Nutritionists in Industry Constitution
Nutritionists in Industry (NII)
NII is an unincorporated association
NII aims to raise and maintain the profile of nutritionists and dietitians working within the food, drink and pharmaceutical industry, as a credible source of nutrition information, knowledge and expertise. NII aims to share and disseminate best practice and up-to-date nutrition science to its membership, to the benefit of the industry and ultimately the consumer.
Membership of the group is open to any individual working as a ‘registered’ nutritionist (Association for Nutrition registration or any organisation superseding this) or Associate member, or ‘registered’ dietitian (Health and Care Professions Council: HCPC) in the food, drink or pharmaceutical industry. This will include producers, manufacturers, retailers and caterers*. Membership is also extended to nutritionists and dietitians who are working in the industry who are eligible for registration with the Association for Nutrition but have yet to register. *This does not include food lobbying organisations
Individuals who do not meet these requirements could be considered if they have appropriate qualifications. Applications will be assessed by NII’s Committee on a case-by-case basis.
Freelancers, who meet the membership criteria, are eligible to join but must provide details of their industry clients, and any vested interests, on their application form.
The food, drink and pharmaceutical industry is deemed to include organisations who have industry partners/companies as members, such as the Food and Drink Federation, British Nutrition Foundation and Leatherhead Food Research.
Details of how to join NII are set out on NII’s website www.nii.org.uk
There will be a set annual membership fee which will be reviewed annually by the NII committee. Any changes will be agreed by the membership at the Annual General Meeting. There will be one vote per member. Payment must be by a digital bank transfer (BACS) or by cheque only.
The membership year will run April 5th until April 4th.
It is the members’ responsibility to inform the committee when they change roles and/or organisations to ensure eligibility criteria are still met. Should this occur during a membership year and eligibility criteria are no longer met, a suitable refund of fees will be arranged. Decisions are at the discretion of the committee.
In the event of a member moving from one company to another, and eligibility criteria are still met, membership of NII moves with them regardless of whether membership was paid for by their organisation or not.
NII’s committee reserves the right to terminate the membership of any NII member failing to abide by the expectations of NII members, as laid out in this document, with immediate effect. In such cases, no refund of membership fees will be offered.
NII endeavours to run three formal meetings per year for its members, centred upon presentations by external speakers on relevant topics and/or training, and providing an opportunity for exchange of best practice and up-to-date nutrition science between members. One meeting per year shall include the Annual General Meeting (business meeting) and additional meetings may be arranged as required.
NII members are encouraged to regularly attend and fully participate in NII meetings. Members are expected to conduct themselves properly at all times when attending NII meetings and to act as positive advocates of the organisation.
By agreeing to membership, NII members agree to abide by the health and safety requirements put in place by meeting venues, at all times whilst on such premises. NII’s committee will ensure all reasonable measures are put in place to ensure members’ safety whilst in attendance at NII meetings but cannot be held responsible for any injury, loss of personal property, illness or death of NII members whilst in attendance of NII meetings.
NII will not discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, sexuality, disability, religious or political belief, marital status or age. All NII members must abide by this statement and failure to do so will result in termination of individual(s)’ NII membership.
NII will use members’ personal and professional information solely for the purposes of sending NII updates and for updating membership information. Membership information is held within password protected documents, accessible only by the NII’s chair and the treasurer. Where members have given such permission, members’ names, email addresses and job titles are available on NII’s website within a password protected area accessible by NII members only.
The business of NII will be governed by an elected committee. NII members may nominate themselves for committee positions and nominees will be voted for by the NII committee.
The NII committee will consist of at least 10 members, composed of an elected Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer/Membership secretary in addition to other committee members to whom tasks may be allocated. Such tasks may include meeting organisation, website management and PR/publicity. Elected officers should stand for a period of two years in the first instance. After which time, committee members may nominate themselves for any of the officer roles, subject to election by the committee. In circumstances where there are no volunteers for an elected officer role, and subject to re-election by the committee, the current elected officer may stay in the role for an additional period(s) of office. If an officer fails to fulfil the requirements of the role, or indeed any other committee member, the committee has the right to remove them, subject to a majority vote before the period of office has ended.
The officers’ roles are as follows: ◾Chair, who shall chair both general and committee meetings ◾Secretary, who shall be responsible for the taking of minutes and the distribution of all papers ◾Membership secretary, who shall be responsible for keeping records of members ◾Treasurer who shall be responsible for maintaining accounts
NII’s committee will meet as necessary (in person or via teleconference) and not less than four times a year.
Committee officers and members should represent the various different divisions of the food, drink and pharmaceutical industry, for example: producers, retailers, caterers, manufacturers of clinical nutrition products or of mainstream foods, trade associations and support organisations. Freelance members are eligible to join the committee.
No more than one member on the committee can represent a particular company or organisation, except under the circumstance where an existing committee member moves to a company that is already represented by another member of the committee.
In the event of a committee officer or committee member standing down during the year, a replacement will be elected by the committee members at the next committee meeting, either from amongst the existing serving committee members or from NII members choosing to nominate themselves for the role of committee officer/member.
Any committee member not attending a meeting without apology during a period of three months will be contacted by the committee and formally asked if they wish to resign.
One third of committee membership or four members, whichever is the greater, shall enable committee decisions to be made.
A proper record of all NII committee meetings shall be kept and meeting minutes will be made available at the request of NII members.
Records of NII’s income and expenditure will be maintained by the Treasurer and a financial statement will be given at each committee meeting, alongside statements of accounts.
An annual statement of accounts will be presented to the wider NII members at the Annual General Meeting.
An account will be maintained on behalf of NII at a bank agreed by the committee. Three financial approvers of expenditure will be nominated by the Committee (one to be the Treasurer and one to be the Chair). A minimum of two of these three financial approvers must approve every payment in writing, by email.
Account signatories must not be related nor members of the same household.
All money raised by or on behalf of NII will be spent solely to further the aims of the group, as laid out in items 3 & 4 of this constitution. These may include, but are not limited to: payment of speakers, venue hire, meeting catering and digital platforms.
Reasonable expenses including travel (second-class travel on public transport) and subsistence (up to £25 for an evening meal, up to £10 for lunch and breakfast) may be claimed by NII committee members in order that they may attend committee meetings. Where in permanent employment, committee members’ employers are requested to pay expenses.
Amendments to NII’s constitution, as proposed by NII’s committee (who hold power of amendment) must be proposed in writing to NII members and agreed at the Annual General Meeting, or at a Special General Meeting. Proposed amendments to the constitution must be approved by a two thirds majority of those present and voting.
In the event of NII’s dissolution, for example due to a lack of members or due to the aims of the group no longer being relevant, NII may be wound up. A meeting of the members will be called to agree to wind up NII and any remaining assets will be passed to a charity with similar objectives to those of NII, as agreed by NII members. |