Botanical Society of America

Duties of the Secretary

Important Documents – Mission & Objectives, Guidelines for Professional Ethics, BSA Bylaws, Sectional Bylaws
Duties of – President, President Elect, Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, Program Director, Avdisory Council Chair and BSA Execcutive Director

Duties

Under Article VI. of the bylaws of the Botanical Society of America, The Secretary shall certify the Bylaws, the resolutions of the members, the Board of Directors and committees, and other documents of the Society as true and correct copies thereof, and shall have such other duties as prescribed by the President or the Board of Directors from time to time. Serves on the Executive Committee. Responsible for the minutes of the Board of Directors and General Membership meetings. Responsible for the Membership Directory and coordination of awards.

Committee Assignments – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,

Post-Conference Meeting

Take office after Botanical Society Banquet.

Write up minutes of both the Council and Business Meetings and distribute them to members of the Executive Committee for comment. Business Minutes mailed out in Fall Mailing; Council Minutes mailed to Council with the agenda in June.

Notify new ‘Corresponding Members’ of their election. (Keep Executive Director and the Corresponding Members Committee informed of any change in status and an up-to-date copy of the Directory with the ‘Corresponding Members List’.) Be sure that the Business Manager adds them to the mailing list.

Send publicity on ‘Corresponding Members’ and other prize and award winners to the “PSB” Editor for the other appropriate journals (e.g., BioScience) and newsletters (see ‘Publicity’ folder) for publications.

Send Banquet address summary to “Plant Science Bulletin” Editor.

Prepare an announcement listing winners of awards for the banquet. Send a copy to BioScience and the “PSB” editors for publication. Put a copy in the ‘Dinner for All Botanists’ folder and the ‘Bound Book’ folder. Add the name of the current recipient to the folder for each prize.

File copies of all Council Meeting and Business Meeting reports in folders for Secretary files and place originals in the ‘Bound Book’ folder.

September

Remind President to provide you with names of new Committee members as they are appointed. As soon as you have completed the list of Committees and Officers, mail copies to all persons listed.

Maintain a file of ‘Duties for Officers’ and pass this on to newly elected officers.

Prepare Fall Mailing to include: 1) Call for nominations (from Elections Committee) 2) Material from Program Director (abstract forms, etc.) 3) Corrected minutes of the Business Meeting 4) Cover letter from secretary (if appropriate) 5) Letter from President to membership Send these materials to the Business Manager who will then print and process the mailing for distribution to members.

October

If you have not already sent out Officers lists, be sure that the AJB Editor has a list of Section Chairs for inclusion in the January issue

December

Remind Chair of Darbaker Committee to send announcements requesting nominations for Darbaker prize to the “PSB”, BioScience, and the Phycology Newsletter.

January

Send copy of bylaws of each section from most recent Directory to Secretaries of the Sections to verify current bylaws or to update if changes have been made. The Publications Manager supplies list of members directly to Printer for production of alphabetical and geographical listing of members. The Secretary updates other miscellaneous information (BSA bylaws, merit award winners, officers list, etc.). Check with the Executive Director for assigning of the ISBN number.

February

Prepare spring mailing to include: 1) Cover letter from Secretary and/or President 2) Ballot for officers from copy supplied by Election Committee (coordinate with Business Manager on this) [It may be desirable to schedule the Spring Mailing after the Spring Executive Committee Meeting so that news and important information from that meeting can be included in the Spring Mailing.] [Alternatively, it may be desirable to schedule the Spring Mailing so that the date for return of ballots can be as early as reasonable (15 May?) so new officers can be informed and can consult with present officers for a smooth transition.]

March

Coordinate with Business Manager on printing and distribution of Spring Mailing according to instructions for Fall Mailing.

Bylaw changes can be mailed out and voted on at any time of the year. After the date of the Executive Meeting is decided, work with the President to set the agenda. Send Council Minutes in advance of the Executive Committee, put a copy in the Secretary’s file, and the original in the Bound Book folder.

April

Work with meetings manager to determine where block of rooms will be reserved for Society officers and notify officers, including the AJB and “PSB” Editors and the Executive Director, where to make their reservations. The Treasurer or Program Chair may do this.

May

In even years, file biennial corporation report on forms supplied by corporation agent (Kent Holsinger, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of Connecticut U-43, Storrs, CT 06269- 3043 [203-486-4059] will do this).

Remind Merit Award and Darbaker committee chairs that you need names of winners and citations by July 1.

June

Get the list from other Societies and their presidents meeting with BSA this year. Or, in years when meeting jointly with Canadian Botanical Association or other groups, write their president and arrange for officers of both societies to sit at the head table. Invite presidents of plant-related Societies, the President and Executive Director of AIBS, chancellor of host institution, Chair of the meeting, local BSA representative, past BSA president and current BSA officers including AJB & “PSB” editors and Publications manager to attend the BSA banquet as our guests and sit at the head table. (Some will refuse to sit at head table) Make arrangements with local representative and Treasurer for supplying and paying for tickets. CBA officers like to pay their own tickets (1989), so in years with joint meetings, work out protocol for invitations and banquet well ahead of time.

Notify newly-elected officers of their election as early as possible (Chair of Elections Committee may do this).

Send agenda for the Annual Business Meeting, the Council Meeting (prepared in conjunction with President), minutes of the previous Council Meeting, the Executive Committee minutes, and a cover letter with request for reports to council Members, committee Chairs, and others on the agenda. Make extra copies of the agenda and minutes to have available at the meeting. Distribute a form to the Council representative of each Section (either by mail or at the Council Meeting) asking for names, addresses, telephone numbers and terms of Section officers. They must return these to you and the Program Chair by 1 September.

July

Be sure Merit, Darbaker and Pelton Award winners are notified by Secretary or appropriate committee, and invited to be our guests at BSA Banquet (but not to sit at head table).

Sometimes President or Chair of Committee wants to notify; sometimes secretary notifies. Be sure certificates for Merit and Darbaker awards are properly inscribed; currently these are being produced via computer graphics. Conservation Society provides certificate and check for Pelton Award. Pelton Award is given about every other year. Check with BSA Treasurer for Darbaker check. Secretary should also receive in the mail or at the meeting checks and certificates for the Greenman Award, the Gleason Award, and the Lawrence Memorial Award.

Prepare a list of persons to sit at the head table and/or attend as our guests and put in ‘Bound Book’ and ‘Dinner for All Botanists’ folders (see attached sample). Prepare place cards for head table. Prepare a folder with a description of every prize awarded at the dinner on a separate sheet of paper.

Take extra copies of Council and Business meeting minutes, agenda(s), etc. to meeting.

During meeting, gather names of prize winners and titles of papers as best you can and indicate them on appropriate sheet. Give these to the President for announcing winners. at dinner. Help the President set the agenda for dinner (sample copy included). Ongoing Respond appropriately to various inquiries and correspondence directed to Secretary.