Role and Responsibilities
The AIS student chapter template bylaws outline the role of the secretary as:
Additional responsibilities might include:
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Writing and sending official thank you notes to speakers, presenters, and sponsors.
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Drafting meeting agendas.
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Taking minutes for executive and regular business meetings.
For more information on writing an agenda, see the Personal Leadership section of the website.
Timeline for drafting an agenda
Drafting an agenda takes some time and thought. Below is a suggested timeline and things to think about when preparing your meeting agenda.
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In order to prep your future meeting agenda you first have to look backwards.
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Acceptance of meeting minutes. Did you send out the minutes from the last meeting? Add a motion to the agenda.
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Past Action items. Were there action items from the last meeting that need to be discussed or added as a reminder?
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Tabled items. Were their items that were tabled at the last meeting that need to be addressed at the upcoming meeting?
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Officer and Committee reports
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Reach out to the other officers, advisor and committee leaders for agenda items by at least two weeks before a meeting.
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Set a due date for motions and items (discussion time, attachments, report,etc.) that they want as part of the agenda.
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Send out the agenda with any attachments at least one week prior to the meeting. This gives all meeting attendees plenty of time to review the materials, motions that will be voted on, and discussion items.
Agenda and strategic plan or chapter goals
If your chapter has developed a strategic plan or has set SMART Goals for the year, make sure to include in the agenda what discussion items, reports, and motions directly speak to that plan or goals. For example, if someone is giving a report on membership recruitment, list that in the agenda, but in parenthesis also list "strategic plan item #3a" or simply "strategic plan." This will keep the plan and goals in front of the membership on a regular basis and will avoid the feeling that they spent time on a plan and goals for nothing. Almost everything a chapter does should relate directly to the strategic plan or goals! For additional resources on leadership, visit the Personal Leadership page
Resources
How to create a meeting agenda