1. Tshwane University of Technology
Faculty of Humanities
Department of Education Studies
Education Management 4
- Session 8 -
Administrative facets in School Management
Presenter:
Dr Muavia Gallie (PhD)
16 April 2012
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muavia@mweb.co.za
Content
1. Introduction (defining);
2. Legal requirements for meetings;
- Role of chair;
- Secretary;
- Members attending;
- Formal documents;
- Requirements for valid meetings
- Procedural Rules
4. Miscellaneous aspects in administration
5. Conclusion.
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2. Introduction - Administration
• Executive activity which functions within the
structures of an organisation;
• Is subject to certain legal and policy
requirements
• Finalisation of programmed and routine
activities and decision making;
• Systemically executed in a well-ordered
manner by supporting personnel and
mechanical resources under the
supervision of manager
Administration, Management
and Leadership
• Administration - rules and
regulations;
• Management – relationships and
networking;
• Leadership - vision building, ideas,
decision making and systems setup.
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3. Legal requirements for meetings
• Role of the chairperson (vice-chairperson in absence;
principal chair SMT and staff meetings; not chair of SGB);
- Rights and duties of a chairperson (1. check notice of meeting;
2. quorum [%] before start; 3. control meeting; 4. maintain order; 5.
conducted within the rules; 6. one to speak at a time; 7. resolutions
express the will of meeting; 8. act impartial and give sufficient
opportunity; 9. avoid digress; 10. may call on persons; 11.
announcements and submission of reports subject to chair; 12. rule out
of order motion which is contrary to procedure, illegal, frivolous or policy;
13. chair’s point of order rule is final; 14. remain member of meeting; 15.
vacate chair to express personal opinion; 16. right to propose and vote
for themselves; 17. second or casting vote [to break tie]; 18. can vote to
make a tie; 19. impartially summarise the various views; 20. views can
be disputed and rejected; 21. may adjourn a meeting; 22. warn a
misbehaving member; 23. meeting may take decision against a
disorderly member; 24. exclude member from meeting);
Legal requirements for meetings … cont.
• Role of the chairperson
- Rules to be observed by chair (1. Participation in discussion and the
proposal of motion; 2. Tactic; 3. Separation of functions);
• Secretary (1. Draft agenda with chair; 2. Keep register of members; 3.
Draft notices of meeting and dispatch; 4. Provide requirements and
requisites for meeting; 5. Draw attention of chair on quorum; 6. Read notice
sent to meeting; 7. Draft minutes, read and amend them; 8. Act as chair; 9.
Read correspondence; 10. Compile draft annual report with chair);
- 1. Be impartial and loyal to chair; 2. Should not express opinion unless …;
3. Avoid clash of interest, serve association, work behind scenes)
• Role of members attending a meeting (convenient time; adequate
and timely notice; time to arrange and prepare for meeting; agenda in
advance; resolutions adopted should be valid; non-attendance record in
writing; rules of engagement: (i) address the chair as ‘chair’; (ii) refer to
others in indirect form; (iii) stand while addressing unless … ; (iv) permission
for chair before speaking; (v) interruption only through ‘point of order’;
ensure professionalism; respect leadership positions and your own area of
expertise);
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4. Legal requirements for meetings … cont.
• Formal documents of a meeting
- Agenda [things to be done] (1. Matters to be discussed are dealt with in particular order; 2.
Members can prepare for and contribute; 3. Meeting stay on track) - points should be clear;
deviation from sequence only with permission of meeting; 4. text of motions should appear in
full on agenda;
- Minutes (1. Content - concise, accurate, unambiguous and impartial report; 2. Record
names of members present or absent and resolutions adopted; 3. Minutes are for future
reference; secretary should report on: (i) date, time and venue; (ii) names of secretary and
chair, and members in attendance and absent, and observers; (ii) proposals made with
proponents and seconders; (iv) report of the meeting; (v) important rulings made by chair; (vi)
names of persons voting for and against - may ask for special recording; 4. minute keeping: (i)
write in present tense; (ii) not word-for-word account; (iii) proposals, motions and amendments
must be in exact words; (iv) kept in book with page numbers; (v) not tamper with pages; (vi) if
typed, chair must initial each page and sign the last page;
* Approval of minutes (at next meeting; circulate copy before meeting - deem as read; sub-
committee meeting minutes must be approved by management committee; secretary present
minutes, chair ask for approval as correct reflection; approved by someone who was present in
previous meeting; may debate incorrectness of minutes but not content; if correct, chair dates
and signs minutes; secretary my voluntarily amends or be compelled by resolution to amend
minutes);
* Evidential value of minutes (legal standing; prima facie proof);
* Safekeeping of minutes (confidential; give to principal at end of SGB term);
* Access to minutes (may refuse if possibility of misuse)
Legal requirements for meetings … cont.
