THE CONSTITUTION UNIVERSITY NURSING STUDENTS ASSOCIATION OF TANZANIA (UNSATA)

PREPARED IN 2005 REVIEWED IN 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: THE ASSOCIATION 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Name Headquarters Objectives Language Affiliation

CHAPTER TWO: MEMBERSHIP 6. Categories 7. Membership fees 8. Termination or suspension of membership CHAPTER THREE: ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE 9. Executive committee 10. Duties of the office bears CHAPTER FOUR: ELECTIONS 11. for the executive committee members CHAPTER FIVE: THE EXECUTIVE BOARD CHAPTER SIX: SPECIAL COMMITTEE 12. Rules and regulations of the committees 13. Activities of the special committees 14. Duties of the special committee chairperson 15. Duties of the special committee secretary 16. Duties of the special committee members CHAPTER SEVEN: MEETINGS CHAPTER: RESPONSIBILITY OF EX-COM

CHAPTER TEN: FINANCE AND PROPERTY 17. Sources of funds 18. Signatories 19. Control of funds CHAPTER ELEVEN: PATRONSHIP/MATRONSHIP 20. Roles of Matron/Patron CHAPTER TWELVE: AMMENDMENTS

CHAPTER ONE: THE ASSOCIATION. 1. NAME: The name of the association shall be University Nursing Students Association of Tanzania here in after referred to as UNSATA. 2. HEADQUATER(S) There shall be headquartering for the UNSATA at the faculty of NursingMuhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, as may be agreed by the General Assembly. 3. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of UNSATA shall be: i. To build the relationship within nursing students in the country and other university worldwide. ii. To improve the provision of nursing services based on scientific evidenced approaches. iii. To encourage registered nurses and student nurses to do research thus contributing to health promotion. iv. To prepare and conduct conferences and workshops, which will address issues related to nursing professional. v. To participate in voluntary health services e.g. counseling, health education, and community based care, etc. vi. To address the issue of the most vulnerable groups like women, children, orphans and elders. vii. To enhance and broaden the general and specific education of member students thus contributing to the improvement of nursing education. viii. To build a strong, autonomous and transparent organ which shall enable nursing students to express their concerns about their professional perspectives? ix. To improve or strengthen the status of nurses national wide to reach their full potential and international level quality. x. To address the issues of common health problems, i.e. HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and teen pregnancy in prevention aspects, supporting victims and developing relationship with other organizations dealing with the same problems.

4. LANGUAGE: The official language shall be English and Swahili. However records shall be in English. 5. AFFILIATION: The UNSATA shall not be affiliated to any other students organ in the country but shall be affiliated with other nurses association within and outside the country and shall maintain total autonomy. The UNSATA shall be entirely apolitical, with no relationship with any political body in the country in country including its political activities. CHAPTER TWO: MEMBERSHIP 6. There shall be five (5) categories of membership; a. Active membership; shall be open to nurses and nursing students residents working in Tanzania upon payment of dues as defined in the bylaws. b. Associate membership; shall be open to other individuals and nonconferences. They may have the privilege to voice on the floor but cannot vote. An associate member shall not hold any office and may serve on the committees.

c. Honorary members; who served with excellence and longevity within the Association may be nominated at the discretion of the Executive board and voted by (1/2) majority vote of attending members at the Associations Annual General Meeting (AGM). They shall be entitled to all the privileges of active members except holding office. They shall not be subject to the dues of the Association. d. Senior membership; shall be open to those who are 45 years or older and residents of Tanzania. e. Students membership; shall be open to any secondary or high school or college or universities student who is a resident of Tanzania, but

are not falling in category (a) above. The student membership shall be based on one-half (1/2) of the active membership. Students members shall have the privileges of active members except voting and holding office. The Association president shall present or mail one year free Association membership cards to graduating students at Tanzania schools for those who had been studying nursing. 7. MEMBERSHIP FEES: There shall be membership fee of 5,000/= Tsh. Per annual for active members. The associate members shall be required to pay 10,000/= Tsh. Per annual (until when revised by the General Assembly).

8. TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF MEMBERSHIP: Membership shall be terminated or suspended; a. Following resignation given one- month notice in writing to the executive committee of his or her intention to do so and upon approval of the executive committee. b. For going contrary to the constitution of the association. A member shall be expelled on a motion carried by at least a two-thirds majority of members present at the executive committee. c. If a full member has debt to UNSATA of more than six months he or she shall loose his or her membership status and shall regain by paying his or her debt

CHAPTER THREE: ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE. The supreme authoritative body of the UNSATA shall be the General Assembly of members of the association. The executive committee shall be the governing body of UNSATA and shall have full power to act on its behalf in the period between the General Assembly in accordance with UNSATA policy.

9. The executive committee shall consists of; a. Those entitled with voting rights i.e. i. The President ii. The Vice President iii. The General Secretary iv. Deputy General Secretary b. Those note entitled with voting rights i.e. i. The Treasurer ii. All Chairperson of Special Committee iii. Executive Advisor iv. Two Ex-official Members All members of executive committee entitled for voting shall be elected from among full members of the association.

10.DUTIES OF OFFICE BEARERS.

a. THE PRESIDENT: There shall be the president of UNSATA who shall be the spokes person of the association and shall carry out the following functions; i. To take full and final responsibility on smooth running of the association activities. ii. Enforce order and by the due observance of the constitution and bylaws of the Association.

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vi. vii. viii. ix.

Appoint the chairpersons of all committees, subject to the approval of the Executive Board. Serve, by laws as a member of any commission formed by the government of Tanzania or any other organ that has to deal with issues o the nurses or nursing students issues. In the event of being unable to serve, the president shall appoint his/her designee to take his/her place, subject to the approval of the Executive Board. Serve as the Associations representative to all bodies in which UNSATA has interest real or apparent in Tanzania or abroad and as ex-officio member of other Executive board as appointed by the concerning authorities. In the event of being unable to serve, the president, subject to approval of the executive board, shall appoint his/her designee to take his/her place. Be one of the absolute signatories of UNSATA financial affairs. To sign the approved minutes of all meetings of the association. To appoint a temporary chairperson from executive committee before his or her absence. To call and preside all Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Executive Board Meetings.

The immediate past president; Assist and advice the President and the Executive Board. Serve on the Executive Board. b. THE VICE PRESIDENT: There shall be the vice president who shall; i. Cooperate with President on all official issues. ii. Assume the presidents responsibilities in his/her absence or if the president is unable to perform such duty. iii. Serve as President for the reminder of the presidential term in the event the president resign or vacates his office. iv. Serve as the chairperson of governance committee and should be knowledgeable of the basic UNSATAs procedures. v. Act as an ex-officio representative of all community, local and other functions as designated by the Executive Board.

c. THE GENERAL SACRETARY: There shall be the General Secretary of UNSATA who shall; i. Sign and post all the notice(s) concerning the association. ii. Keep the minutes of all general and executive meetings of the association. iii. Prepare agenda of meetings. iv. Handle internal and external correspondence of the organization. v. Perform any other official functions as may be directed by the Executive Board. vi. Be responsible for the property of the association d. DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY i. Cooperate with the General Secretary on all official issues. ii. Assume the General Secretarys responsibilities in his/her absence or if the General Secretary is unable to perform such duty. iii. Serve as General Secretary for the reminder for the secretarial term in the event the General Secretary resign or vacates the office.

e. THE TRASURER: There shall be a treasure of UNSATA who shall; i. Be responsible for all financial affairs of the association. ii. Submit a report on the finance of the association twice a year on the general assembly meeting. iii. Make an annual application for grants to universities and other donors. iv. Pay all bills except over thousands Tanzanian shillings (20,000 Tsh) unless approved by the Executive Board, and countersigned by the President or Chairperson of the Auditing Committee. v. Secure a bond for the coverage of the Association Funds.

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Submit to the Associations auditing Committee for its review all money, books, accounts, papers, vouchers, receipts and records including Bankbooks. Transfer all monies, books, accounts, papers, vouchers, receipts and records including bankbooks to his/her successor, when elected.

