02/13/2020
Board Secretary Roles and Responsibilities
Accountability
The board secretary is an executive member of the board of directors of the Association and is to be appointed in a manner consistent with the bylaws.
1. He/she is accountable to the Board and, like other members of the board, has no authority to direct staff or act on matters outside the duties outlined in their position description.
2. Meet Time Commitments
3. Ten hours a month (board meetings, executive committee meeting and secretarial duties as described below)
4. One Year Term of Office (unless otherwise determined)
Duties and Responsibilities
The Secretary will work closely with the President and the CEO in the planning of board of directors and association meetings. The secretary of the board shall be responsible for ensuring:
Primary Duties:
• The creation and timely distribution of agenda for Board meetings and Association membership meetings (e.g. annual general meeting)
• The accurate recording and distribution of the minutes of Board of Directors meetings. The minutes should reflect that the format and level of detail that the Board has determined. (Meeting Minutes must be distributed within a 7-day period).
• The creation and maintenance of an up-to-date board planning calendar outlining matters to be on the board’s agenda over the course of a year.
• Maintenance of a full contact list of board members including board member appointment dates, term of appointments and board member bios.
• In the event that the Secretary is unable to attend a meeting where minutes or notes are to be taken, it is the secretary’s responsibility to finds an alternate.
Secondary Duties
• The updating, maintaining and safe storage of the Association’s Minute Book and other legal documents.
• Oversight of the Association’s incorporation and charitable registration status and the facilitation of all annual filings of required reports and information.
• The maintenance of a file or manual of governance policies and a systematic schedule for their review as determined by the board.
• The maintenance of an up-to-date list of members of the Association.
• The management of external correspondence and ensuring that requests made of the Board of Directors, or relevant to the governance of the Association, is reported and responded to in a timely manner.
• The accurate recording and distribution of the minutes of the Association’s Annual General Meeting is managed appropriately. In the event of a change of Secretary at an AGM, the incoming secretary will assume the responsibilities of the office at the first Directors’ meeting following his/her election or appointment and turn over any property of A.A.T.Y.
Qualifications
• A commitment to, and a clear understanding of the mission and vision of the organization.
• At least one year of previous service on the Board or training on own time of secretarial duties.
• Knowledge of the meeting procedures, decision-making rules, governance policies and the bylaws of the Association
• An adequate level of writing proficiency and access to a computer for word processing purposes
Evaluation
The effectiveness of the secretary’s role, conduct and position description may be evaluated by the Board itself.
1. A description of the role and responsibilities of a “recording secretary”, a voting member of the board and volunteer employee of the organization.
2. The time commitment will vary a little from function to function.
3. A board calendar is a month-by-month plan indicating the items that are to be on the board’s meeting agendas at different times throughout the year (e.g. approval of budget, report on board recruitment, etc.) as well as key events that board members are expected to attend short board
member bios, provide important information for the board and may be posted on the organization’s website if board members agree.
