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 regular Professional Issues Meetings (PIMs) two or three times a year in different venues around the UK in order to promote collaboration, share good practice and report on research and development in the field of EAP.
  3. To arrange publication of selected proceedings from the conferences, disseminate research presented at PIMs, and facilitate discussion of professional 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, through an Accreditation Committee, for the benefit of member institutions.
  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 to provide help and guidance for the recruitment of international 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, centres or other institutions where EAP programmes delivered are validated and / or quality assured by a university. These are referred to elsewhere in the Constitution as “Member Institutions”. Their principal function is the teaching of EAP, together with the production of materials and the pursuit of research related to the teaching.

There shall be at least one full-time staff member whose principal function involves the teaching of EAP.

Applications for membership must be made in writing to the Chair of BALEAP 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 the Executive and subsequently ratified by a simple majority vote at the first Business Meeting after the application is received.

2. The application for membership will include the names of two representatives, one of whom will be the Principal Representative for communication purposes. The Representatives, who shall be holders of academic posts and shall be involved in the teaching of EAP, should attend Business Meetings. They will be responsible for representing their colleagues at such BALEAP meetings, and disseminating to them information relating to BALEAP.

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 one 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 Chair, who will refer to the Executive 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 by the Executive and ratified at the next business meeting. The BALEAP subscription is linked to JEAP (Journal of English for Academic Purposes), so that Member Institutions and Individual Members receive a copy each quarter. The Principal Representative will receive and be responsible for circulating JEAP within a Member Institution.

D  CHAIR

1. Responsibility for acting as Executive Chair of BALEAP shall rotate among BALEAP Member Institutions, so long as they are willing to accept the office. The term of office is three years. When the term is complete the outgoing Executive Chair then assumes the role of Deputy Chair for two years. The incoming Executive Chair then takes over the role of Deputy Chair for the year prior to their term as Executive Chair.

2. Nominations for the Chair and other Executive positions will be solicited by the Executive from among Member Institutions and shall be proposed and seconded at an appropriate Business Meeting.

3. The Executive shall be appointed from Member Institutions and individuals shall serve in a role for a minimum period of three years after which they may stand for re-election. Executive roles are as follows :


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