Every Rotarian knows that the primary obligation they undertake when joining a Rotary Club is they promise to maintain an attendance level of not-less-than 60% in each six month calculation period, namely July-December and January-June in each Rotary year. 

In practice, this means that each member must attend three (3) Rotary Club meetings, each and every month, somewhere in the world, however two (2) of those three (3) meetings should be at the member's home club (i.e. at KGM !). 

There are, of course, exceptions to the attendance rules, and these are:

1. "Protracted ill health or impairment" (and this may include pregnancy, in the case of female Rotarians);

2. "A stay of more than two weeks in a country in which Rotary clubs do not exist";

3. Senior Active members may, on application to the Board, be excused from maintaining their attendance where the "aggregate of the member's years of age and years of membership in one or more Rotary clubs is 85 years or more" (e.g. 60 years of age and 25 years Rotary membership or 70 years of age and 15 years of Rotary membership).

A Rotarian who will be away from his home club for an extended period may apply to the Board for a Leave Of Absence, however it should be noted that a Leave of Absence only excuses a Rotarian from attending meetings of his own club. A member given a Leave of Absence by the Board is still required to "make-up" at other Rotary clubs.

The Attendance Director, who is a member of the Club Service Committee (and who initially reports to the Club Service Director, usually the Club Vice-President), is the person who records the attendance of each member and who reports his findings each month to the Board of Directors at their regular meeting.

The Attendance Director's report should show a list of members in alphabetical order, the attendance they achieved on a month-by-month basis and, more importantly, a year-to-date total of their average attendance. Members who have failed to achieve the requisite 60% should be "flagged", so that the Board can consider the known situation of the "delinquent" member and to discuss ways and means to assist them to improve their attendance. The easiest way to create this report is to use a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft "Excel" or similar.

In addition to the foregoing functions, the Attendance Director is also responsible for:

1) Sign-In Sheets: The Attendance Director must ensure that member sign-in sheets are up-to-date (i.e. it includes all member's names), and that a reasonable supply of blank sheets are always available at the meeting venue. The most current sign-in sheet is available for download from the KGM web site on the "Download Page".

2) Spot Checks: The Attendance Director should, during the course of each regular club meeting, conduct a visual check to ensure that all members who are physically present have actually signed the sign-in sheets, because members occasionally forget to sign in on arrival. 

Similarly, any member who has signed in, but who is not physically present at the time of the spot check (which should be conducted around 1:30 p.m.), should not be given attendance credit ! Remember attendance credit can only be given to a member who is "present for at least 60 percent of the time devoted for the regular meeting".

3) Record Retention: At the end of each regular club meeting, the Attendance Director should remove the sign-in sheets and retain them for his records and to use the information to compile his monthly report. If the Attendance Director cannot personally attend a meeting, he/she should ask another member to collect the sheets at the end of the meeting on his/her behalf.

4) Make-Up Reports: The Attendance Director is also responsible to ensure that members who give him "make-up" reports, either physically, by post, by fax or electronically via the on-line form available at the club web site, are given the appropriate attendance credits.

5) Counseling: In the case of "delinquent" members who repeatedly fail to achieve the 60% requirement, the Attendance Director should, in cooperation with the member's sponsor, counsel the subject member in respect of their poor attendance, determine why their attendance has fallen below the minimum requirement and to encourage the member to improve their attendance.

One way to encourage members to improve their attendance is to help them effect a "make-up". For example, the Attendance Director could invite the subject member to accompany him on a visit to another Rotary club in our District.

6) District Reporting: Each month, the Attendance Director is required to report the number of meetings held, the number of members in the club and the club's average attendance to the District Secretary, and a copy of this report  must also be given to the Club Secretary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~