• Requirements for a valid meeting (cont.)
- Convening a meeting (1. By an authorised official; 2.
Dispatch a written notice of meeting to all registered members;
3. Procedure rules of body will determine how long before and
in what matter to send notices;4. Sometimes the information is
in the constitution;
- Constitution of the meeting (1. There should be a chair and
quorum of members; 2. Quorum should be present for the
entire duration of meeting; 3. Wait for 15 minutes to make
quorum - if not, adjourn and reconvene (normally 7 days later at
same time, venue; 4. Members present will be the quorum; 5.
Quorum sometimes a problem when convening SGB meetings;
- Constitution of organisation (should contain procedural
rules for meetings);
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5. Legal requirements for meetings … cont.
• Procedural rules relating to proposals
- Proposals (1. Any member can make a proposal [except chair]; 2. A seconder is
necessary when stated by procedural rules; 3. Just to determine whether there is
prima facia support for proposal;4. Can’t withdraw seconded proposal without
meeting permission; 5. Deal with one proposal at a time);
- Motions (1. First a motion, then resolution when adopted; 2. Motions are place on
table for discussion and vote; 3. Procedural motion deals with conduct of meeting; 4.
Substantive motion is when something needs to be done);
- Counter-proposal (when opposite motion is put on table for discussion -
members vote for one of the two);
- New proposal (when counter-proposals are not entertained by rules);
- Debating (when proposal is on the table, members debate the issue; proposer
normally makes the last comment);
- Amendments (to adjust the original proposal or motion; proposer must accept
the amendments, otherwise a new proposal; if amendments are accepted, it is put to
vote as an amended and substantial proposal);
- Formal motions (intended to end discussion; could indicate that issue should be
voted on; formal motions is then open for discussion);
Legal requirements for meetings … cont.
• Procedural rules
- Voting (1. Chair put proposal for voting after it has been properly discussed; 2. Request members to vote
FOR or AGAINST; 3. Voting can be by (i) show of hands,(ii) by verbal assent, (iii) by ballot ;4. Chair
announce the results which is final and closes the voting; 5. Any member can object to the results and
demand recount; 6. Subsequent announcement of results will be final and conclusive; 7. A motion is either
accepted or defeated; 8. Voting works on one-personone-vote; 9. An ordinary majority will carry a motion
unless otherwise stated in rules; 10. Resolution results are deemed to be binding on all; 11. Can rescind a
decision from previous meeting; 12. Voting might be problematic in schools with people of unequal status);
- Validity of resolutions (1. Certain procedural rules have been followed; 2. Other rules and/or
principles from constitution must also be taken into account);
- Validity of resolutions subsequent to irregular procedure (1. Sometimes a decision
made during an irregular procedure might not be valid; 2. Example, when the decision represents the will of
the majority in meeting; 3. When irregular, it can be corrected through a ‘point of order’; 4. Chair must follow
procedures meticulously);
- Subsequent approval (1. Sometimes a decision can be attained without having a formal meeting; 2.
Such unanimous assent must be approved at a subsequent formal meeting; 3. If a single member was
missed, it could render the decision invalid);
- Amendment and recall of resolutions (1. Resolutions may neither be amended nor repealed
during same meeting; 2. Procedure to recall and amend an adopted resolution: (i) after conclusion of vote,
member give verbal notice that the resolution will be reviewed at following meeting; (ii) notice of review is
automatically placed on agenda of next meeting; (iii) member gives notice of review also - must be
timeously);
- Suspension of procedure (1. To save time, members can suspend a procedure; 2. Example,
where the constitution requires a vote through ballot);
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6. Legal requirements for meetings … cont.
• Miscellaneous procedural rules
- Order motions (1. Example: (i) members present do not constitute a
quorum,(ii) proceedings are contrary to the procedural rules, (iii) discussions
deviates from the subject at hand, (iv) a speaker or member misbehaves);
- Adjournments (1. Meeting may be adjourned to any time and venue
under certain circumstances; 2. Example: (i) there is no longer a quorum, (ii)
decision made by the chair or the meeting);
- Postponements (1. Meeting may be postponed after notice of meeting
has been given, but before it has been convened);
- Closure (1. Chair closes the meeting after all matters have been dealt
with);
Miscellaneous aspects of
Administration
• Contracts
- Ascertain the exact responsibility of the school;
- Nature of assets and equipment in the contract;
- Type of contract: instalment sale, lease, HP;
- Manner of payment (negotiate interest-free payments);
- Software contracts: clear specifications;
• Copyright
- Don’t copy software illegally;
• Documents and electronic media
- Original document has to be produced;
- 2. Duplicate (carbon copy) is also regarded as original;
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7. Thank You!
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