Viewing a Meeting

• To view a meeting currently listed in the Commonwealth Calendar, select the host organization from the drop-down list to the below the date-range and phrase “hosted by.” The organizations listed are the official names of the agency or entity. It may also be helpful for you to search for the group that will be meeting from the drop down box below the phrase “list meeting of.” This list contains group names and information that is entered by the group and therefore may not be consistent. To show all meetings, do not select a host or meeting group, leaving the drop-down list default of “any.”
• Then, enter an appropriate date range in the boxes labeled “from” and “to.” For example, if you have heard that the VIPNet Authority will be hosting a meeting in June of 2003, you may wish to enter “05/31/2003” in the box labeled “from” and then enter “07/01/2003” in the box labeled “to” in order to see any meetings scheduled in June of 2003.
• Finally, click on the "List" button (fig.1) to show all of the meetings that fit your search criteria. If you aren't sure about the exact meeting information, choose the default values of "any" and/or "any department" and set a wide meeting range to see all of the meetings scheduled for that period of time.


(fig.1)

• Once you have found the meeting you have searching for, click the linked name of the meeting under the “Meeting Of” column. This link will take you to detailed meeting information, including a link to an agenda (if available), contact information, and accessibility information. To return to the Commonwealth Calendar Main Page, simply click the “View” link at the bottom of this “details” page.
• Although not a requirement, agencies posting meetings to the Commonwealth Calendar may wish to also post a meeting agenda. Agenda may be accessed by clicking the “agenda” link below the name of the meeting, in the “Meeting of” column of the Calendar or by clicking the name of the meeting, going to the “details” page and then clicking the link, “agenda.”

Viewing Meeting Minutes

Effective July 1, 2002, Section 2.2-3707.1 of the Code of Virginia requires executive branch agencies to post their public meeting minutes on the Internet. The legislation requires that draft minutes be posted within ten working days after the meeting and that final minutes be posted within three working days of final approval of the minutes.

Note: Virginia Agencies/Entities are NOT required to post their meeting minutes on the Commonwealth Calendar. Therefore, you may wish to look for minutes on the agency/entity’s Web site.

• Because meeting minutes will be posted after a meeting has occurred, it will be necessary for you to put in a date range in the past. For example, if you would like to view the meeting minutes of the VIPNet Authority meeting that occurred on April 16, 2002, you will want to put “04/16/ 2002” in the box labeled “from” and “04/16/2002” in the box labeled “to.”
• Once you have found the meeting you wish for, you may access meeting minutes by clicking the “meeting minutes” link (fig. 2) under the name of the meeting, in the “Meeting of” column of the Calendar
• You may also find meeting minutes by clicking the name of the meeting in the “Meeting of” column of the calendar. This will take you to the “details” page of that meeting where you will find a link to meeting minutes

  
  (fig.2)

Posting Meetings to the Commonwealth Calendar

Getting Started

• As you use the Commonwealth Calendar, please remember that § 2.2-4031 C of the Code of Virginia requires state agencies to publish all meetings required to be public under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) in the Virginia Register of Regulations.
• All notices posted to the Commonwealth Calendar by the Virginia Register deadline1 are forwarded to the Registrar's office by e-mail immediately after being posted and are sent in a database format prior to the publication of each issue of the Register
• Through cooperation with the Registrar's office, your agency's submission of a meeting notice to the Commonwealth Calendar by the Virginia Register deadline1 meets the statutory obligation of state agencies to submit meeting notices to the Virginia Register.
• If you receive a notice that you have missed the publication deadline, your entry will be available to the public on the Commonwealth Calendar, but the Registrar will not receive the meeting notice in time to publish it in the next issue of the Virginia Register.

Announcing a Meeting

A user id and password are required in order to post a meeting to the Commonwealth Calendar. To receive a user id and password, please complete the prepared letter and print on your agency/entity’s letterhead and mail or fax the letter to VIPNet.
• To enter meetings into the Commonwealth Calendar, click the "Announce a Meeting" option at the bottom of the Calendar page.
• Click "Ok" after reading the "Virginia Register Notice."
• Fill in the appropriate information (being sure to include the required information (fig. 3), denoted by a red warning message).
• In order for Commonwealth Calendar viewers to be able to more easily find entries, the Registrar's office recommends that state boards in the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and the Department of Health Professions enter meetings using the individual board name as the "Hosted by" entry. That name can then be entered again for the "Meeting of" entry or a subcommittee name can be used if appropriate.
• As you enter meeting information, you may correct mistakes individually or click the "Clear" button to start over.
• Once you have entered and reviewed the information, click the "Submit" button to record the information. That information will then be available for public viewing.
  
