UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
GUIDE TO COMMITTEE DOCUMENTATION FOR COMMITTEE SECRETARIES
INTRODUCTION
This guide is intended to support committee secretaries with the task of preparing and publishing of committee papers. The preparation and publication of committee papers in accordance with the standard model adopted by the University of Essex ensures maximum consistency and accessibility of committee papers for members of committees and others.
The primary focus of this guide is to give detailed guidance on the preparation of agenda sheets, agenda papers, minutes and reports to parent committees. The publication of committee papers is governed by a Governance Office policy available at: http://www.essex.ac.uk/records_management/policies/publication_schedule.aspx . From 2004/05 University of Essex committee papers are published online in accordance with this policy.
1. PREPARATION OF AGENDAS
Agenda papers are made up of two elements: the agenda sheet which lists the items to be considered and the associated agenda papers.
(a) Preparation of Agenda Sheet
Use the Word template which is in table format to set up agenda sheet (see example).
Column 1: (optional) indicate with asterisk items starred for discussion (if committee uses starring system). N.b. if your committee does not use starring, discuss with the Chair whether it might be introduced, since it makes the meeting more efficient.
Column 2: indicate why the item is on the agenda:
· General business
· For approval
· For discussion
· To note
· For information
· Or any combination e.g. For discussion and approval
You will need to be clear about this and seek guidance from the person with responsibility for the item.
Column 3: agenda item number
Column 4: title of item with details of any papers which are attached. The title of the item should normally be the same as the title of the associated paper. (When drafting minutes, the same title should be used as a heading to ensure ease of reference.)
Use the standard abbreviations for paper numbers:
Paper numbers start at 1 for the first meeting in the calendar year, so the first paper considered by ASC in the Spring term 2004 will be Paper ASC/04/1, and the first paper in Spring term 2005 will be Paper ASC/05/1.
Each paper should have a 'corner' to identify it, in the top right-hand corner of page 1 (right-justify the block in Word or stick on a label at the last minute):
Academic Standards Committee
20 November 2003
Agenda item: 6
Paper: ASC/03/45
Terminology for papers:
· Paper attached: sent out with agenda
· Paper to follow: not ready to be sent out with the agenda but you are confident you will be able to send it out in a later circulation
· Paper to be tabled: paper will be given out (‘laid on the table’) at the meeting. If a paper is tabled then it must be starred for discussion (since members will not have had the opportunity to consider it in advance) unless it is definitely just for information.
Note that it is very bad practice to table a paper of more than a couple of sides which needs to be discussed – if you have to do so then make sure the Chair is going to give people an opportunity to read it before the discussion. You can always send it out specially by email in advance just to give that extra bit of time – but still take hard copies.
Column 5: (optional) Page no. For large agendas the papers must be numbered sequentially from the first to last pages. However, it is not essential to number the full set of agenda papers if they are not extensive. In some instances, where the agenda is made up of the agenda sheet and two or three substantial papers which exist as documents in their own right (eg IS Strategy), it may be appropriate to retain existing page numbering within each of the attached papers. Where an agenda has to be numbered throughout, page numbering obviously cannot be finalised until the very last minute.
At the end of the agenda put the Secretary’s name, title and date, eg
Deanna Walker
Assistant Registrar
November 2004
In order to enable online publication of your agenda sheet (if required by the publication schedule) you must use the file naming system set out at http://www.essex.ac.uk/committees/restricted/index.html#name. This should be included at the very bottom of the agenda sheet to allow swift retrieval of the electronic version; this is especially important if you become unavailable at a crucial point, eg because of illness. Think about using shared drives. Consider having a folder for the Committee containing a separate folder for each meeting. You must not to use an automatic footer on Minutes, papers and agendas, as it is intrusive and often conflicts with page numbering–just include the reference at the end.
Example of agenda sheet
Note that Membership and Terms of Reference is normally the first standard item on the agenda for the first meeting of any Committee at the beginning of the academic year. The paper will simply be a statement of membership and terms of reference and can easily be based on the relevant entry in the University Calendar.
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
COUNCIL
Monday 13 October 2003
There will be a meeting of the Council of the University of Essex at Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, on Monday 13 October 2003 at 2.15 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Council Room (6.02) in the Mathematics Building off Square Two.
