or ACUCA treasurer resigns during that institution’s term of office as vice president or treasurer, then, pending the approval of the Executive Committee, the institution’s next president shall serve out the rest of its term as ACUCA vice-president or treasurer.
  3. Should a seat of the Executive Committee become vacant due to any reason, the seat shall be filled by a simple majority votes of the said Committee. The new member should be elected from the same country although not necessarily from the same institution.
Termination of Membership
Membership shall automatically be terminated when the membership fee is not paid for two consecutive years. However, the institution may apply for re-admission within 2 years, upon payment of past dues.
Beyond 2 years default, the institution may apply for new membership.
Amendments to the By-Laws
The By-Laws may be amended by a simple majority of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee. Notice of the amendment(s) as recommended by the Executive Committee shall be posted by e-mail to all members at least one month before the General Assembly.