BoardX allows you to track the roles and service terms of board committee members, giving your organisation a clear historical record of positions held and current responsibilities. This article covers how to assign, edit, and view roles and terms on a committee.
Overview
The Terms tab on any committee page lets you:
Assign one or more roles to each board member
Record term start and end dates for each role
Track whether a role is currently active or historical (past)
View terms in a table (Matrix view) or a visual timeline (Chart view)
Step 1: Navigate to the Committee Terms Page
From the left navigation, click Committees.
Select the committee you want to manage (e.g. Board).
Click the Terms tab at the top of the committee page.
If no roles or terms have been added yet, you will see a message: "There are no roles and terms."
Step 2: Enter Edit Mode
Click the Edit button in the top-right corner of the Terms panel. This opens the edit form, where you can add members, assign roles, and set term dates.
Step 3: Add a Member
Click + Add person to select a member from the dropdown. The dropdown includes all users who have ever been added to the board — not just current members. This ensures that historical records are preserved and past members can still be assigned past roles and terms even if they are no longer active on the board.
Each person card in the edit form can hold one or more role entries.
Step 4: Assign a Role
Under a member's name, click + Add role. A role dropdown will appear with your organisation's available roles, such as:
Vice-Chair
President
Secretary
Treasurer
Trustee
Observer
Select the appropriate role from the dropdown.
Step 5: Set Term Dates
For each role entry, fill in the Term Start Date and Term End Date:
Term Start Date — the date the member began serving in that role.
Term End Date — the date the role ended, or the expected end date for a current term.
The Term# field tracks the overall sequence of a member's service across all roles — not just within a single role.
For example, a member who served as Trustee and later as Vice-Chair will have term numbers that reflect their full chronological history across both roles. You do not need to enter term numbers manually — once you click Save, BoardX will automatically assign and correct term numbers in chronological order based on the start dates entered.
⚠️ Important: Term dates must not overlap. If a member has multiple terms in the same role, each term's start date must begin after the previous term's end date. Overlapping dates will prevent you from saving — the form will block submission until all date conflicts are resolved. Always ensure there is a clear, non-overlapping date range for every role entry before clicking Save.
Active vs. Past Status
BoardX automatically determines the Status of each term based on today's date:
Status | Meaning |
🟢 Active | The term end date is in the future — the member currently holds this role |
🔴 Past | The term end date has passed — this is a historical record |
Step 6: Save Your Changes
Once all roles and terms are entered, click Save. To discard changes, click Cancel.
If you need to update the list of available roles (e.g. add a new role title), click Edit roles before saving.
Viewing Terms
After saving, the Terms tab displays all role and term records in the Matrix view by default, showing:
Column | Description |
Member | The board member's name |
Role | The position held |
Term | Term number |
Start | Term start date |
End | Term end date |
Status | Active or Past |
Switch to the Chart view to see a visual Gantt-style timeline showing how long each member has served and when their terms overlap.
Removing a Role Entry
In edit mode, click the × button to the right of any role row to remove that entry. This permanently deletes the role record from the committee's term history.
Exporting Terms Data
Click the Export button to download the current terms data for reporting or record-keeping purposes.
Tips & Best Practices
Record historical terms — adding past roles gives a complete picture of board continuity and governance history.
Use the Chart view for board succession planning — it makes it easy to spot overlapping or expiring terms at a glance.
Term numbers are useful when a member holds the same role across multiple non-consecutive periods.
If a role title you need doesn't appear in the dropdown, click Edit roles in the edit form to add it.