AGENDA
UNRESERVED BUSINESS
Page* / General business / 1 / Correspondence and Announcements
* / General business / 2 / Starring of Agenda Items
Members are asked to indicate under this item any item which they wish to star for discussion or question, including Matters Arising and Any Other Business. Only starred items will be discussed at the meeting; all other items will be deemed noted and/or approved by Council as appropriate
For approval / 3 / Minutes of meeting held on 30 June 2003
(previously circulated) (copy attached for new members)
General business / 4 / Matters Arising from the Minutes
* / For discussion / 5 / Vice-Chancellor’s Report
(paper C/03/41 attached) / 1
6 / Reports from Committees
* / For discussion / (a) Finance and Strategy Committee (8 September 2003)
(paper C/03/42 attached and Strategic Plan to follow) / 7
* / For discussion & approval / 7 / Research Park and Student Residences (paper C/03/43 to follow)
For information / 8 / Capital Building Projects – update (paper C/03/44 attached) / 13
* / For discussion & approval / 9 / Review of the Role of Heads of Department (paper C/03/45 attached) / 19
* / For discussion / 10 / Funding Higher Education (paper C/03/46 attached, prepared by Students’ Union) / 34
For approval / 11 / Financial Covenants (paper C/03/47 attached) / 41
12 / Performance Indicators
* / For discussion / (a) Research Income and Business Development Activities – 2002/03
(paper C/03/48 to follow) / 45
(…………..cont)
STANDARD ITEMS
Some items on agendas for large committees are standard, eg the Senate always receives a termly report from several of its sub-committees, including the School Boards. If the committee or Board has nothing to report, you must still include it on the agenda sheet using the following formulation:
6 / Reports of FacultyTo note / (a) Humanities & Comparative Studies held on 21 May 2006
No items to report. / 7
DEALING WITH ITEMS OF RESERVED OR CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
‘Reserved business’ is an internal University term used to cover items to be discussed when student committee members are not present. Reserved business typically covers items that include personal or sensitive data relating to individual members of the University. In 2004/05 the University formally changed its policy about how reserved business items should be dealt with in committee papers. However, the change of policy cannot be enacted until the Privy Council has approved amendments to Statute XXXI. See Appendix A for further details.
Reserved business papers containing personal details or any information specified by Statute XXXI should continue to be produced in the normal way, until further notice.
However, the term ‘reserved business’ may also be used to describe confidential items of University business and these should be handled differently. There are two categories of confidential business:
(i) Items that may be discussed with student committee members present, but which are confidential to the University. (The minutes of discussion of such items will not be published beyond the University.) Such items should be included on the agenda sheet as normal and any supporting agenda paper should be attached to the agenda for all members.
(ii) Items that the Chair determines are not only confidential to the University but which must not be discussed in the presence of student committee members. Such items should be included on the agenda sheet in a separate section at the end. Any supporting agenda papers must not be distributed to student members of the committee. Placing such items at the end of the agenda enables the Chair to bring the ordinary business of the meeting to a close, to thank the student representatives and to ask them to withdraw. It also helps with the preparation of two sets of agenda papers!
An example of how to include a category (ii) confidential item on the agenda sheet is set out below:
For information / 14 / Report of Chair’s Action (paper C/04/59 attached) / 10315 / Delegation of Authority
For approval / (a) Formal Delegation of Powers (paper …. attached) / 105
(b) Delegation of Authority for the Summer Period
Council is asked to authorise the Chair to take action on its behalf during the summer period.
General business / 17 / Any other unreserved business
RESERVED BUSINESS
18 / Reports of Committees
(a) Remuneration Committee (paper …. attached) / 109
General business / 19 / Any other reserved business
TEMPLATE FOR AGENDA SHEET
Template for the agenda sheet, showing the grid lines. Each column is formatted for the correct font and size. The table is set up for a page with 2cm margins all round.
(b) Preparation of Agenda Papers
The task of preparing agenda sheets and agenda papers has to be shared between the Secretary to the Committee, his or her secretary and anyone who submits papers for consideration by the committee. For some smaller committees or working parties all agenda papers will be prepared by the Secretary to the Committee. However, for large committees such as Senate, Council and many of their sub-committees agenda papers are drawn together from a variety of sources. The onus is on the person producing the paper to provide it in an acceptable format. In practice, if they are not ‘regulars’ the format may not be completely appropriate and you may find it just as quick and easy to amend the format yourself, provided you have an electronic version.
Note that a style sheet is currently in preparation for use by anyone who needs to prepare a committee paper. This should eradicate the problems some committee secretaries have because papers are submitted in a variety of different formats.
Rules for preparing agenda papers
1. Ideally the paper should be produced for the purpose of being considered by this committee.
2. If it is being written specially then it should start with a clear statement of purpose and identify whether the committee is being called to make a decision. One way of doing this is to include a box (use a Word table) at the top of the paper, just under the heading, eg
The Committee is invited to approve the introduction of tuition fees and to comment on proposals for an associated bursary scheme.3. If the paper is short, perhaps a page or two of A4, it may be more appropriate to include a concluding paragraph starting with ‘The Committee is invited to …….consider/discuss/approve, etc’.
4. If appropriate, the paper should suggest the wording of any formal recommendation the committee is being asked to approve. If it is not a highly controversial matter then it should be possible to set the case out in such a way as to permit the item to be approved without discussion.
5. If an item is not starred and not discussed then it is assumed that any recommendation within the paper is approved, and approval will be recorded in the minutes.
6. If the paper is not specially produced for the committee but was commissioned for another purpose then it needs a cover sheet (nb see below) or introduction which makes it clear who the original audience was and why it is now going to this committee – and what they are being asked to do with it.
7. If you need to add a cover sheet to a paper then consider whether it really needs to be separate or whether you could add an introductory section to the existing paper – even if that means changing the formatting. This should not be difficult as long as you have an electronic version. The aim it to minimise the number of separate sides of paper which have to be reproduced.
8. If it is a long document then there must be an executive summary at the beginning, to enable committee members to decide whether they really need to read all the details. But consider whether the full document really needs to be circulated? Providing a one page summary and access to the full document on the web, or on request, or available in someone’s office might be equally acceptable.