Guide to Electronic Meetings

Guidelines for conducting meetings via email:

• Be clear about the purpose and desired outcome for the meeting:
  • If the primary purpose is to make a motion on a proposal that has already gone through deliberative discussion, then
    • The Chair shall send an email to all the members stating the reason for calling the meeting and providing an outline of the issue to be discussed.
    • The procedures for an Email Meeting that have been agreed upon should be included.
    • The Chair shall include the number of participants needed to have a quorum.
    • The email conversation will constitute the minutes of the meeting and should be saved in an appropriate location. It is also permissible to create minutes that summarize the email conversation if the important information is included.
• Anything related to personnel issues or items that are considered confidential CANNOT BE DISCUSSED ON EMAIL. University email can be subpoenaed. Do not write anything that you wouldn’t want in a courtroom or a newspaper.