The Strawberry Patch

Enrichment and Inspiration for Beta Sigma Phi Sisters from Marilyn Ross


Recording Secretary

As Recording Secretary of your chapter you will be the custodian of your chapter's history and transcriber of its activities for the year ahead. Yours will be an opportunity and responsibility to:

transcribe faithfully the minutes of the meetings
record a full and accurate report of all meetings, attendance and activities
keep the minutes at all times available to the President and the chapter
prepare and forward to the International Office the monthly reports and minutes required to ensure your Chapter's good standing in the International organization

You accept a privilege and assume a responsibility.

The quill is the symbol of your office.

Suggestions to the Recording Secretary

The following suggestions may answer some of the questions you might have:

1. MONTHLY REPORTS

Each month when your chapter meets you will be sending in your regular monthly report covering the two meetings your chapter held during the month.

Reports (typed if possible) should be mailed to the International Office within three to five days after the second meeting. Full instructions for completing the report form are included with the form.

Send your reports and all mail to:
Beta Sigma Phi International
P.O. Box 8500
Kansas City, MO 64114-0500
(Please note it is Missouri - not Kansas.)

2. PLEDGE TRAINING REPORT

Obtain this information from your Vice President. A space is provided on the report form for you to report the Pledge Training meetings which your Vice President will be holding regularly when you have pledges in your chapter.

3. MINUTES

An exact copy of the minutes (typed if possible) of each meeting: regular, special, or Executive Board is to be attached to each report form covering these meetings. Please refer to the Model Minutes that follow. They will be helpful to you.

    YARDSTICK

Help attain a high rating on your chapter's Yardstick by sending your report forms and minutes to International each month. (Sample of the Yardstick is in the May issue of The Torch each year. You can also find it in the File Cabinet in The Beta Journal.)

4. INCLUDE CHAPTER NAME AND NUMBER ON ALL MAIL

To expedite handling, your chapter's name and number should be written on every piece of mail sent to the International Office by every member. Same holds true if you email.

5. CHANGE OF STATUS FORMS - Use these to report:

  1. A change of any officer. Give the newly appointed officer's full name, address, telephone number, permanent member number, and the office for which she is completing the term. (NOTE: Do not use these forms, however, when reporting the entire slate of officers elected in March. These should be reported on the Semi-Annual Record Review sent to the chapter in the spring each year.)

  2. Every CHANGE OF ADDRESS for any member.

  3. When a member changes her name, send her former name and her present name and address.

  4. Send the request for reinstatement (each time an inactive member reinstates into active membership) to International and include the following information on the change form:

    1. Member's full name, complete current address and Member number.

    2. Member's former name, if she has had a change of Name, and her former address.

    3. Member's last active chapter - giving name of chapter, town, state, province or country.

    4. Give length of time member was inactive, if possible.
  5. Members moving out of city

    1. Send her complete name, address as it was before her move, and her permanent member number.

    2. Send her new address. If she has married, give us her new name, her husband's first name so a telephone number may be obtained by chapters who wish to contact her. With this information, International can arrange for her to be contacted by chapters in her new location.

  6. Members moving into city and transferring into chapter

    1. Notify International of the member who has transferred into your Chapter, giving her complete name, correct current address in YOUR city, and member number.

    2. Send the full name and location of her last chapter affiliation.

    3. The member will be transferred into your chapter but no permit to transfer will be issued unless specially requested.
  7. The death of a member in the chapter.

6. STATUS OF MEMBERSHIP

As Recording Secretary, you should understand each of the four different statuses of membership so you can clarify them for your members:

  1. An ACTIVE MEMBER is one in good standing on both the International Roster and her chapter's roster. She attends meetings regularly, participates in all activities, and pays both her chapter dues and International fees promptly.

  2. A member on LEAVE OF ABSENCE is active, but excused from regular meetings for a period not to exceed one year. (Refer to your Book of Beta Sigma Phi.)

  3. A MEMBER-AT-LARGE has no chapter affiliation, although she may be a member in good standing on the International Roster. (Refer to your Book of Beta Sigma Phi.)

  4. An INACTIVE MEMBER has no chapter privileges and no chapter obligation. At any time she may be reinstated to active membership in a chapter by a two-thirds vote of the chapter and by payment of the reinstatement fee as provided in the Book of Beta Sigma Phi under the Rules and Regulations of the International Executive Council for Governance of Members and Chapters, Article VII, Section 21. (A member who became inactive while a pledge may be reinstated into active membership by completing her payments of the balance owing on her membership fees and by completing Pledge Training.)

7. UNANSWERED LETTERS

Follow them up! Sometimes mail is lost en route. If you don't receive a prompt reply, please write again-or email. The addressee cannot send a reply to a letter not received. One month is more than enough time for response.