  (fig.3)

• The information required by the Code of Virginia regarding notice of open meetings and public hearings is automatically sent to the Virginia Registrar's office by e-mail when you post a meeting or hearing. To receive verification that the Registrar has received your meeting notice, enter your e-mail address in the box labeled "Notice Receipt Option" (fig. 4).
  
  (fig.4)

• In order to save meetings for approval by an agency regulatory coordinator or other third party, if your agency requires such a process before posting, click on the check-box labeled "My agency regulatory coordinator must approve this meeting announcement before I post it." The meeting will not be posted publicly until the appropriate supervisor uses the "Change a Meeting" function and un-checks the box.

Duplicating a Meeting

• To create a new meeting notice using information from an existing meeting notice, choose the "Duplicate A Meeting" function. This function leaves the existing meeting in the database as it is but allows you to utilize the data already entered as a template.
• After you duplicate the meeting, choose the "Change A Meeting" function and select the duplicate entry. Make changes to the information that is different, such as date, meeting agenda, etc., and select "Update." The meeting notice information will be sent to the Registrar's office as a new meeting.

Changing a Meeting

• In order to change an existing meeting that you are authorized to modify, click the “Change a Meeting” link at the bottom of the Calendar page. The Calendar will then display a list of meetings from which you may select entries to change. If you update an entry using the "Change A Meeting" function, the meeting notice information is sent to the Registrar's office as a "changed" meeting, not a new meeting.

Deleting a Meeting

• In order to delete an existing meeting that you are authorized to modify, click the “Delete a Meeting” link at the bottom of the Calendar page. The Calendar will then display a list of meetings from which you may select entries to delete. Deleting an entry removes it from the database.

Canceling Meetings

• To indicate that a previously scheduled meeting has been canceled, use the "Change A Meeting" function and click the button at the bottom of the page stating, "I want to cancel this meeting." The meeting will remain viewable but will indicate "(canceled)" in the "Meeting of" column.

Posting a Meeting Agenda

• If you would like to post a meeting agenda, click the “Upload Meeting Minutes or Agenda” link at the bottom of the calendar page. Enter your user id and password, when prompted.
• You will be presented with a list of meetings for which you may post an agenda. Click the word “yes” under the column titled “upload?” next to the appropriate meeting. This will bring you to the “Upload Meeting Minutes/Agenda” page (fig 5). You may choose to provide a link to an agenda already posted on your Web site or upload a document to the calendar.
• Check the check-box next to the phrase " Please Update My Agenda to point to:"
• To upload a document, click the radio button to the left of the term, “Uploaded file.” Click the “Browse” button. This will open a file tree for your operating system (Windows, Mac). Find the document (see note) you wish to upload, highlight it and double-click the document or click “Open” on the file manager window. This file manager window will close. You should see the path and file name for your document in the text box between the phrase, “Uploaded file” and the “Browse” button. If that is filled in, click “submit.”

Note: The preferred file formats are text (.txt) and Rich Text (.rtf). Documents of this file type may be easily created using “Notepad.” Or, if you originally created your agenda using word-processing software such as Word or Word Perfect, simply choose the “Save As” function of the “File” menu. This should bring up a window where you can choose under what file you would like to save the document, a text field where you enter the name of the document. Under the text field for the file name, you’ll find a drop-down list including files types (Word Document, Rich Text Format, Template, etc.). You will want to select either “Text Only” or “Rich Text Format.”

PDFs may also be used if created with Adobe 5 or later, using the Accessibility plug-in. Any PDF created with an earlier version will be inaccessible to many users, and cause conformance problems with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Federal Order 508.

VIPNet is not responsible for any nonconformance issues arising from any agency that creates documents that violate these rules.


• To add a hyperlink to an agenda that you have posted on your government entity’s Web site, click the radio button to the left of the term, “URL address.” Then, fill in the complete and direct URL or Web address in the box provided to the right. Then, click “submit.”
• To be sure that your agenda properly posted to the Calendar, you may want to view the Calendar, where you will find the word “agenda” linked under the name of your meeting in the “Meeting of” column of the Calendar.

