wondering - I'm not a certified parlimentarian, but I'll give my opinion. I reread my little RRO book, and it seems to use the word "member" to mean an individual, and "assembly" to mean the group. So, you can record the action of the assembly (i.e. motions), but not the comments of a member (i.e. discussion). In the case of your questionnaire, the report would be submitted to the assembly, and probably becomes part of permanent record of that meeting. If you want to get real picky, someone would make a motion to accept the report from the committee. In the final case of clarifying ambiguity in the bylaws or policies, technically, I don't think you would record the clarification unless it was framed as a motion to revise the ambiguous document. But as a practical matter, it probably makes sense to record the clarification so it's at least written down somewhere.
Just wondering how many of you record (use tape recorder) your board and general memebership meetings. I am secretary next year and would like to record the meetings along with my notes. Would just like to have some information before I make this suggestion.
I was wondering about minutes myself, since our little group has no one who is particulary talented at taking quote spouting notes (including our secretary). I'm relieved to see our general "this is what happened" approach cuts the mustard!
As an after thought--there were a couple of times though when we feared "trouble" at a meeting that we taped them...just in case we needed something solid to go back to.
Replied by <wondering> on topic RE: Minutes?
Critter, I thought the members were considered part of the assembly? Our By-laws do state we should follow RONR. We have a Board made up of a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. We also have many Committee Chairs and members that are not considered part of the Board, and all members are allowed to vote according to our by-laws; usually by unanimous consent or show of hands since we never have more then 12 poeple show up. If the President is reporting on the results of a questionaire, would only the results of the questionaire be documented, and not the discussion of the members since this was not a voting situation? Would it be inappropriate to document clarifications made by the Board regarding PTO policies and By-Laws if it was mention during a report where no vote was taken?
It all sounds so complicated, but it's really not. Record what was DONE not what was said. If you record everything that is said, you'll have dozens of pages. No one will want the job of secretary. Recording motions is imperative. Here's a little known fact about minutes: You are supposed to glue your minutes into a bound journal book. Betcha didn't know that funny little fact!
Roberts Rules of Order says you document motions and whether or not the motion passes. You don't record the content of discussion in the miutes. My book summarizes it this way, "The general guideline...is they (minutes)should record what is done by the assembly, not what is said by the members." This book also specifically says you do NOT record a summary of remarks by a guest speaker. If your group's bylaws reference RRO as your rules of order (it's a good idea to include this statement in your bylaws, and many do), then it seems to be inappropriate to summarize the opinions or comments as part of your group's minutes, even if someone tries to add them later.
