Secretary

• To serve as a member of the Executive Board. (All SLA unit officers (and committee chairs) must sign the SLA Leadership Code of Responsibility. The Chair distributes these forms at the beginning of each term of office.)
• To appoint one member of the Nominating Committee each year, as specified in the Governing Documeny. This is done in conjunction with the Treasurer and Past-Chair to ensure that one member of last year's committee continues on it next year if possible. (Perhaps the newest member of the Executive Board--the newly elected Secretary or Treasurer--could approach last year's committee to determine which member is willing to continue.) Tell the Chair!
• To record and distribute minutes of the Division's meetings, including the Annual Business Meeting and Board meetings. Send a copy of the minutes to the Leadership Department at the Association Office. (See the guidelines for writing minutes.)
  • Send minutes of the Annual PAM Business Meeting by email copy to the Executive Board for approval (an acceptable substitute for membership approval, according to Robert's Rules), and then send 1 copy to the PAM Chair, 2 copies to the SLA Division Cabinet Chair, 1 copy to the PAM Archivist, and 1 copy to the Bulletin Editor for inclusion in the August PAM Bulletin.
  • Take minutes at the second PAM Board meeting at the conference at which the Secretary's term commences, at both Board meetings at the following conference, and at the first Board meeting the following year. The minutes of the first Board meeting each June should be given to the Chair before the second Board meeting of the same conference, that is, during the conference. Minutes of the second Board meeting should be sent to the Executive Board shortly after the conference for approval - e-mail is fine.
  • Throughout the year, the Secretary should make brief notes regarding discussions and decisions made by the Executive Board via e-mail (including dates and rationale) and these notes should be appended to the minutes of the last Board meeting and read with them. If the discussion is complicated or contentious, the summary should be distributed to the Executive Board for approval (of accuracy of fact and interpretation) immediately, as if they were minutes of a meeting.
  • It is the responsibility of the Chair to report Executive Board activities to the members. This is done by means of the Message or Annual Report, in the Bulletin.
• To conduct official correspondence and maintain a file of current records as requested by the Chair. At the end of the Association year, archival material should be transferred to the PAM Archivist. [Most correspondence seems to be conducted by the Chair, who presumably maintains the required records for submission to the Archives and/or transmission to the incoming Chair.]
• To sign legal documents jointly with the chair.

• Kind of meeting: Annual Business Meeting or Executive Board or full Board meeting;
• The name of the Division;
• The date, time and place of the meeting;
• The name of the convening officer and secretary or their substitutes, and if an executive board meeting, the names of those present;
• Whether the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved or corrected.
• As the minutes are the record of proceedings/actions taken at the meeting, they should contain a separate paragraph for each subject discussed and should include the wording of each motion; the name of the seconder does not need to be entered. The minutes should state if the motion was approved, failed, failed for lack of a second, amended, postponed, or referred. If there is a count taken of a vote on a motion, the count must be recorded.
• Depending on the nature of a committee report, it can be summarized by the secretary or included intact in the minutes.
• The name and the subject of a guest speaker can be given, but no effort should be made to summarize the speaker's remarks.
• The final paragraph includes the time of adjournment and the signature of the secretary.

At the end of your term, please send any changes in the Secretary's section to:

PAM Practices Manual Editor: Kristine Fowler, fowler@math.umn.edu

Copyright protected.

Original: Spring 1991
Page last updated: August 12, 2004