This should be read in accordance with Section 8 of Effective Committee Management: the role of the Secretary .
1. The Minutes of the meeting are the official record of the University's business. They should be short and to the point and clearly record the decision of the Committee.
Minutes are not intended to be a verbatim record of the discussion but it is helpful to record a flavour of the discussion so the reader can understand the reasoning behind the decision.
2. Ensure that the Minute heading has the same title as the Agenda so that the Agenda and Minutes can be cross referenced.
3. It is helpful to have a standard format for setting out Minutes which can be divided into four elements;
4.
(a) set out the paper number which the Committee received;
(b) provide short background information (if necessary);
(c) record the key points of the discussion;
(d) set out the conclusion and decision of the Committee (e.g. note, approve, recommend).
It is useful to number the paragraphs of the Minutes for ease of reference in the following way: the main points of the paper – list alphabetically, i.e. (a), (b), (c) etc; the main points made in the discussion – list numerically, i.e. (i), (ii), (iii) etc; the decisions – list numerically related to the Minute number i.e. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc.
5. Section 1 below sets out a template that should be used for the construction of the
Minutes.
6. Section 2 sets out the Minutes for a fictitious Committee using the template. d:\726862058.doc

4.
3.
2.
Section 1
1.
<reference>
UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
<COMMITTEE NAME>
Minutes of a meeting of <Committee Name> held on <date> in <place>
PRESENT
<Names of those present with the Chair first and others listed alphabetically>
Apologies for absence were received from <names of those unable to attend>.
MINUTES
The Committee APPROVED meeting> (<reference>).
the Minutes of the meeting held on <date of last
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
<Minute under discussion>
The Committee RECEIVED
<TITLE OF AGENDA ITEM>
THE Committee
an oral update report on
RECEIVED and NOTED,
…
<Name of P resenter> presented the report and drew the Committee’s particular attention to the following:
as paper <reference>, a report on …
(a)
(b)
The following points were among those made in discussion:
(i)
(ii)
Subject to these revisions, the Committee <APPROVED><RECOMMENDED> the report.
5. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on <date> at <time> in <location>.
6. <TITLE OF ITEM TAKEN UNDER ANY OTHER BUSINESS>
The Committee <NOTED><RECEIVED> an oral / written report on …
<Initials of Secretary>
<date> d:\726862058.doc

3.
Section 2
2.
GC/7/M
1.
Minutes of a meeting of Governance Committee held on Monday 10 March 2008 in
Room 210, Central Building
PRESENT
UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
Professor B Red (Chair), Mr C White, Dr D Blue.
In attendance: Mrs E Green (Director of Governance), Dr A Person (Secretary).
Apologies for absence were received from Dr F Orange and Professor G Violet.
MINUTES
The Committee APPROVED
December 2007 (GC/6/M).
the Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 3
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
Minute 4 Structure of Examination Boards
At the last meeting it was agreed that the structure of examination boards should be approved subject to clarification from the School of Divinity on the structure of the undergraduate examination board. The Committee had agreed to delegate authority to the Chair to approve the structure. The Committee NOTED that the Chair had approved, on behalf of the Committee, the structure of examination boards with effect from the 2008/09 academic year.
4. COMPOSITION OF COURT
THE Committee RECEIVED , as paper GC/7/1, a report from the working group on the c omposition of Court. Mr White presented the report and drew the Committee’s particular attention to the following:
(a) consultation had been widespread and most members of the University community felt that Court was a properly representative body;
(b) the working group concluded that there was a lack of local business leaders on Court.
The following points were among those made in discussion:
(i) Court needed to be flexible in its membership to respond to changing external circumstances;
(ii) the South East Business Alliance could provide a useful forum through which to approach local business leaders.
The Committee RECOMMENDED the amendments to the composition of Court to
Council for approval. d:\726862058.doc

5. REGULATIONS RELATING TO ACADEMICAL DRESS
The Committee APPROVED , as paper GC/7/2, a proposed change to the academical dress for the Heads of Schools with effect from this year’s summer graduation ceremonies.
6. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY
THE Committee NOTED , as paper GC/7/3, a progress report on the delegation of authority. The Chair suggested that the final proposals should be brought to the next meeting of the Committee for consideration and approval.
7. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Monday 29 September 2008 at 2.30pm in Room
210, Central Building.
8. COMMITTEE PAPERS ON SUSSEX DIRECT
The Committee NOTED that the Governance Office had written to all Committee
Secretaries encouraging them to upload their papers onto Sussex Direct.
AP
17 March 2008 d:\726862058.doc