Section Secretary Quick Start Training

The first step is to quickly get the lay of the land - who are your fellow officers in the Section and Chapter organizations you will be working with?  A personal contact by e-mail, phone, or even a face-to-face would help jump start building key relationships and verifying you have the right contact information for the officers.

Most IEEE Sections have a number of Standing Committees, Technical Chapters, Affinity Group, and/or Student Branches.  The Section Operations Manual should contain a list of available positions to match with officers.

Create a roster of who currently holds positions and a list of open positions, keeping track of when the term of office begins and expires.  If there are going to be changes in leadership for these roles, put a timeline together of when these changes will occur, so you can report these to the IEEE.  Discuss with the Section Chair and distribute to Section Executive Committee to review the officer roster for accuracy.

Finally, check the IEEE Geographic Roster to ensure that the officer roster reflects your updated list.  You should also inform your Section members of the names of the newly elected Section officers.  

Learn More:

• What are the typical Standing Committees of a Section?
• What are a Technical Chapter, Affinity Group, and Student Branch?
• What positions are currently recorded in the IEEE Geographic Roster?
• What is a Section Executive Committee?
• Who can serve within an IEEE Geographic Unit?
• Why and how do I report a change of Officers and/or election results?
• Section Secretary - Position Description (DOC, 105 KB)

Key Points:

• Who the Committee, Chapter, and Affinity Group Chairs in your Section are, and if their names and information are accurately reflected in the IEEE Geographic Roster
• The key IEEE bylaws that apply to organizations you will be interacting with, including your own Section and Chapters
• The requirements for serving as an IEEE officer and/or Committee Chair within your Geographic Unit
• Send an e-mail to each non-elected officer to verify that their contact information is up-to-date

Your time is very important. In order to use your time effectively, you need to become familiar with the various forms and tools provided by IEEE which will assist you in maintaining Section records and ensuring that the Section is compliant with IEEE policies. Doing this early in your term of office will make it easier to learn the tools and use them throughout your term. Visit the links below and get guidance from the prior Section Secretary to get familiarized with these tools.

Work with the Section Chair and other Section/Chapter volunteers to establish an annual calendar.  Make sure that all your Section members are informed of dates/topics of these meetings - this can be accomplished vTools.Meetings.

The main tools involve distributing Section meeting announcements, reporting section activities, reporting officer changes, documenting meeting minutes, and updating the Section web site.

Learn More:

Key Points:

• How to set up a meeting
• How to report a meeting
• How to report a change in elected or non-elected officers
• Reviewed suggested templates for effective meeting minutes
• Started using tools for reporting above activities

The Secretary’s role is much more than record keeping - he/she is a steward of the Section’s history and future, bringing critical data to enable ExCom decision making and deliver real value to members who keep the Section engaged, relevant, and sustainable in the long term.

As a new Section Secretary, you need to work with the prior Secretary to ensure that you have all the Section documentation. The type of files you receive can vary depending on your Section. If a list of expected documents does not already exist, create one so that you can keep track of the documents.

Documentation could include a list of past meeting reports, past Section Officers, agreements/contracts with local organizations, past strategies and plans of the Section, and other important non-financial information (since the Section Treasurer handles the financial and accounting paperwork).

In some cases, the Section has created an Operations Manual and/or maintains Section Bylaws. All the records from meetings and other documentation need to be handled appropriately.

Use an online document repository such as a Google Group web page to share electronic documents rather than storing files on a personal computer.  Set up such a repository if one does not already exist for your Section and e-mail the web page link to your ExCom for easy access.

Learn More:

• What is a Section Operations Manual?
• Are Section Bylaws required?
• What guidelines have been established in regards to record retention?  Do I need to keep meeting minutes forever?
• What is and how can the IEEE Global History Network assist you in keeping Section records in a central location?

Key Points:

• Received previous years’ documentation from the outgoing Section Secretary containing plans, goals, activities, and other documentation
• Shared relevant documentation with ExCom prior to strategy/goal setting meetings
• Know how to plan successful meetings and keep meetings running per the agenda

The principal responsibility of a Section Executive Committee member is to oversee the management of the Section, and in so doing, serve the best interests of the IEEE, its members and the public.  As the Section Secretary, you are key member of the Section Executive Committee and you should review past Section accomplishments, goals and work with the Section Executive Committee to review/revise section activities to ensure that they are in agreement with the MGA Mission, Vision and Goals.

Within the first 30 days, your Section ExCom should meet to establish a calendar of events, goals, priorities, and to assign responsibilities for various activities.  You will need to play a key role in planning and executing successful meetings with clear agendas and staying on time, as well as keep the records up-to-date.  IEEE has a Global History Network to record milestones of various kinds, and your Section’s accomplishments are certainly an important part of this network, that you need to keep updated.

Learn More:

• What is a typical calendar of events for a Section?
• What is the IEEE Envisioned Future?
• What are the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Mission, Vision, and Goals and the Section Mission and Vision?
• How can the IEEE Global History Network help keep track of Section accomplishments and milestones?

Key Points:

• Become familiar with IEEE and MGA Mission, Vision and Goals
• Have the section goals and plans documented
• Understand how the IEEE Global History Network works and how to add accomplishments and milestones of the Section as needed

Finally, you will play a key role in reaching out and understanding your section members’ needs. First up, you will be introducing the new officers in your organization to the membership via appropriate communication such as email. Next, you will study membership statistics in your section, to understand trends, demographics and customer feedback. Section members are your customers – if they like what they can get from your section, they will provide “repeat business”. You need to ensure you have an updated mailing list of your section members so you can communicate with them as needed.

Scan the demographics of your members – what does the geographic spread of where they live/work look like? By having meetings in a certain location, are some members significantly disadvantaged in their ability to attend? Are there ways to rotate meeting locations? These are all questions you can start thinking about and talking to members to get further insights.

Additionally, the Section Executive Committee should be using membership data to assist in the defining and development of recruitment and retention campaigns.  This data can also be used to determine if membership recruitment and retention strategies are working.

If surveys have been done previously, get access to both the electronic and paper documentation (See Documentation Management) to leverage what has already been done.

Learn More:

• What is SAMIEEE?
• How do I get statistics on members within my Section?
• How do I contact my members via e-mail using IEEE e-Notice?
• How do we conduct a survey of the members within my Section?

Key Points:

• Introduce new officers to Section members
• Understand members’ demographics and trends
• Ensure you have the updated mailing list for Section members
• Be prepared for further member outreach and development after the first 30 days