Secretary
Content:
The role of the secretary.
End of year report.
Society constitutions.
Minute taking.
Letter writing.
Maintaining Archives.
The Role of the Secretary
Your Society may have a recording secretary and a corresponding secretary, or just one
who performs both functions
Definition of a secretary in the standard constitution: The Secretary will take minute of
meetings and deal with correspondence; responsible for secretary’s report and society
submission to the end-of-year book.
Secretaries Report
( Closing date for submission March 31st.)
The secretaries’ report is generated on-line. You can up date it regularly and when it is
completed send it to the societies office.
(Closing date for submission March 31st.)
Make sure you have your society login details.
Useful Tip during the year make sure all your events appear in the calendar.
Display the descriptions of interesting events.
Check your committee details are up to date including ID numbers and e-mail addresses.
Calendar events on the calendar by Friday afternoon for the following week will be
automatically included in the ‘whats happening guide.’
Events added on the secretaries report generator automatically go into the report and do
not need to be approved before appearing in your report but will need to be approved
before going live in the calendar section on the site.
Check your event list for duplications of events and remove any duplications before
submitting your report.
Constitutions
Check that your society has a constitution. Templates are available from the societies'
office and are available for download on the Soc website. A constitution is necessary as it
is the document you can refer to in the case of problems or disputes.
Any changes you make to your constitution must be submitted as part of ypour online secretary’s report at the end of the year for approval by the USC. No changes
to your constitution can be implemented without prior approval of the USC.
Types of Meetings
AGM
EGM
Committee
Formal
Informal
AGM
You must hold an Annual General Meeting. Your AGM should be held at the end of
the second semester. Check your constitution for any specific regulations regarding your
AGM.
Best Practice would suggest giving one weeks notice of the AGM and making every
effort to publicise the event (posters, email your members and use the available websites)
You will need to present a secretary’s report and treasurer’s report at your AGM for your
members. Your secretaries report can be generated at any time during the year and can be
printed it can be altered until it is sent to the societies officer.
In the event that all the new positions have not been filled at the AGM an EGM
(extraordinary general meeting) can be held in September after Societies Day when you
have recruited your new members.
Notify the Societies Officer of name and contact details of your new officers and if
possible introduce the new officers to the Societies Officer. Make sure that any new
members details are included on the website.
Be sure to hand over all relevant material to the new committee.
EGM
An EGM may be held at any time of the year.
If you have held an AGM at the end of semester 2 of the previous academic year and you
have not filled all the positions on your committee you will need to hold an EGM in
September, (preferably after Societies day) to fill the vacant posts, it is advisable to
advertise the EGM with date & venue on your table on Societies day.
Attendance is open to all members of the society.
Usually one weeks notice is required (Check your individual constitution)
The Agenda is at the discretion of the committee.
Changes to constitutions may be made at an EGM but these changes do not come into
effect until approved of by the USC. Please submit any changes to Riona one week prior
to a USC Meeting for inclusion on the USC Agenda.
AGENDA
Creating a Meeting Agenda
The meeting agenda is a roadmap for the meeting. It lets participants know where they're
headed so they don't get off track. Most importantly, the meeting agenda gives a sense of
purpose and direction to the meeting.
All agendas should list the following:
c headings
Attach any additional material which it would be advantageous for the committee to read
before the meeting - this can save considerable time.
Useful tip:
Check out the new on line minute maker in which you can create your agenda and
minutes and archive them on youe site and distribute them to the committee.
Have all the committees e-mail addresses, the committee should check these regularly,
send agendas and minutes by e-mail and attach any supporting material. Even if you have
a large Minute Book the Agendas and Minutes can be pasted in. This is the method used
in the University Central Committees Office. Hard Copies can then also be easily printed/
photocopied and sent to all members.
Before The Meeting
1. Define the purpose of the meeting.
2. Develop an agenda in cooperation with key participants. (Quite often the
Auditor and Secretary including any items tabled by other members)
3. Distribute the agenda and circulate background material, lengthy documents or articles
prior to the meeting so members will be prepared and feel involved and up-to-date.
4. Choose an appropriate meeting time. Set a time limit and stick to it, if possible.
Remember, members have other commitments. They will be more likely to attend
meetings if you make them productive, predictable and as short as possible.
5. If possible, arrange the room so that members face each other, i.e., a circle or semicircle. For large groups, try U-shaped rows.
6. Choose a location suitable to your group's size. Small rooms with too many people get
stuffy and create tension. A larger room is more comfortable and encourages individual
expression.
