How to mark a Board member as absent in minutes?

[Guest Canada JG]

Hi - new to taking minutes. What is best practice for marking a Board member as absent during a meeting? Do we mark the individual as 'in absentia'? What is the correct terminology? 

Thanks!

[Joshua Katz]

Do your bylaws call for attendance? Ordinarily you would only indicate the presence of the president and secretary, and the presence of a quorum.

[Atul Kapur]

If your rules or custom require attendance to be recorded in the minutes, then you could use "absent" or "not present."

There is no need to use Latin

(or, if there is: Nihil opus est uti Latin)

[Guest Canada JG]

thank you very much appreciate the feedback. 

[Josh Martin]

On 8/30/2023 at 7:53 PM, Guest Canada JG said:

What is best practice for marking a Board member as absent during a meeting? Do we mark the individual as 'in absentia'? What is the correct terminology? 

RONR does not require taking attendance at all or recording the attendance in the minutes. (Except, as Mr. Katz has noted, with respect to the presiding officer and secretary.)

For those assemblies which do record attendance in the minutes, my experience is that it is normally recorded simply as "Present" or "Absent" (or "Not Present"). Some assemblies also have a system where absences are "excused" (often because whether an absence is "excused" or not means something in the context of the organization's attendance requirements), and so the attendance may reflect the distinction between "Excused" and "Unexcused" absences.

Edited August 31, 2023 at 01:32 PM by Josh Martin

[JohnR]

On 8/30/2023 at 7:00 PM, Atul Kapur said:

If your rules or custom require attendance to be recorded in the minutes, then you could use "absent" or "not present."

There is no need to use Latin

(or, if there is: Nihil opus est uti Latin)

Superbus.

[Gary Novosielski]

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.