A day in the life of a community college board secretary
Community colleges are vital public institutions, providing affordable training, associate degrees, and pathways to four-year degrees. While students, employers, and the public see the results of board decisions — classes that align with local business needs, increased student access to affordable postsecondary education and strategic plans that keep the college financially solvent – they don’t realize the hard work behind these results.
Smooth running board meetings don’t happen by accident. It’s the board secretary, clerk or business manager who keeps everything on track. College board secretaries are responsible for many tasks crucial to the board's ability to govern and the institution's ability to serve its students.
Let’s take a closer look at a college board secretary’s typical day. This behind-the-scenes view gives a glimpse at the hard work put in by secretaries on behalf of college boards and their institution, and the importance of this key role in college board governance.
To understand this important role, let’s follow a day in the life of (fictional) board secretary Flora Peters.
7:15 a.m. Flora Peters arrives on the Richmond Carter Community College campus just as the sun rises. Even though it’s early, the commuter college’s parking lots are nearly full. Peters walks through groups of students striding to their early-morning classes. As she reaches the administration building, she pulls out her key fob to unlock the front door. Peters is the first person to arrive this morning, a common occurrence for her, especially with a board meeting coming up.
In her quiet office, she settles in and checks her emails. There’s one from the board chair requesting an edit to tomorrow’s meeting agenda, and another from the finance committee attaching an updated budget report. She flags both changes to make sure the president and other board members see the updates. Then she uploads the board packet to the online board portal. She knows more edits will come before the meeting agenda is finalized.
Peters checks her calendar. Today includes a meeting with the college president, a board policy review session, and time set aside for prep for Thursday’s full board meeting.
9:30 a.m. By mid-morning, the office is humming with activity. Peters is going through her lengthy to-do list. She drafts a formal notice for the upcoming governance committee meeting, ensuring it meets public disclosure requirements. Next, she finalizes a letter of appreciation for a retiring board member, including highlights of their service and a quote from the president.
A call comes in from a new trustee who’s unsure how to access the digital board packet. Peters walks her through it, confirming that everything is in place. Her patience and tech-savviness are often as important as her organizational skills.
11 a.m. With the full board meeting approaching in two days, Peters shifts into coordination mode. She confirms the catering order (light lunch with vegetarian options), checks the presentation slides submitted by the academic affairs department, and tests the hybrid meeting equipment in the boardroom.
She also prepares for the policy review session. She reviews the draft changes to the college’s academic integrity policy, double-checking references to relevant state laws. She sends copies to the attendees and adds notes for the committee chair.
1 p.m. The policy review meeting begins. Peters sets up the room and records attendance. She takes detailed minutes and captures discussion highlights. When the committee votes to move the revised policy to the full board for a vote, she notes the motion and final vote count.
Though she rarely speaks during meetings, Peters’ presence is critical. She keeps time, ensures procedure is followed, and quietly nudges the chair when agenda timing goes off track. She plays the same role at all committee meetings and the board meetings.
3 p.m. Peters walks to President Eileen Sonta’s office for their regular weekly meeting. They discuss the policy review meeting. Turning to the upcoming board meeting, Sonta mentions that she’s concerned that several of the new trustees appear to be trouble adjusting to their roles. Peters suggests additional onboarding for the new members through the board portal so they can work at their own pace.
Back at her desk, Peters begins drafting the committee meeting minutes. She organizes her notes, formats the document, and sends it to the committee chair for review. Then she updates the board portal with the revised policy draft and sends out a recap email with action items to board members, cabinet-level administrators and the college’s legal counsel.
5 p.m. Although the office quiets down at the end of the day, the campus buzzes with students arriving for their evening classes. Peters looks over her schedule for tomorrow, noting that additional board meeting prep is needed. She’ll need to start work on additional training support material modules for the new trustees.
Being a board secretary is a demanding job, but she knows that every decision made by the board affects the students, staff and future of the college. Supporting that work is deeply rewarding to Peters.
The heart of good governance
College board secretaries like Flora are the backbone of effective governance. They are on the front lines keeping the colelge compliant, organized and transparent. The board secretary’s role is multi-faceted and expands a broad range of responsibilities. All are essential.
The board secretary’s recordkeeping helps to protect the college legally. Their agenda preparation and meeting management allow for orderly, productive discussions. Their handling of public records and communications helps maintain the community’s trust. They also play a key role in ensuring policies are kept up to date and made accessible to public stakeholders.
Technology can effectively support the board secretary in their role, helping to streamline many of these processes, help them keep their board and college compliant, and on track to meet their strategic goals.
How Diligent Community supports the board secretary
The role of a community college board secretary is essential to the smooth running of the board and the college. For professionals like Flora Peters, every day is a meaningful part of a bigger mission: Helping the college serve its students and faculty in the best, most efficient ways possible.
Diligent Community supports board secretaries so they can do their job more efficiently with robust tools to manage and organize board meetings effortlessly. It is a cloud-based software solution that is specifically designed for nonprofit boards. It is a powerful tool that can help board secretaries be more efficient and effective, providing a centralized platform that enhances administrative processes, streamlines communication and improves overall efficiency.
The software offers features that assist with building and managing meeting agendas. It can help board secretaries take minutes and create and publish policy changes and updates.
As Rene M. Perryman, Executive Assistant to the President and Recording Secretary to the Board of Trustees at Montgomery Community College says,
Request a demo of Diligent Community today to see how it can help you save valuable time while supporting your college board secretary.
