Minutes of Study Groups
Last revised 2/06/2004

Sample Minutes

Date:  Tues 01.20.04,  2:00pm, NS Study room on first floor

Members Present:  Riley, Vollmar, Akers; Absent: none

Actions Taken at Meeting:  Worked on sections 2.1-2.3, did practice problems on board and discussed homework problems. Worked on presentation and split up responsibilities. 

Adjournment Time: 4:00pm

Participation Credit for Study Groups

Regular participation in a registered study group is an optional activity which earns participation points.  A study group should meet once or more per week.  The points are not earned or recorded unless timely minutes of meetings are submitted by email to Dr. Barnes.  Timely means within one week of the meeting.  Responsibility for submitting minutes should be rotated among members and a copy of the minutes should be sent to all members to ensure that the minutes were actually sent. 

Points are earned only if you attend the meeting.  The Minutes of the meeting must list members attending and members absent.  The Minutes should also list nonmembers who attend, such as Dr. Barnes.   

Minutes of the Meeting

The "minutes" of a meeting are "The official record of the proceedings of a meeting" -(Merriam Webster Dictionary), not the length of time of The meeting. Minutes should include (* indicates required item ):
  1. * Date,* Start Time,* Location 
  2. * Members Present,* Members Absent 
  3. * Actions taken at the meeting ( some or all of the following):
    • Approval or correction to prior minutes. 
    • Old Business (reports due from previous meetings) 
    • New Business (not carried over from previous meeting) 
      This should include a list of activities assigned to each member for the next meeting. 
    • Set a time and location for the next meeting 
  4. * Adjournment Time
A copy of the Minutes must be sent by e-mail to me and all other participants, including members listed as absent until they withdraw or are expelled from the group.  Withdrawal or expulsion should be listed in the minutes. The subject line of the email must be of the form 405: Minutes, Alphabetized list of last names. Replace 405 with your course number. 

The Minutes should be emailed promptly (within 24 hours) - a separate message for each week. Minutes must be emailed to me within 1 week of the meeting or they may not be credited.  If you miss this deadline, see me.  I will not grant credit for meetings that are suddenly remembered months later when you discover that you really need participation credit.

The Agenda

Old Business and New Business should form a written Agenda for the meeting.  I recommend setting an adjournment time in the agenda.  There is no greater waste of time than a meeting without an agenda (or an agenda which is not followed) and a time limit on the length of the meeting (or a time limit which is not observed).  Socializing time may be arranged to occur prior to the start of the meeting itself, but make sure the meeting starts on time.  After work is done you can play, but remember that everyone may not have the same amount of free time as you do, so make sure that business is handled in a timely fashion. 

Activities

Have different people prepare written summaries of each section (covered and coming up).  Look over the summaries and the preparer answers questions. Get answers to specific questions. Split up the homework exercises for each section and discuss any special difficulties. Have someone discuss a Maple feature. Get someone to explain how to do any process with a computer you do not understand well, such as how to FTP, how to set up a browser to start MAPLE and load a Maple file as it is downloaded.  Work sample exams.  Possibilities are endless.

The role of the Chairman.

To stay on task, your group should have a Chairman (chairperson if you are PC).  Once the meeting starts, attend to business.  Proceed down the agenda as an outline (which may be expanded or revised as the minutes).  I recommend that this position be rotated among group members so that every one gets some experience in running a meeting.  The Chairman's job is to run the meeting in an orderly fashion, see that every one is recognized if they have a question or comment, and to keep things moving.  The job of the Chair is NOT to answer the questions that arise, but to see if someone (perhaps the Chair) has an answer or to appoint someone (hopefully a volunteer) to get the answer. Unassigned tasks are the responsibility of the Chairman.  The Chairman should give some thought to the next week's activities.  The chairman should set the agenda for the next meeting. 

The role of the Recording Secretary

Someone should be appointed the Secretary for the meeting.  They will be responsible for writing the  Minutes as you proceed (do not try to reconstruct what happened later) and transmitting them to me (within a day).  This is a really dirty job, and should be rotated.  DO NOT take detailed notes for the minutes, just an outline of what was done, questions that need answers, who is responsible for seeing that the question get answered.  Send the Minutes to all group members, as well as to me, so that everyone knows what is to be done for the next meeting and who is to do it, (and to ensure that the Secretary actually sent them to me so everyone gets some credit for this activity). The Secretary should send reminder email to group members before the next meeting.  The reminder should include the tenative agenda. 

Responsibilities of group members.

Be there and be prepared.  If you were assigned a task by the group, do it immediately, especially if it was to have Dr. Barnes answer a question. Unassigned tasks are the responsibility of the Chairman.  The Minutes should list questions that needed to be answered. It is best to send questions via a separate email message with subject line having the topic = Question However, note that the Minutes are a record of activity, not the activity.  Whoever is responsible for getting answers to questions is responsible for getting the answer or seeing me personally about it.  If you are having trouble doing what you were assigned, get help from another group member or Dr. Barnes well in advance of your next group meeting.  Don't wait to the last minute.  Everyone has already waited a week for you to get an answer.  Don't just show up and say you did not have time, or worse, just not show up.  There is no dishonor in attempting a problem or task.  There is dishonor if no attempt was made or responsibility shirked.  Remember that the purpose of a group is to share the work of learning, especially if there are time consuming multiple tasks to do - which is a perfect description of life.

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