Clarify Membership Duration

[bradleysigma]

This change doesn't have a functional change to the membership duration, but rewords the section to make the meaning more clear.

If somebody acquires membership on January 1st, their membership will last until the end of February the following year; 14 months. If somebody acquires membership on December 31st, their membership will last until the end of February the following year; 2 months.

The current wording could be read with the implication that the membership will be backdated to the start of March.

The significance of the end of February is that it will occur shortly after Market Day, which is when a lot of people renew their membership. Market Day is also the hard deadline for the membership portal getting updated for the new year. In theory, if you pay the membership fee, you're a member for CURRENT_YEAR, regardless of the date on the membership form, though this may cause extra work for whoever updates the membership portal each year.

[bradleysigma]

@q-horton, to address your concern, the relevant UQU regulation is:

161.1. Clubs and Societies must charge a minimum annual membership fee, of at least $2.

This clause is phrased as "annual membership fee", and not "membership fee per year". This amendment would still have long-term members pay a membership fee exactly once per calendar year (e.g. someone who wishes to be a member for 2021 to 2025 would pay $10 in total). As such, I believe it would not violate this regulation.

[ENGGP]

Motion passes 2025 AGM