Minutes

1. The Secretary will draft the minutes. There will be a separate set of Restricted Minutes if there were restricted items at the meeting.
2. In most cases, the Chair approves the draft minutes which are then approved by the Committee at its next meeting.
3. If the Committee wishes to amend anything in the draft minutes, this is clearly noted in the minutes of the following meeting.
4. It is good practice for the Secretary to send draft decisions and actions to the relevant people as soon as the Chair has approved the draft minutes, so as to ensure that actions are taken forward as soon as possible.
5. The Secretary is responsible for ensuring that a digital meeting pack (agenda, papers and previous meetings' approved minutes) is sent to the Modern Records Centre (the University Archive).

Chair's Action

1. There are likely to be occasions when a non-contentious decision is required that cannot wait until the next meeting of the Committee. These can be dealt with by Chair's Action and should be reported to the next meeting of the Committee and recorded in the minutes of that meeting.
2. Normally only minor and non-controversial items should be resolved through Chair's Action. If the need for urgent consideration of major and/or controversial items is foreseen, the Committee should explicitly delegate the matter to the Chair at the previous meeting. If the need is unforeseen, the Chair may wish to consult Committee members by email before making a decision or run a meeting by correspondence.
3. Depending on the nature of the Committee, it may be useful for brief guidelines on the use of Chair’s Action to be drafted, usually by the Secretary, for consideration and approval by the Committee, typically at the first meeting of the academic year. However, the Chair may on occasion have to use their discretion on whether to take Chair’s Action, advised if appropriate by the Secretary and relevant University officers.

Other Duties

Some Chairs of University Committees sit ex officio on other committees.