(fig.5)

Posting Meeting Minutes

Effective July 1, 2002, Section 2.2-3707.1 of the Code of Virginia requires executive branch agencies to post their public meeting minutes on the Internet. The legislation requires that draft minutes be posted within ten working days after the meeting and that final minutes be posted within three working days of final approval of the minutes.

• Because meeting minutes will be posted after a meeting has occurred, it will be necessary for you to put in a date range of past dates in order to locate the meeting for which you are posting the minutes. For example, if you would like to post the meeting minutes of the VIPNet Authority meeting that occurred on April 16, 2002, you will want to put “04/16/ 2002” in the box labeled “from” and “04/16/2002” in the box labeled “to,” then click the “list” button.
• Next, click the “Upload Meeting Minutes or Agenda” link at the bottom of the Calendar page and enter your user id and password when prompted.
• You will be presented with a list of meetings for which you may post meeting minutes. Click the word “yes” under the column titled “upload?” next to the appropriate meeting. This will bring you to the “Upload Meeting Minutes/Agenda” page (fig 5) where you may choose to provide a link to meeting minutes already posted on your Web site or upload a document to the calendar.
• Check the check-box next to the phrase "Please Update My Meeting Minutes to point to:"
• To upload a document, click the radio button to the left of the term, “Uploaded file.” Then, click the “Browse” button. This will open a file tree for your operating system (Windows, Mac). Find the document (see note) you wish to upload, highlight it and double-click the document or click “Open” on the file manager window. This file manager window will close. You should see the path and file name for your document in the text box between the phrase, “Uploaded file” and the “Browse” button. If that is filled in, click “submit.”

Note: The preferred file formats are text (.txt) and Rich Text (.rtf). Documents of this file type may be easily created using “Notepad.” Or, if you originally created your minutes using word processing software such as Word or Word Perfect, simply choose the “Save As” function of the “File” menu. This should bring up a window where you can choose under what file you would like to save the document, a text field where you enter the name of the document. Under the text field for the file name, you’ll find a drop-down list including files types (Word Document, Rich Text Format, Template, etc.). You will want to select either “Text Only” or “Rich Text Format.”

PDFs may also be used if created with Adobe 5 or later, using the Accessibility plug-in. Any PDF created with an earlier version will be inaccessible to many users, and cause conformance problems with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Federal Order 508.

VIPNet is not responsible for any nonconformance issues arising from any agency that creates documents that violate these rules.

• To add a hyperlink to minutes that you have posted on your government entity’s Web site, click the radio button to the left of the term, “URL address.” Then, fill in the complete and direct URL or Web address in the box provided to the right. Then, click “submit.”
• To be sure that your meeting minutes properly posted to the Calendar, you may want to view the Calendar, where you will find the phrase “meeting minutes” linked under the name of your meeting in the “Meeting of” column of the Calendar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What do I do if my organization is not in the dropdown menu when I try to announce a meeting?

A. To have an organization added to this list, please contact VIPNet Customer Service at (804) 786-3794 or e-mail at customerservice@vipnet.org.

Q. I have called to add my organization to the dropdown list, but it is not showing up when I go to search for a meeting. Why?

A. If an organization is not showing up in the list when you search for a meeting, it may mean that there are no meetings scheduled for that organization in the database. The organization could still have been added to the list to announce a meeting.

Q. What do I do if I've forgotten my password?
A. Fax a copy of your original application, or a new version on agency letterhead, to VIPNet at (804) 786-6227. Make sure to include your e-mail address. We will then reset your password to the original default, and e-mail you the password and instructions on how to change it. Include, on your fax coversheet, a note stating it is a copy application and not a new application.

Q. How can I get answers to questions regarding the Commonwealth Calendar that aren't mentioned here?
A. Contact VIPNet Customer Service at (804) 786-3794 or e-mail at customerservice@vipnet.org.

Q.Why does my password not work for the Commonwealth Calendar?
A. There may be several reasons why your user id and password are not being accepted (an Authorization Required error). IDs and passwords are case-sensitive. This means you must enter your user id and password as lowercase letters when prompted. It is also possible that for users of Microsoft Internet Explorer a wrong password is being saved and used. Explorer saves user ids and passwords for you, which is nice if you entered the correct information, but bad if you made a mistake. If this occurs, or if you suspect it might have, just shut down Explorer completely and start it again, making sure to enter the correct user id and password.