The Role of a Secretary
Generally a Constitution states "the Honorary Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Association, shall have custody of its documents, and shall keep full and correct minutes of its proceedings".
A Secretary also has a responsibility to ensure that all appropriate items are presented to members for discussion, and to act upon any decisions as directed by the meeting.
The record (minutes) of the meeting should be complete yet concise, expressing only facts (and not the writer's opinions). It is recommended that all decisions requiring action by the Secretary be dealt with as soon as possible after the meeting, and that duplicate copies of correspondence or notes of action taken (e.g., telephone calls) be retained in a file for future reference.
THE AGENDA
During the meeting a Secretary's task can be made easier by following a well established plan. This plan, known as an agenda, should be prepared well in advance and, if possible, distributed along with the minutes of the previous meeting. If it is not possible to distribute the agenda then, make copies available at the meeting or, at the very least, pin a copy where it can be read by members as they arrive at the meeting. This will enable members sufficient time to consider the matters to be discussed at the meeting.
An agenda should be prepared in consultation with the Chairman, which allows the Chairman to become better acquainted with the topics to be discussed and reduces the possibility of items being overlooked.
The success of a meeting can be affected by the information given on the agenda. The quality of the discussions and the resultant considerations often are a reflection of the pre-meeting considerations.
INWARD CORRESPONDENCE
A Secretary is often required to decide which correspondence needs to be brought to the attention of members and which only needs to be 'tabled'.
Commercial documents or pamphlets may be mentioned briefly and then 'tabled' or placed in a folder and passed around.
Letters and documents from other Parents and Friends Associations, your own school Board or Council, Queensland Independent Schools Parents Council, Education Department and any other relevant body or individual should be read out in full to the meeting. However, if a document is considered to be too long, a summary of its contents will suffice. Again, have the correspondence in a file for easy reference or perusal by members.
OUTWARD CORRESPONDENCE
List all letters which have been written since the last meeting, with a brief description of their contents.
REPORTS
Should be listed in order of presentation, e.g., Treasurer's Report, Canteen Committee, etc.
GENERAL BUSINESS
As the heading implies this section is set aside for items of a general nature which will not have been dealt with in the previous sections. Once again it is advisable that any item which needs to be discussed should be listed.
ATTENDANCE BOOK
An easy way of keeping a record of attendance at meetings is to circulate at the meeting an attendance book in which all members present enter their names.
An apology column, in which can be recorded the names of members unable to attend the meeting, is also helpful.
