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Treasurer

Secretary

Secretary

The Role

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The FEEF Secretary is primarily responsible for taking minutes at the Board and any general membership meetings, preparing minutes from the meetings, and ensuring the minutes are accessible by parents and staff.

 

This role can also play a part in the Nominating Committee, either chairing the Nominating Committee or serving on it.

 

Along with the President and Treasurer, this role is one of the three that is required each year by the FEEF bylaws.

 

Activities

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  • Take minutes at all Board and any general membership meetings

  • Prepare minutes from the meetings

  • Circulate the minutes for approval from the Board

  • Ensure that the minutes are accessible by parents and staff, for example, by posting to the FEEF website

  • Maintain the complete file of all approved minutes, agendas, and materials distributed at any official FEEF meeting

  • Maintenance of the FEEF bylaws

  • Maintains and preserves FEEF records and important documents to pass on at the end of the term


 

How Tos

 

Minutes – Quick Tips

 

As one of three required officers for FEEF, the secretary plays an important part in running a unit. One main task is to provide concise and complete minutes for board meetings. Here are some tips on how to produce and handle meeting minutes to help you get started.

 

Recording – When taking minutes at a meeting, focus on noting:

  • Actions taken by group in the order they took place

  • What is done, not what is said. This means that any detailed discussion or personal

           opinion is not included in the minutes.

 

Remember to include the following information:

 

  1. Meeting Details:

  • Name of the organization

  • Date, place and type of meeting

  • Start time and end time of meeting

  • Attendance list

  • Name and title of presiding officer

 

  1. Business Items:

  • Approval of previous meeting’s minutes

  • Summary of treasurer’s report listing date and balance on hand in the last report, income, expenses and date and balance on hand in the current report

  • Motions to adopt budget, financial reports, audit reports and resolutions

  • List of payments authorized or expenditures ratified to pay bills

  • Motions to approve projects, fundraisers, contracts and bylaws changes, note person’s name making a motion and vote’s result if adopted or defeated

  • For motions with a counted vote, record if a quorum or majority was needed and the number for and against the motion

  • For motions requiring a two/thirds vote, note that a two-thirds vote was required for approval after the outcome of the motion

 

  1. Summaries of Reports/Presentations:

  • Summary of officer, chairman and administrator reports with important, written reports attached

  • Election results with nominees’ name and the number of votes each nominee received

  • Brief reference to program presented at a board meeting, noting type of presentation, presenter, title and organization represented

 

Distributing – It’s always best to complete the minutes soon after a meeting. Send a copy to the president to review before distributing minutes to the group that generated them.

 

There are several ways to share minutes with your members. For a smaller group, such as a board, you can email the minutes for review before the next meeting.

 

Approving – Minutes are presented for approval at the next meeting of the group as a standard agenda item. This action is recorded in two, different places in the

master copies of the minutes:

  • Minutes of current meeting – Note that previous meeting’s minutes were approved.

  • Minutes of previous meeting – Write the word ‘Approved’ and the date after your signature and title

 

Correcting – Corrections to minutes are made when they are presented for approval at a meeting. They can also be made at any subsequent meeting when an error is discovered.

 

Preserving – Minutes are the legal, permanent records of FEEF as a nonprofit organization and are kept forever. At the end of the term, the master copy of the minutes from board meetings should be passed on to your successor.

 

Beyond the Minutes

As secretary, you are assigned a few other tasks. At meetings, be prepared to refer to minutes of previous meetings and bylaws if asked. You may also be asked to provide blank paper for voting by ballot and to help count a vote.

 

In addition, some administrative tasks carried out by the secretary include:

  • Sending notices of board meetings

  • Preparing a list of unfinished business from meetings for the president to follow up on

  • Notifying officers and committee members of their election or appointment

 

Time Estimates:

Previous volunteers who have done this job have reported: 3-4 hours per month

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