7. Be sure everyone knows where and when the next meeting will be held.
Bring to the meeting:
record the proceedings.
ng to the meeting
The Minutes
The purpose of meeting minutes is to provide:
meeting
ctions
Minutes do not need to be recorded word for word, except for motions and resolutions.
The rest of the minutes are an objective summation of what actually occurred. However,
it is important to include enough information that they conform to the purpose of minutes
as outlined above.
A good agenda will help the minute taker to understand the objectives of the meeting,
which will help him/her know what is important to include in the minutes. It is important
to review the previous meeting’s minutes when preparing the agenda to ensure that the
agenda covers all business from the last meeting.
The secretary prepares the agenda after discussion with the Auditor.
At the meeting chair and the secretary should sit next to each other so that they can
confer and clarify points for the minutes.
Do Record:
(Including those who arrive late and those who leave). A sheet is handed around at the
meeting, but his may not catch all of the participants
aken
Include each line of business referenced in the agenda even if it is only one sentence.
Recording Motions
Motions need to be recorded properly. A motion is a presentation of an idea to a meeting
for discussion. It must have a proposer and a seconder and then must be passed by a vote.
It is a good idea to have motions written out beforehand and presented to the meeting
participants on an overhead. It is important to record these motions in the minutes exactly
as they have been stated. It is also important to document in the minutes “It was moved
by ..., seconded by ... and carried that ...”
Do not record:
Many minutes do not record individual speakers unless the individual speaker requests
that their comments be recorded) but concentrate on topics, decisions and plans of action
attributing to the individual the course of action which they have agreed to undertake.
This appears as matters arising at the next meeting.
Verbatim transcripts are very unusual and do not facilitate efficient management or
action.
Useful Phrases:
When everyone is essentially saying the same thing for a long time:
After a lengthy discussion the consensus was....
When the discussion lasted for a very long time:
After much debate.......
Having explored all the issues it was decided.......
Tips For Taking Minutes
the society, date and time, venue, name of the chair or facilitator, main topics and the
time of adjournment. For formal meetings include approval of previous minutes, and all
resolutions.
for notes. By having the topics already written down, you can jump right on to a new
topic without pause. (Minute taking templates available in the Societies Office.)
Or, you can pass around an attendance sheet for everyone to sign as the meeting starts.
he mistake of recording every single comment. Concentrate on getting
the gist of the discussion and taking enough notes to summarise it later. Think in terms of
issues discussed, major points raised and decisions taken.
comfortable for you, a notepad, a laptop computer,
a tape recorder or shorthand.
discussed and have your questions ready ahead of time. If you have to concentrate on
grasping the issues while you are making your notes, they won't make any sense to you
later.
sure to have the minutes approved by the chair or facilitator before distributing them to
the attendees.
are the mark of a professional. The very process of recording minutes can give you a
deeper understanding of the issues faced by your society along with ability to focus on
what's important.
Formal letter writing
Formal Letters
The Director (name preferable!) (4)
(1)
Clark Kent
Telecomplex Telecomunication Ltd. (5)
Moycullen ( 2)
569 First Avenue
Galway ( 2)
New York, ( 6)
December 25, 2001 -----------3
Dear Sir or Sirs or Madam: ------------- 7
I'm writing to inform you ... ---------------------- 8
Thank you for your attention. ------------------ 9
yours sincerely, --------------- 10
______________ ----------- 11
Clark KentRemember that in formal letters we don't use contractions, so you musn't write I'm,
We'd, He'll, etc.
1- writer's name
2- writer's address
3- date
4- name of the person who'll receive the letter
5- company where the person works
6- address of the company
7- greeting
other options for greeting:
- Sirs
- Mr. Smith
Mrs. Smith
- Ms.
Smith
- Miss. Smith
8- introduce the subject of the letter
9- after finishing the subject we usually say thank you
10- closing (saying goodbye)
other options:
- Sincerely yours
- Yours sincerel
Yours truly
- Yours faithfully
11- writer's signature
Archives
Lockers are now available and it is simple to buy a large box for archiving your
material.
The Library has a facility for storing interesting society material and publications.
Websites are now a very handy way to keep society information,
www.socs.nuigalway.ie will be keeping all calendar events on record, submit your event
by Thursday noon for inclusion in the following week’s What’s Happening Guide.
When organising reunions archival material is invaluable. Submitting your members list
to the society office ensures information is available for future society members.
Remember their are many methods of archiving eg: film & audio.