Approval of board meeting minutes via email

[Deb B.]

My organization typically holds board meetings at the beginning of the 2nd week of the month.  Those minutes are published in the newsletter, which is distributed in the first week of the month, following the approval of those minutes.  This timing means the board meeting minutes aren't distributed to the membership until nearly 2 months after the meeting took place.  We are looking for a proper way to distribute those minutes sooner than 2 months after the meeting.  An earlier reply on this subject states:   "You cannot approve the minutes via email unless the bylaws allow for voting via email."  Our bylaws contain the following statement:   "Voting by Board members can be oral or by a show of hands, if meeting in person, or via electronic transmissions at the discretion of the presiding officer."  Is this statement sufficient to allow the board to approve board meeting minutes via email?  Our current practice is to have the recording secretary send the minutes to all board members, allow several days for corrections, then send a final version of the corrected minutes several days after that.  

[Deb B.]

My organization typically holds board meetings at the beginning of the 2nd week of the month.  Those minutes are published in the newsletter, which is distributed in the first week of each month, following the approval of those minutes.  This timing means the board meeting minutes aren't distributed to the membership until nearly 2 months after the meeting took place.  We are looking for a proper way to distribute those minutes sooner than 2 months after the meeting.  An earlier reply on this subject states:   "You cannot approve the minutes via email unless the bylaws allow for voting via email."  Our bylaws contain the following statement:   "Voting by Board members can be oral or by a show of hands, if meeting in person, or via electronic transmissions at the discretion of the presiding officer."  Is this statement sufficient to allow the board to approve board meeting minutes via email?  Our current practice is to have the recording secretary send the minutes to all board members, allow several days for corrections, then send a final version of the corrected minutes several days after that.  However, the next board meeting where we accept those minutes is already one week past the distribution of the newsletter for that month, so those minutes can't be published until the newsletter the following month, nearly two months past the board meeting where those minutes were created.  (Example:  the board meeting minutes created on January 9th won't be accepted until the next board meeting on February 9, missing publication of the February newsletter and delaying their distribution until the March newsletter.)

[George Mervosh]

I really doesn't matter what our opinion is, the reply you received earlier is correct.  If the bylaws need interpreting, the society will decide the matter and the board will proceed accordingly.  

[g40]

Depending on all the details, sending a draft before the meeting can save a lot of time and improve the accuracy of the minutes. The actual approval, however, needs to be done at a meeting.

[Richard Brown]

Deb, in lieu of having to wait until the next meeting to approve the minutes, your society can adopt.a special rule of order allowing a committee appointed by the board to approve the minutes between meetings. In fact, that is the practice that RONR recommends for annual meetings and for bodies which don't  meet very often.  Boards which meet monthly  may also follow that practice.

Edited to add: at the regular monthly meeting, the board may still amend the minutes by using the procedure to amend something previously adopted. 

Edited January 16, 2017 at 07:04 PM by Richard Brown
Added last paragraph