BALEAP Constitution

A  FUNCTIONS

The specific functions of BALEAP are :

  1. To hold regular meetings of representatives of members institutions and of the Executive Committee.
  2. To hold biennial conferences and termly Professional Issues Meetings (PIMs) in order to report on research and development in the field of EAP.
  3. To publish selected proceedings from the conferences, disseminate research presented at PIMs, and facilitate discussion of professsional concerns, via the institutional or general mailbase. These are : baleap-inst@jiscmail.ac.uk and baleap@jiscmail.ac.uk.
  4. When appropriate, to establish Working Parties on issues of specific interest to members, such as learning outcomes from pre-sessionals and teacher training in EAP.
  5. To manage an accreditation scheme for the benefit of member institutions through an Accreditation Committee.
  6. To ensure wherever possible not only the excellence of EAP courses at member institutions, via the principles embedded in the BALEAP Accrediation Scheme (BASC), but also the adequacy of the conditions of service of the academic staff involved.
  7. To consider and help determine policies of recruitment of overseas students, and the provision of English Language support for them.
  8. To provide advice and guidance to any interested parties on any of the above matters in order to achieve the highest possible standards.

B  MEMBERSHIP

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

1. Membership of BALEAP shall normally be open to, and held by university departments (or sections thereof) in institutions of higher education, one of whose principal functions is the teaching of EAP, together with the production of materials and the pursuit of research related to the teaching.

In addition, these departments or sections shall have at least one full-time staff member whose principal function involves the teaching of EAP. (These departments or sections thereof are referred to elsewhere in this Constitution as 'member institutions').

Applications for membership must be made in writing to the chairperson by the head of a prospective member institution, and details must be provided at that time of the EAP courses currently offered by the institution, and the nature of the posts of prospective representative.  (See 2 below).

The decision to admit a new member institution will be made by a simple majority vote at the first business meeting after the application is received.

2. Each member institution shall normally appoint no more than two representatives to attend business meetings and to deal with other matters relating to BALEAP on behalf of the member institution. The institution will notify the chairperson of BALEAP in writing of the name(s) of its representative(s), who shall be holders of academic posts and shall be involved in the teaching of EAP.

A written application from the member institution must be made for each representative stating that he/she satisfies the condition. A representative who ceases to satisfy this condition must immediately inform the chairperson, and cease to act as a representative.

3. Each member institution shall have only one vote at business meetings. Where a member institution has more than one representative, agreement shall be reached between these representatives as to the way that the vote shall be used at business meetings.

INDIVIDUAL ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP

Individuals with a professional interest in EAP may be accepted as individual associate members of BALEAP. Prospective individual members will apply to the current Chairperson, who will refer to the committee as necessary. Individual associate members will be entitled to the normal benefits available to institutional members with the exception of voting rights, attendance at business meetings and receipt of minutes thereof, and involvement in the Accreditation Scheme. The business meeting will be routinely informed of matters relating to individual associate membership.

C  SUBSCRIPTION

The subscription year runs from October to September. The annual subscription rates for Institutional and Individual Associate membership are decided at a business meeting. The BALEAP subscription is linked to JEAP (Journal of English for Academic Purposes). Each member institution and individual member receives a copy each quarter.

D  CHAIR

1. Responsibility for acting as administrative chairperson shall rotate on a biennial basis among BALEAP member institutions, so long as they are willing to accept the office. Exceptionally, the period of office may be for one year.

2. A function of the administrative chairperson is to arrange meetings of representatives twice yearly, or as frequently as agreed upon.

For further information on BALEAP or to apply for membership please contact :

chair@baleap.org.uk
 

The current chair is :

Dr Michael Hughes
Room W4.9
Eliot College
University of Kent
Canterbury
Kent CT2 7NS

t +44(0)1227 823320