PTA Secretary.. Tell me everything I need to know :)

[lactivistmama]

Title about says it all Tell me everything I need to know about being a PTA Secretary.. what makes a good one???

[tbone_kneegrabber]

• • taking minutes
  • sharing the minutes via email, an online storage location (think google docs or googlegroups), and having some in print
  • separating discussion from "action items" (we talked about have a fall festival, we want to have a bake sale there and a leaf theme: JOHN said he would make a flier about the bake sale, EMMA said she would find a rain location and PETE volunteered to organize set up and take down)
  • Then email each person who volunteered to remind them of exactly what they volunteered to do
  • establishing and/or maintaining a listserve
  • moderating the listserve so that folks aren't over run by "non-business" or "off-topic" emails by establishing what is and what is not appropriate for the listserve in a meeting and then holding folks to that standard, or creating more than one listserve, one for business discussions and one for announcements (where announcements must be "approved" by the listserve moderator)

[LynnS6]

This site has a lot of good info and documents.

http://www.ptotoday.com/

Our secretary:
1. Takes minutes and distributes them (to the website and to the parents -- this is a bigger job than it looks because we have to get them translated)
2. Keeps a log of all communication.
3. Maintains documents for us -- volunteer forms, flyers, committee lists, etc.
4. Helps committees document what they're doing so the next person doesn't have to reinvent the wheel.
5. Manages the newsletter

[Tigerchild]

Look on the back of your membership card--use the username and password to access the awesome training available at the national website. This is especially important if the person holding the office for you has been remiss in passing on the notebook so you have examples of past years!

I think it's best to get minutes out no more than a week after the meeting, otherwise people forget and may not get you the proper corrections. For offices with a high volume of email traffic (secretary is middlin' I think but might still be useful) sometimes it's nice to set up a gmail account that ONLY your secretary/office stuff goes through, so it doesn't get lost in your everyday mail.

[mamalisa]

Aside from the official duties, foster an environment of inclusion, sharing information and no gossiping.

That is my goal for this year as president. If I do nothing more than make people feel welcome, share with the community exactly what we do and what we spend out money on and convince people we are "nice" and not "a bunch of b*$&#(@" I will consider the year a success.

[philomom]

Don't gossip and have a great poker face.