How To Protokolle Guidelines

For student associations, committees, Ausschüsse, organizations

Why and for what do you need minutes

Every official meeting of a body must be minuted so that the official business (elections, resolutions, etc.) is recorded correctly and is available later. The minimum number of official meetings your body must hold is set out in the respective statutes/regulations.

Checklist for individual meetings

Start of meeting

  • Write down persons present with abbreviations
  • Check quorum and write it down
  • Resolution Acceptance of the agenda
  • Resolution Acceptance of the last minutes (if still outstanding)

Middle of the meeting

  • Meeting is held and agenda items are dealt with

If something changes during the meeting, e.g. someone joins or leaves, document this.

End of meeting

  • Time at which the meeting closes

After the meeting

Important

Difference between argument minutes vs. resolution minutes

Resolution minutes document the decisions made and results of a meeting in a brief and precise form. It contains the attendees, resolutions, voting results and responsibilities. Argumentation minutes, on the other hand, focus on the discussions and arguments that led to the decisions. It contains detailed accounts of the debates, opinions expressed and conclusions drawn. While the decision log focuses on the results, the argumentation log provides a comprehensive insight into the decision-making process.

Key points vs. continuous text 

It is fine to write down discussions in bullet points. However, they must be comprehensible for those reading the minutes. Try to formulate the information in full right away to avoid subsequent editing. Sometimes more detailed formulations (complete sentences) help to make it easier to understand the points and thoughts after a meeting.

Standard agenda items

Establishing a quorum, adopting the agenda and adopting the last minutes are standard agenda items and are part of every meeting. 

The quorum is established first and does not require a resolution. Depending on the articles of association/regulations, other quorum limits may apply; check these before the meeting.

The adoption of the agenda is the second item on the agenda and determines the further course of the meeting. If items on the agenda are moved around (e.g. the person submitting the motion is late), this must be recorded. Acceptance of the agenda is a resolution and must be marked as such.

The adoption of outstanding minutes is also a resolution and must be marked as such. All minutes of all bodies must be adopted and then published. Do not forget to ensure that the minutes have been proofread and the content corrected if necessary before they are adopted. Once the minutes have been adopted, what is written in them applies. 

If outstanding minutes have not been checked by the next meeting, postpone them to the next meeting and indicate this in the agenda item.

Resolution: Acceptance of the minutes of xx.yy.zzzz is postponed to the next meeting.

Resolution/election

Resolutions and elections are important official business and must be marked as such. Please note: It is not permitted to only record resolutions! At least one minutes of argumentation or higher must be prepared for a meeting. Minutes of resolutions may also be kept.

An agenda item that deals with a resolution/vote contains the number of votes for and against and abstentions or, in the case of obviously clear votes, the result of the vote.

Example

Election: xy to committee zz

*discussion*

*more discussion*

Resolution: xy is unanimously elected to committee zz.

Minutes Stockphrases

Quorum: 11 out of 13 are present, we have a quorum.

Resolution: The agenda is adopted unanimously.

Resolution: The minutes of the meeting of xx.yy.zzzz are adopted unanimously.

Resolution: The motion is adopted by a large majority.

Resolution: xy is elected to the zz committee with 8 votes in favor, 1 vote against and 2 abstentions.

Circular resolutions

An organization may deal with official business outside of an official meeting if it is urgent. These circular resolutions must be recorded in the minutes of the next official meeting and marked as circular resolutions.

Confidential minutes

Confidential minutes contain discussions, opinions or resolutions on topics that contain sensitive or personal information and are therefore only made accessible to a limited group of people. Examples of confidential information include: names of professors, information about individual students, etc.. These agenda items should be recorded in a separate document and then sent to protokolle-vertraulich@vseth.ethz.ch. Only the GPK, the VSETH Presidium and the Vice Presidium as well as the Internal Affairs department will receive these.

Distribution of minutes

Protocols must be made public correctly after acceptance. Normal protocols are sent to protokolle@vseth.ethz.ch after acceptance. Confidential minutes are sent to protokolle-vertraulich@vseth.ethz.ch after approval.

Important: Send in all approved minutes regularly. We can only help with questions or problems if we know what was discussed and the topic is still relevant. It is of little use if there are difficulties in February and we only find out about them in June and can no longer help promptly.

Last, but not least

You should also invite the VSETH board (and especially your VSETH godparent) to all your board meetings, simply send an email with the key dates (when, where, what) to vorstand@vseth.ethz.ch or the respective godparent. If you have any questions or concerns about taking minutes, please feel free to write to your godparents or Internal Affairs at ia@vseth.ethz.ch! 😊