CHAPTER FOUR: ELECTIONS FOR THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS. a. Elections shall be held at the beginning of March as per annual basis during general assembly. b. The Nominated Committee Chair shall report the list of candidates to the attending members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and as if there any members interested in running for office. c. The officers of the Association shall be elected by one-half (1/2) majority vote of the active attending members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). d. In the event of emergency or circumstance preventing attendance, the candidates shall notify the nominating committee chair or president before the election occurs. Otherwise elected officers must be present at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be officially recognized. e. President and Vice president shall be elected for a period of one year basis. f. The General Secretary shall be elected for period of one year g. The Executive Board shall appoint the Treasurer and Deputy General Secretary for a period of one year. h. There shall be voting by mail or proxy. i. The Executive committee shall appoint the two Ex-officio members for a period of one year. If occasion warrants, may continue for one more year.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE EXECUTIVE BOARD. There shall be an executive board, which shall consist of the president, chairperson and the General Secretary from every chapter in the country. This board is vested with power to foresee activities of other chapters and collaborative purpose. CHAPTER SIX: SPECIAL COMMITTEE. There shall be five special committees, which under this clause shall be regarded as functional units of the association. When the need arises a new committee may be formed or nullified. The special committee shall consist of a member student working on a special field of UNSATA activities submitting a report for consideration by the executive committee and the general assembly. The members of the committee shall be appointed by the executive committee. The committee shall be as follows; a. b. c. d. e. Committee for AIDS and Reproductive Health (CAREHE) Committee for Community Based Health Services (CCBHS). Committee for Nursing Education and Research (CONER). Committee for Professional matters and Elective (COPME). Committee for sports and social affairs (CSSA).

Members of the special committee shall voluntarily register themselves to any committee of their interest. 11.RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. Each committee shall; i. Be headed by chairperson and secretary. ii. Be responsible for planning and designing the activities of the committee guided by the job description granted and approved by the executive committee. iii. Have a minimum of three members of executive committee shall also be members of various committees.

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Be responsible to make a proposal write up to fruit project designed under that committees goal but it shall be under full sign of the president. Be responsible to make a years plan of their activities and keep orders and up to date files including their wade correspondence and all documents concerning their activities. Prepare a formal report of their activities and expenditures to the executive committee and hence the president every time the executive committee sits according to the constitution.

12.ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE.

a. Committee for AIDS and Reproductive Health (CAREHE) The committee shall have the following functions; i. To address the issue of HIV/AIDS prevention. ii. To work in align with other institutions or NGOs to minimize the burden passed by the HIV/AIDS pandemics in the community. iii. To develop mechanisms to support the victims. iv. To provide reproductive health education to the needy especially on adolescence, family planning, family life education and genital mutilation. b. Committee for Community Based Health Services. i. Enhance and broaden the knowledge of member students by providing them opportunities to practice and so supplement what they have been taught in class. ii. Address the issue concerning the vulnerable groups. iii. Establish links with other CBOs and NGOs aimed at helping the vulnerable groups. iv. Participate in voluntary community health services. v. Establish a home based care voluntary group.

c. Committee for Nursing Education and Research (CONER). The committee shall have the following duties; Encourage students and registered nurses to carry out the scientific research. ii. Act as an organ that will facilitate the dissemination of the scientific research findings. iii. Prepare conference or workshops that shall act as an education media. iv. Act as supporting bridge, which shall enable students to obtain technical support on how to carry on scientific research by linking them to the expert. v. Improve nursing services by putting forward the application of evidence based practices. vi. Encourage students to pursue higher level of education within the nursing profession. vii. Build a link between local nursing education institutions with others in overseas. d. Committee for Professional Matters and Electives (COPME). The committee shall have the following duties; i. To strengthen the relationship of the undergraduate nursing students in and out of the country. ii. To act as an organ which shall enable the undergraduate nursing students to express their concerns on professional issues iii. To act in cooperation with other nursing professional organization for the betterment of nurses. iv. To inculculate the spirit of enrolling in national and international nursing organizations among member students. v. To organize elective studies for members and host elective students visiting the college. vi. To organize intercollegiate meetings in member colleges aimed at discussing sensitive matters involving nursing students and their future career. i.