8. IF YOUR CHAPTER IS FOLLOWING THE CAREER CHAPTER FORMAT

If your chapter is following the once-a-month business and program meeting with an every-other-month cultural outing format, you are to take minutes of the cultural outing and record attendance. The minutes for the cultural outing will be extremely brief. This ensures your chapter receives credit on our records at International.

Suggestion: Print these suggestions and keep in your chapter's permanent record book, and/or your Recording Secretary Notebook.




Model Minutes

For the Recording Secretary

Here are sample minutes from an imaginary chapter.
Use these as an example as you record your chapter's minutes.

1. OPENING RITUAL
President (Jane Doe) called the (118) meeting of (Missouri Eta Chapter #356) to order on (month, day, hour) at the home of (Mary Jones), with all members repeating the Opening Ritual together.

2. ROLL CALL
Number Present: 21 Number Absent: 2 Guests: 4
The attendance record for each member is recorded on the back of your chapter monthly report-don't include in minutes.

3. READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

4. COMMUNICATION FROM INTERNATIONAL
For each communication read, report the subject, the pertinent points in discussion, and the action taken by the chapter on the communication. For example: The rushing program sent by the International Office was read by (Betty Smith). We discussed increasing our number of pledges to 8 instead of 6, as we have several interested prospective pledges. (Betty Smith) moved that the rushing program be adopted as set out, and that we will try to increase our number of pledges to 8. Motion seconded and carried.

5. OTHER COMMUNICATIONS
This can include changes of names and addresses.

6. TRANSFEREE REPORT
Report any transferees desiring to affiliate with your chapter.

7. TREASURER'S REPORT
Example: The treasurer's report, giving receipts and disbursements, and showing a balance on hand of $88.79, was read and ordered placed on file subject to audit. (After this report, the treasurer can collect local chapter dues and present outstanding bills. Bills for any items NOT included in the budget need to be approved by the chapter before they can be paid.)

8. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
State time, date and place of the last Executive Board meeting. The Executive Board should report its recommendations for chapter consideration and approval. Final decision rests with the entire chapter membership. Report any action taken by the Executive Board.

9. COMMITTEE REPORTS
State each committee's plans briefly and any action taken for programs, membership, publicity, service, or other special committees (i.e., Yearbook).

10. CITY COUNCIL REPORT

11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Example: It was moved by (Joan Brown), seconded and carried, to take the motion tabled at our last meeting, that "we give $100 from our chapter treasury for a scholarship for a high school senior." After discussion, it was moved by (Sarah Brownlee), seconded and carried that we adopt the motion as stated.

12. NEW BUSINESS

13. ADJOURNMENT OF BUSINESS MEETING
The President asked if there was any further business to be brought before the chapter. There was none. The meeting was adjourned.

14. CULTURAL PROGRAM
In reporting your programs, please name the program outline being used, topic, and member leading the discussion.

15. CLOSING RITUAL
All members repeated the Closing Ritual, then joined hands for the Mizpah.





The minutes of your chapter meetings form the history of your chapter, so take the time to make sure you get important business recorded, and recorded accurately. A complete set of your chapter minutes for the meeting/meetings each month, together with the monthly report form, are to be sent to the International Office by the end of the month. Chapter approval is not required on copies sent to International.


More Suggestions to the Recording Secretary . . .

1. Type your minutes. Make a copy to send to the International Office with your monthly report, and send it promptly so we can keep your chapter information up to date. You earn points on your chapter yardstick, too! (Refer to May/June issue of The Torch).
Mail to:
Beta Sigma Phi International
P.O. Box 8500
Kansas City, MO 64114

2. Leave a wide margin on one side for possible corrections when minutes are read at your next meeting.

3. Record what is done-not what is said. The minutes should never reflect the opinion of the recording secretary.

4. At the end of the minutes, a space should be provided for the secretary and president to sign and also a space for the minutes to be approved at the next meeting. At the following meeting when the minutes are read and approved, the date of approval and the signature of the secretary should be added to the copy. At the bottom of the minutes, in the space labeled 'SPECIAL ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL:' put in requests for extra forms or information.

5. Minutes of an Executive Board meeting are never read at a regular meeting; only a report of the Executive Board meeting should be given. Executive Board meeting minutes are read and approved at the Board meeting.

6. A space is provided on the report form so you can report pledge training meetings your vice president will conduct regularly when you have pledges in your chapter.

7. Include your chapter name and chapter number on ALL mail.

8. Remind the President about any item of unfinished business from any meeting so she can include it on her agenda for the next meeting.

9. Be responsible for chapter properties and records for which there is no special custodian.

References for the Recording Secretary:
Perfect Attendance
A Brief Overview of the Degrees of Beta Sigma Phi



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