Guest Patricia Posted January 11, 2011 at 07:04 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 07:04 PM How detailed should minutes be? Is it wiser to be generic when giving reason for decisions or votes in case minutes are ever subpoenaed? I am employed at a medical school and sit on the admissions committee where decisions are made regarding the acceptance or rejection of perspective students. Is it wiser to leave out detailed reasons why students are denied admission in the minutes? If the answer is yes is it because of potential litigation or are there other reasons to omit detailed information in minutes?Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted January 11, 2011 at 07:10 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 07:10 PM How detailed should minutes be? Is it wiser to be generic when giving reason for decisions or votes in case minutes are ever subpoenaed? I am employed at a medical school and sit on the admissions committee where decisions are made regarding the acceptance or rejection of perspective students. Is it wiser to leave out detailed reasons why students are denied admission in the minutes? If the answer is yes is it because of potential litigation or are there other reasons to omit detailed information in minutes?Thank youSee RONR pp. 451-454 for what RONR says should be in the minutes and pp. 454-456 for an example of what the minutes would say. Any legal concerns regarding what the minutes should (or should not) say should be directed to a lawyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted January 11, 2011 at 07:22 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 07:22 PM How detailed should minutes be? Is it wiser to be generic when giving reason for decisions or votes in case minutes are ever subpoenaed?Minutes are a record of what is done (e.g. motions made), not what is said (e.g. debate on those motions). So no need to be vague or specific about the reasons for making decisions. The reasons don't belong in the minutes at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 11, 2011 at 10:19 PM Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 at 10:19 PM How detailed should minutes be?Not very. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 451-454 for more information.Is it wiser to be generic when giving reason for decisions or votes in case minutes are ever subpoenaed? Is it wiser to leave out detailed reasons why students are denied admission in the minutesIt is wisest not to include the reasons at all, but only the wording of the motion itself.If the answer is yes is it because of potential litigation or are there other reasons to omit detailed information in minutes?Potential litigation is certainly one good reason to omit such information from the minutes, but there are plenty of others. Including reasons is very likely to lead to arguments when approving the minutes, as members are likely to disagree about the reasons why a particular motion was (or was not) adopted. It also is highly subjective, which makes the job of the secretary difficult and includes the potential for abuse. Finally, it means the minutes will be cluttered with junk and will make it more difficult to find the important stuff (motions) in the minutes at a later date.I would say that if you ever insist on including reasons for a motion (which is sometimes desirable for important motions), it would be best to do so through the inclusion of whereas clauses. Since these become a part of the resolution itself, they are part of what is adopted by the assembly. This avoids many of the problems I have detailed above. I would still use this strategy sparingly, and I don't think it is wise for this particular case. This strategy is more commonly used when you want people to know why the assembly adopted a particular motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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