5.

MINUTES OF MEETINGS
What are minutes of a meeting? How are these written? What is the difference between formal
and informal meeting?
- Minutes of the meeting are written records of the proceedings of a meeting. (p. 249)
- Because most of the meetings in business are informal, that is, they do not follow the rules
or parliamentary procedure, the minutes are also informal.
o Whether they result from formal or informal meetings, minutes present a
summarized form of discussions using quotation or reported speech.
o Resulting only from meetings, they are not supposed to include the writer’s
opinions on what he recorded.
o Since they appear as the condensed form of things that transpired in the meeting,
these kinds of reports need to use concise, direct, and specific language.
- Formal meetings that follow the parliamentary procedure zero in or concentrate only on the
following:
1. Motions
▪ Formal proposals or suggestions determined or voted upon by the group
2. Resolutions
▪ Statement of the will or opinions of the participants or organizers subjected
to voting
3. Information reports
▪ Reports to give information about routine activities, assessment, and
achievements of members
- For a motion or a resolution, an exact word or a word-for-word recording is necessary.
o This holds true also for the identity of the person coming out with such motion or
resolution.
o However, per agreement of the Body, this person’s name need not be revealed I the
minutes.
- Normally, minutes have the following components:
1. Name of the committee, organization, or officer presiding over the meeting
2. Date, time, location of the meeting
3. List of the full names of the present as well as the absent members
4. Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting
5. Points covered such as motions, resolutions, or decisions arrived at in a
chronological order
6. Time of adjournment
7. Signature of the secretary and/or Chairperson
- Krizan (2002) says the expression “Respectfully submitted” may precede the signature of the
secretary or the presiding officer, but this is not the standard procedure because the
structure of the minutes depends on the purpose and the formality of the meeting.

VOCABULARY (p. 246)

Know the meaning of these expressions commonly used in business meetings.
parliamentary procedure minutes
motions standing committee
nominations task force
ayes-nayes constitution and by-laws
adjournment formal meeting

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 presiding officer informal meeting

MODEL PRESENTATION (p. 246)

Study these examples of minutes of meetings

English Department
Minutes of Monthly Meeting
November 15, 2006

Presiding Officer : Ms. Rowena P. Fajardo

Present: : Lina Lucas Tony Abad
Esther Bauzon Benjie Vargas
Fe Perez Eric Reyes
Roa Cortez Shella Ramos
Tina Paras Betty Lim
Absent : Vina Mayo Raul Goce
Cora Daza Eddie Legarda

After calling the May 30 meeting to order at 2 p.m., the Head of the Department introduced
the newly hired members. She requested them to say something about themselves.

The Head distributed copies of the outline of the activities of the Department for the second
semester. She said that everybody was free to give comments or suggestions about the
outline. Everybody studied the outline.

Miss Castro suggested that the seminar on Teaching Literature be moved to an earlier
schedule so that more professors could attend the seminar. Mr. Sicatuna added that an
earlier schedule of the seminar would give the Department more time to prepare for the CAS
Week.

The head said that the CAS Week this semester should be celebrated in just a day, not a week,
as the English Department used to do. After saying this, she announced that the remaining
30 minutes of the meeting would be spent for fixing teaching loads.

Mrs. Daza inquired about the new policy of the school on distributing teaching loads. The
Head advised her to consult the newly made Faculty Code to get a clearer understanding of
the new policy. She gave each member a copy of the Faculty Code, and reminded the body of
the schedule of the next Departmental meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Charisma Santos
Secretary

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 Textbook Evaluation Committee
Minutes
June 20, 2006
Cubao, Quezon City

The following were present for all or part of the meeting:

Members: Peter Castro (Chair), Shirley Tomas, Arnold de Leon, Renato Torres, Jose
Ruiz, Julie Marcos, Helen Nardo, Betty Reyes, Manuel Hugo, Lina Navarro, and Norma Vera.

Meeting Details:

The committee met from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 10, 2005.
The sub-committees representing subject areas had separate meetings from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00
p.m.
1. Approval of the minutes of the meeting on September 15, 2005.
The minutes were approved with one correction – p. 2, “…The Theology
textbooks will not be exempted from the evaluation by the AD HOC Textbook
Evaluation Committee.”
2. Chair’s report
Mr. Castro presented copies of the criteria for the evaluation of textbooks by
the AD HOC Textbook Committee. He aired the request of the President of
the Academic Affairs that the newly drawn criterion be compared with the
CHED Textbook Committee standards.
3. On the Chair’s report
a. Mr. Ruiz suggested that the sub-committees be given enough time to study the
textbook evaluation criteria vis-à-vis the CHED’s criteria. This motion was
seconded by Ms. Vera.
b. It was agreed that they be given one month to study the textbook criteria.
c. Deadlines were set for the following:
1. Submission of the sub-committee’s reports on the textbook criteria – July 10,
2005
2. Finalization of the new criteria for textbook evaluation – July 25, 2005
3. Submission of selected books for evaluation – August 2, 2005
4. Release of the textbook evaluation results – January 30, 2005.
5. Dissemination of information
The chair advised all members to look at the website of the textbook
committee texeval@yahoo.com for the following:
a. Reactions of the office of the Academic Affairs on the new textbook
criteria.
b. Complete list of textbooks to be evaluated
c. Results of the textbook evaluations by the AD HOC Committee on
textbooks

Ruben Fajardo

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LANGUAGE FOCUS (p. 251)
Review what you learned about direct and indirect speech. study these examples:

Direct speech or direct quotation

The presiding officer said,” The table is now open for suggestions.”

Indirect speech or indirect quotation

The presiding officer said that the table was open for suggestions.

REMEMBER THESE (p. 251)

1. Reported speech or indirect quotation relates or tells what the speaker said using the words of
the reporter, not the exact words of the speaker.
2. Direct quotation contains the exact words of the speaker. Quotation marks are used to enclose
the words uttered by the speaker.
3. Some principles to remember about indirect discourse:
a. A statement in a direct quotation is usually introduced by that in the corresponding
indirect quotation; a question by whether or if. The omission of that is more common in
oral speech than in written, and in short sentences than in lone ones.
Example:
Mila said he would come.
Lina said she is honest.
b. The noun I in a direct quotation is changed to he or she in the corresponding indirect
quotation.
c. When the word of saying or inquiring that introduces the direct quotation is in the
present tense, the verb in the quotation sentence is also in the present tense.
Direct Quotation Indirect Quotation
He says, “He like it.” He says that he likes it.
She asks, “Is it good?” She asks if its good.
d. When the word of saying or inquiring that introduces the direct quotation is in the past
tense and the verb in the quoted sentence is in the present tense, both verbs become
past tense in indirect quotation.
He said, “I’m fine.” He said that he was fine.
She asked, “Are you ready?” She asked if they were ready.
She asked, “Are you ready or not?” She asked whether they were ready or
not
e. When the word of saying or inquiring that introduce the direct quotation is in the
present tense and the verb in the quoted sentence is in the future tense, each tense
remains as such in the indirect quotation.
He says, “I shall be there.” He says that he shall be there.
They say, “We should go.” They say that we should go.
f. When the word of saying of inquiring that introduces the direct quotation is in the past
tense and the verb in the quoted sentence is in the future tense, both verbs should be in
the past tense in the indirect.
He said, “Fe will buy it.” He said that Fe would buy it.
He said, “You will borrow it.” He said that you would borrow it.

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Reference

Baraceros, E. L. (2013). Business correspondence (2nd ed.). Manila: Rex Bookstore.

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