Secretary Resources

A chapter secretary ensures information is correctly noted, stored and passed on to future generations to best preserve thoughts and discussions for all chapter members to access. They are capable of tracking meeting minutes, updating the bylaws, maintaining other informational channels for the chapter and communicating with brothers and others outside the chapter. They are detail-oriented and efficient, ensuring no information is lost between meetings and events. Since they are the keepers of chapter notes, a secretary is a key player in helping officers stay on track to achieve goals and advancing chapter initiatives.

 

This position will vary from chapter to chapter; however, at its core, this position works to facilitate and guide meaningful discussions that include all audiences. These conversations may cover a wide range of topics, from feedback and evaluation to outreach and onboarding.

 

The duties of this officer support many chapter operations, improving communication and keeping the chapter on track towards success. The secretary will see success in this office when they collaborate and communicate, skills that begin conversations and keep momentum moving forward. Consistent meeting attendance and active listening will help the secretary take accurate and detailed notes. Maintaining strong lines of communication between the chapter, executive committee and advisory committee will demonstrate the importance of keeping everyone on the same page.

 

The chapter secretary is dedicated to sharing knowledge and resources that help members succeed in their APO journey.

 

TOP 5 ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
  1. Ensure accurate and timely submission and delivery of meeting notes and information
  2. Maintain proper connections with all audiences in the chapter through clear and prompt communications
  3. Keep detailed records of chapter business and resources in a clean and organized manner
  4. Stay up to date on chapter membership and proceedings to establish when quorum is needed and if quorum is met
  5. Host and participate in chapter evaluation and feedback sessions in order to garner chapter opinions on events and how they can be improved or modified
THE BASICS OF BEING SECRETARY

The secretary is responsible for taking minutes at both chapter and executive committee meetings to maintain a record of chapter business. A recap of the meeting should be sent out so those who are unable to be there can still have an idea of what was discussed, in addition to following up with attendees about information that was covered. With these minutes comes the potential for the secretary to track attendance at both chapter and executive committee meetings; knowing who was present will allow the secretary to track which ideas came from which members and if people have questions, they can speak directly to the associated members. Tracking attendance will also help the secretary know if the chapter has met quorum, which is the minimum number of members that must be present to make bylaw changes, vote in elections or complete any other number-based voting within the chapter. When members understand the reason why attendance is tracked or minutes are uploaded for everyone to see, they may be more interested in showing up and having their voice heard and recorded.

 

The secretary needs to upload all notes and information to a common platform for members to view. No members should be excluded from information uploaded that may pertain to them. The preferred platform for note storage and distribution may be a chapter Facebook page, a school-hosted or private chapter webpage, Google Docs or another platform all members can access.

  • Traits of a secretary: Concise, organized, accountable, time management, clear communicator, detail-oriented, efficient, delegation, advances chapter initiatives, multitasker
UTILZING THE CHAPTER OFFICER PORTAL

All national requirements of the Fraternity are reported through the Chapter Officer Portal, an online chapter reporting platform, designed to allow chapter officers the ability to provide real-time, ongoing
maintenance of the chapter membership, officer rosters and other national reporting requirements. The OP is available to all officers on record with Alpha Phi Omega.

 

Every officer with access to the Officer Portal should utilize the platform to best support the chapter and review forms, information and resources. For the secretary, the Officer Portal is where chapters will maintain administrative tasks.

 

The secretary is responsible for completing the tasks on the Officer Portal listed below:

 

  • Updating chapter bylaws
  • Chapter Assessment & Planning Session – Step 1
  • Chapter Assessment & Planning Session – Step 2
  • Annual Chapter Evaluation
  • H. Roe Bartle Award Application

 

More information about how and what to submit through the Chapter Officer Portal can be found in the Chapter Officer Portal User Manual, which is available in the Officer Portal Library.

 

Next Level Suggestions

How long has the chapter been on campus? Whether that answer is a long time or a short time, the chapter probably wants to leave some sort of mark on campus, to showcase the chapter’s history and let others know about the mission and vision of the Fraternity. To preserve information, check out the campus or university archives, where organizations are often able to leave digital or hard copies of meeting notes, trifolds and other recruitment materials or other meaningful chapter history odds and ends. If the campus archives are unavailable or not currently accepting new materials, another way to preserve the chapter’s history is by reaching out to alumni, potentially through an alumni newsletter or quarterly email. Maintaining a connection to alumni is a requirement for the Chapter of Excellence (COE) award, so keeping alumni in the loop can set the chapter on the path towards excellence. Alumni are an excellent resource in a broader sense, since they also expand the chapter’s resource pool and encourage brothers to stay involved and invested in the chapter after graduation.

TIPS, TOOLS & RESOURCES
Download the APO Mobile Resource App here
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