On this page you can find more info on how our association really works. This is only a brief explanation. If you’d like to know more, you can aways send us an email at bestuur@duivelsei.nl. Alternatively, you can read the Articles of Association and House Rules, both of which are available in English, as these also contain all the information below.
As you probably already know, we are a student based board game association. This means we have the same internal structure as any other student association. Below you can read what this entails.
In general we have 1 to 2 game nights every week that fall on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday varying week to week. Once a month we also organise a gameday on a Saturday. All of these activities are organised by the board. You can read down below what else the board does.
Articles of Association
The foundation of our association is formed by the Articles of Association. These are the ground rules of the association. These statutes have to be established in the presence of a notary. This means they don’t change very often.
Many things are formally established within these Articles, like the associations name, who can become a member, when a membership has to be ended, how the GMA’s (general member assemblies) work, but also how to change the Articles of Association themselves.
House Rules
Our House Rules and regulations serve as rules in cases that the law and the statutes don’t cover. While it is not a requirement, most associations do have one, as do we. There are different rules in the rules and regulations, or R&R (Dutch: Huishoudelijk Reglement, or HR) than written in the statutes. The rules within the statutes are meant to be more permanent than those within the R&R. The R&R is not allowed to contradict the statutes. It can also be changed by general vote on any GMA without the presence of a notary. Two thirds of the votes present are required to change the R&R at a GMA.
GMA (General Member Assembly)
At a General Member Assembly or GMA the board presents an agenda with discussion points. Members can supply opinions and comments to these points. This agenda has to be presented at least a week before any GMA.
The Board
At the head of the association is the board. They control and guide the association and make sure everything works according to the rules and expectations. They are legally responsible as a collective entity.
How is a board formed?
The current board, or h.t. (for hoc tempore) creates the Formaatcie. At the half-year GMA, members can vote on the makeup of this commission. If approved, this commission will form the new board.
The first step is the Board Interest Night, or BIB (Dutch: Bestuursintresseborrel). On this night people interested in becoming part of the board next year can ask their questions to current and past board members, who answer based on their experiences. This way, everyone’s questions about being board can be answered. Attending the BIB is not a requirement for becoming part of the board and in return, attending is not signing up to be on the board next year. It is simply an opportunity to ask questions.
After the BIB, everyone interested in becoming a board member can send up an application form to the Formaatcie. On this form are questions such as: ‘Which function would you like to fill?’ ‘Do you have any previous experience within commissions?’. This is followed by an interview. All the information on these forms and said within the interview is of course confidential.
After these interviews the Formaatcie will decide in their meetings what they think an ideal board formation would be. This is the Candidate Board, or KB (Dutch: Kandidaatsbestuur). This is followed by phone calls to all applicants. The applicants selected for the board will get to know the makeup of the KB. After a week the current board and the senate will be informed as well. They have a week to protest the KB. After another week, the KB will be announced to the rest of the association.
This is then followed up by the election GMA, where members can vote on any suggested board formations. If the KB is voted in, they become the Futurum Temporum, aka the f.t. or future board. From this point forward they are allowed to join in on board meetings. If the KB is rejected by the GMA, then the Formaatcie will have to form a new KB, who will be voted on during a new election GMA.
After the summer, during which the f.t. will have been trained on their new positions, there will be the Switch GMA. During this GMA the old board will be switched out for the new one, which is purely ceremonial. After this switch the f.t becomes the h.t. and the cycle starts again half a year later.