The
secretary is responsible for the minutes of an organization, both the meetings
of the membership and those of the executive board. Minutes are a written
record of the meetings. Accurate minutes are of vital importance as they constitute
the permanent record of proposals, decisions and reports of the members and
the executive board. Minutes are the legal record of the meetings of an organization
and may be subpoenaed. Minutes should be written as concisely as possible.
A
Guide for Writing Minutes
DO
RECORD:
• all
adopted and "lost" or defeated motions;
• name
of the maker of the motion;
• names
of all members reporting (officers, committee chairmen, etc.).
• names
of all those elected or appointed;
• number
of votes on each side in a ballot or counted
vote.
DONT
RECORD:
• discussion
or personal opinion;
• name
of the seconder of a motion;
• motions
withdrawn;
• entire
reports (state, "MR. Y, CHAIRMAN OF THE PERSONNEL POLICY COMMITTEE REPORTED.
THE REPORT IS ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL OF THESE MINUTES.").
OTHER
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Write
the minutes as promptly as possible. Your notes will be easier to decipher.
A. Promptly
send a copy to the president.
B. Alert
the president to items of unfinished business.
• Prepare
a summary of the Executive Board meetings and be prepared to report motions
to the membership.
• Sign
the minutes and record the date of approval.
• Be
specific in recording corrections, noting the date, page, and line in which
the correction appears. All corrections are made in red. Do not obliterate
the original. Note the date of the correction. Minutes are usually corrected
at the time of the reading but may be corrected at any time provided the correction
receives a two-thirds vote. (Remember you are changing something already adopted
which requires a two-thirds vote.)
Contents
of Minutes
FIRST
PARAGRAPH:
• Kind
of meeting (regular or special).
• Name
of the organization.
• Date
and place of meeting.
• Presence
of the president and secretary or the names of the substitutes.
• Presence
of a quorum.
• Time
the meeting was called to order.
• Whether
the minutes of the previous meeting were approved or corrected.
Example
(Name
of the organization) Minutes
A (regular)
meeting of the (name of the organization) was held on (date) at (place). The
president and secretary were present. [Or "The vice president, (name),
presided in the absence of the president."] A quorum being present, the
meeting was called to order at (time). The minutes of the previous meeting
were approved as read [or "as corrected"].
BODY
• Reports
given, including:
A. the
name of the reporter; B. any related action taken.
• All
main motions (those that propose action be taken).
• All
points of order or appeal.
• Important
announcements, such as the topic of the program and the name of the speaker
(do not try to summarize the address).
Example
The
treasurer's report showed a balance on hand of $__ The report was filed for
audit.
-,chairman
of the__ committee reported. The report is filed with the minutes of this
meeting. At the conclusion of the report, the chairman moved the adoption
of the following resolution:
Whereas,
The __; be it
RESOLVED,
That __.
The
resolution was adopted.
Under
Unfinished Business, the motion postponed to this meeting "That __was
lost [or "defeated"].
Under
New Business, a motion by __ was amended and adopted as follows:
"__"
The
program was given by __ who spoke on the subject of __.
FINAL
PARAGRAPH:
• The
adjournment and the time of adjournment.
Example
The meeting was adjourned at (time). (signature
of secretary) Approved: (date)
[or] Corrected: (date)