To better serve your role as Chapter Secretary, this document is to serve as a guide for you along the way of being Chapter Secretary. Look to this for any questions you may have. If there is not an answer to your question simply refer to your chapter’s Chapter Services Consultant for an answer.
Job Description
The Chapter Secretary will work to keep the chapter organized by managing the meeting minutes, roster, attendance at meetings/events, Chapter’s Bylaws and correspondence of the chapter.
Tips For Success
Learn About your Role: Take the time to review this manual. This will allow you to have a clear understanding of the role and what you will be working on during the year.
Plan Ahead: Failing to stay organized and not planning ahead is the biggest cause for challenges. Take the time to review the “Semester To-Do List” items in your manual and map out what you need to accomplish your goals for the semester. This will allow you to be successful in your role while creating different levels of change within your chapter.
Ask For Help: Reach out to your BOG, Chapter Services Consultant, and past officers if you are struggling. Being a chapter officer is hard work and you aren’t expected to do it alone. Utilize this manual as a resource but if you need additional support, don’t be afraid to reach out for help.
Form a Committee: Your role requires a lot of time; a committee can be a useful tool to help you manage your workload and complete tasks.
Model the Way: Holding a position in your chapter means you are a role model for your chapter brothers. You are expected to model the way for your brothers, and they will mirror the behavior you model. At times, you may have to make difficult decisions that might not be popular. Serving in this role means your brothers have trusted you to make those decisions for the chapter. Do not be afraid to make the hard decisions and to challenge your brothers to be better.
Set Expectations: As a leader, make sure your chapter has very clear expectations for membership. This will allow your chapter to thrive and allow you to be able to better support your brothers who are not meeting these expectations.
Specific Officer Information
Meeting Agenda: Having a meeting agenda will help to keep meetings organized and timely. Work with the chapter Vice President to plan out the weekly chapter meeting agenda by reaching out to officers and chairs to see what information they must report.
Meeting Minutes: Meeting minutes allow you to have documented information about what was discussed at each chapter meeting. Meeting minutes should be sent out to all members and BOG at the end of each meeting for them to review. Any changes should be discussed and updated at the next chapter meeting. Once the meeting minutes have been approved, they should be sent out to your BOG and Chapter Services Consultant.
Chapter Attendance List: This sheet should be used to track attendance at chapter meetings and chapter events. It should be organized, so it is easy to read and understand in case you need to be able to quickly find out about a brother's attendance at a specific event.
Chapter Correspondence: Thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards should be sent out as needed to alumni, chapter members, individuals on your campus, and other Fraternities/Sororities. These are ways for your chapter to communicate with others and are a way to show support or thanks in a simple but meaningful way.
Chapter Newsletter: You should send out a chapter newsletter once a semester to Parents, Brothers, Fraternity/Sorority Advisor, and your Chapter Services Consultant. You should include information about everything your chapter has accomplished in the past semester and even individual brother successes. Work with the chapter VPAR as they are creating an alumni newsletter to share information, so you both are not doing the same work twice.
Chapter Contact List: Your chapter contact list should include all members, their phone numbers (home and mobile), addresses (home and school) and email. This information will allow officers and BOG members to contact brothers when needed and is especially useful in emergencies.
Associate Member Parent Letter: Work with your chapter MOO to create this letter. The letter should be an introduction to Phi Kappa Tau and your specific chapter for parents. You should include the timeframe for the semester and important dates such as Initiation. This is a way for the parents of your associate members to get to know your chapter so include all the amazing things your chapter does.
Term To-Do List
Prior to the Semester Starting
Meet with Outgoing Officer.
Attend the first Exec meeting with new members.
Create a Meeting Agenda Template: This allows for agendas to be created each week in a consistent and easy manner.
Create a Meeting Minutes Template: This allows for meeting minutes to be consistent from week to week.
Create Attendance Sheet for Chapter: This will be used to take attendance at chapter meetings and events
January
Set update for the Chapter Newsletter(s) to go out (recommended date would be sometime in April)
Work with the Chapter MOO to create a letter that will be sent to Associate Members Parents/Guardians-send out to any parents/guardians of any spring Associate Members
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your Chapter Advisor, BOG and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
February
Complete any chapter bylaws updates.
Start planning out the semester chapter newsletter, what information should be included, update the list of people it will go to, etc.
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
March
Create the chapter newsletter: Include information on service, philanthropy events, individual brother success, academics, and any other great things your chapter has done this semester.
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
April
Send out chapter newsletter to chapter members, BOG, your campus fraternity/sorority advisor, Chapter Services Consultant, and parents.
Update your chapter roster with the Executive Offices to reflect any initiations or other status changes.
Update your chapter contact information for all members.
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
May
Send out chapter contact information to all chapter members and BOG so that everyone can stay in touch over the summer
Update your chapter roster with the Executive Offices to reflect any graduations or other status changes.
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
August
Review meeting minute and agenda template to make sure nothing needs to be changed.
Review associate member parent/guardian letter with the chapter MOO and make any updates
Make sure the chapter attendance sheet is updated with any new members and members who graduated are removed.
Set a date for chapter newsletter to go out. Recommended to go out in November
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, Campus staff, etc.
September
Send out associate member letter to parents once associate members have been recruited
Review Chapter Bylaws and make any updates your chapter has made
Start planning the Chapter Newsletter and what you would like to include
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
October
Create the chapter newsletter-include information on service, philanthropy events, individual brother success, academics, and any other great things your chapter has done this semester.
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
November
Send out chapter newsletter to chapter members, BOG, your campus fraternity/sorority advisor, Chapter Services Consultant, and parents.
Update chapter contact list with any associate members and remove members who will graduate in December.
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
December
Send out the chapter contact list to all brothers and BOG.
Work with the outgoing Executive Council to plan the transition retreat. Plan what information you need to share with the incoming chapter secretary.
Make sure all meeting minutes for the month have been shared with your chapter advisor, BOG, and Chapter Services Consultant.
Send out any thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc. cards to alumni, other chapters on your campus, campus staff, etc.
The Borradaile Challenge is the fundamental way that chapters have their performance evaluated over the course of a calendar year. Encapsulating 10 categories, chapters can fall into one of three standings for each: Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations, or Outstanding.
You can access more information on the Borradaile Challenge here: àhttps://www.phikappatau.org/borradailechallenge