e. Committee for sports and social affairs (CSSA). To coordinate all activities related to sports and game affairs within and beyond the association. f. Auditing committee i. The auditing committee shall be responsible to examine the reports of treasurer, bankbooks, vouchers and other records. ii. Shall review see all money received are accounted for and that all disbursements are authorized. iii. The audit shall be made at least twice a year or whenever so ordered by the President or Executive Board iv. This committee shall advice the treasurer on financial matters and assist budget planning for future goals and proposed biannual budgets(s) v. Chairperson of the committee shall present the report to the Executive Board and if needed to the Annual General Meeting. vi. Members of the Executive Board shall not serve on the Auditing committee. The committee shall have maximum of three members and not less than two members.

13.DUTIES OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON. The chairperson shall; a. Be the head of committee and chief spokes person and shall control over all committee meetings. b. Be a consultant, together with Secretary General shall have the power to make changes aiming at improving different activities conducted by the committee. c. Be responsible for all activities carried out by UNSATA in his/her committee. d. Be answerable to executive committee. e. Be working in collaboration with other committee.

f. Maintaining close contact with all organizations working on the field related to her/his committee. g. Have such other functions as to ensure. 14.DUTIES OF SECRETARY OF THE COMMITTEE. The secretary of committees shall; i. Be the chief executive officer to the committee and shall be the secretary to all committee records. ii. Prepare timetable of all meetings of the committee. iii. Monitor all the day-to-day activities of the committee. iv. Keep all committee official records. v. Be a chairperson, head of committee, chief spokes person and control over all meeting in absence of chairperson.

15.DUTIES OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS. a. To work with the chairperson and secretary of the committees to achieve the goals of the committees. b. Together with the chairperson and secretary of the committees are responsible of the daily activities of the committees.

CHAPTER SEVEN: MEETINGS. a. There shall be two General Assembly Meeting at least once per semester or twice per year. b. There shall also be a meeting of all UNSATA Members whenever there is a need of the General Assembly and the time is convenient.

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY. The supreme authoritative body of the UNSATA shall be the General Assembly of members of the association.

CHAPTER NINE: RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. The Executive Committee shall; a. Have the ability to of no confidence to any top official given that there is a concrete reason of doing so. b. Shall have the ability to scrutinize/passing all budget from all committee.

CHAPTER TEN: FINANCE AND PROPERTY. c. SOURCES OF FUNDS. The association shall obtain fund from i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. Membership fee Annual subscription fees. Contribution from NGOs. Gifts. Contribution from other institutions. Donation. Investment. Any other lawful sources.

d. SIGNATORIES. The account for the organization shall have the following signatories; i. The President ii. The General Secretary iii. The Treasurer

e. CONTROL OF FUNDS. To control the fund the following regulation shall be followed; a. The funds hall be used to finance the objectives and functions of the association. b. Each committee shall prepare its own annual budget and submit it to the executive committee for approval. c. The association money shall be banked at the UNSATAs NMB bank Account where by the branch shall be stated by the Ex-com. d. The amount of money to be withdrawn shall not exceed 200000/=Tsh. unless approved by the Ex-com. e. The money to be withdrawn shall base on the committees annual budgets. f. Every financial transaction shall have a subscript. g. Official expenses shall be planned by the President, Vice president, secretary General and Treasurer, the budget which shall also be approved by the Ex-com

CHAPTER ELEVEN: PATRONSHIP/MATRONSHIP h. He/she shall be a guardian of the association. i. He/she shall be the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing f. ROLES OF PATRON/MATRON a. Shall give advice pertaining to the achievement of the associations objectives. b. Shall assist the nursing students and hence the association both morally and materially when such occasions warrants. c. Shall assist in doing an evaluation programmes and give technical advice an innovative plan of special committee. d. Shall oversee and advice the whole framework of UNSATA policies, activities and programmes.

CHAPTER TWELVE: AMMENDMENTS. a. Any proposed change of the constitution shall require a two thirds majority of live members present at the General Assembly. b. Such proposed change if accepted shall take immediate effect. c. When need arise, the executive committee may amend the constitution. The executive committee shall act on behalf of the General Assembly until when such occasion warrants for General Assembly. The reservations of which shall not be subjected to change.