The following Description of Duties, taken from the NETA Handbook, give information for both the Secretary and the Alternate.

Secretary

Summary: : The Area Secretary has the primary duty to record and distribute minutes of area meetings, assemblies and area inventories and to maintain the Area Policies and Procedures document, as well as the Area Handbook.

Qualifications: An organized approach as well as a fair amount of computer proficiency is necessary (or the various duties that require a computer will have to be delegated). The Secretary should have a “reasonable period of sobriety”, which might mean 2 years in an area where AA is still young, 4-5 years in an older area. Some service in home group, Central Office or General Service is useful and so is some background in general office work. An effective Secretary needs to have a sense of order and the ability to capture the essentials of what is happening at a meeting. The job is time-consuming and needs to be carried out on schedule, and any Secretary needs to be sure that ample time is available.

Duties:

  1. Electronically record all committee meetings and assemblies and have one copy for Archives. Insure that all motions are recorded in the exact wording submitted to the Area Committee and Area Assembly; any editing will be done on the floor or the Area Committee Meeting or the Area Assembly meeting – this is done as follows:
    • Use a word processing application
    • Create a template by taking a previous similar set of minutes and removing all information that can change (for some, the whole repost, but for others, like financial, remove only the amounts)
  2. Electronically record the Area inventory, keeping one copy only, for archival purposes (with amendments).
  3. Distribute printed minutes of the Area Committee meetings, Area Assembly, and Area inventory. For the Area Assembly minutes, 150 English and 40 Spanish copies should be made for the Area Assembly (at minimum). For the Area Committee meeting minutes, 50 English and 20 Spanish copes should be made for the Area Committee meeting (at minimum). Ensure the minutes are posted to the NETA65.org website.
  4. Ensure that minutes of area assemblies and committee meetings are delivered to the Newsletter Editor in a timely fashion (within 2 weeks after Assembly or Area Committee Meeting), so as to allow the time the Newsletter Editor to have the minutes translated and formatted in time for the Newsletter deadline (5-6 weeks prior to the next assembly to all recipients identified in Section 2.5 of the Area Policies and Procedures document.)
  5. Email PDF documents of Assembly reports, Area Committee reports, Orientation Information, and General Service Office notices to all of the NETA body. The email should be sent out during the week of the event or in a timely manner of being received from original source. Additional AA members who are interested in receiving the documents may be added to the email distribution list.
  6. Remind Area Officers and Standing Committee Chairs two weeks before their report deadlines that their reports a due digitally. The reports can be sent to Translation Chair to be translated in Spanish. They can be converted to PDF, so that people can read regardless of device used to view documents.
  7. Provide digital media copies of minutes, Area directories and other documents to the Area Archives for preservation.
  8. Create and distribute online assembly registration form for each assembly via our area website. Work directly with Alternate Secretary/Registrar to determine appropriate time for online registration to close so an export of all registrations can be sent to them so they can effectively prepare onsite printed registration forms and name badges.
  9. Create and distribute post assembly attendee survey form for each assembly via our area website. Once survey is closed, prepare a report of survey responses to share with the ACM and the Assembly body.
  10. Assure that copies of historical documents of record (in digital and hard copy form) and digital audio recordings are submitted to the Area archives for permanent retention.
  11. Maintain and distribute copies of the Policies and Procedures document and Area Handbook and ensure that updated copies are posted to NETA65.org.
  12. Attend each of the three NETA Orientations in January.
    • This allows new GSRs and DCMs (and alternates) to register.
    • Collect and the central repository of all the documentation used by the presenters.
  13. Conduct assembly roll calls.

Area-Specific Duties of the Alternate Secretary:

  1. Arrange for bulk mailing and imprint postage permits and related budget approval of the cost of mailing.
  2. Organize and coordinate the scheduling and hosting of area mail-outs at group and district locations around the area and report the mail-out schedule at area assemblies and committee meetings.
  3. Manage the mail-out of the area newsletter and meeting minutes and obtain mailing labels from the Area Secretary. a. Fold, stuff, label, sort, bundle, count and prepare mailing to comply with Post Office requirements. b. Deliver trays to post office for mailing. c. Pay for mailing postage and provide USPS receipts to the Alternate Treasurer.
  4. Assist the Area Secretary with recording minutes and performing roll-calls, as necessary.