Australian Shepherd Club of America, inc

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	Conformation 04:04 BREEDER JUDGE APPLICATIONS - Suspension . Motion by Gann. Directors: I need your comments on the enclosed motion by May 15, 2008. Thanks, Jo Motion by Mary Hellmeister, and 2nded by Liz Gibson passed the Conformation Committee with the following votes: Approve: Mary Hellmeister, Liz Gibson, Nadia Schlapp, Luc Goosens, Peter Kontos, Debbie Martin, Glenda Stephenson Opposed: David Clayton, Janet White, Gail Karmalegos, Regi Gravette Non Voting: Denise Creelman, Heather Herron, Cynthia Clark The Conformation Committee would like to ask the Board to advise the Business Office to suspend the processing of all incoming Non-Regular Breeder Judge applications until such time that the committee has finalized its requirements to ensure that all applicants going forward can show a higher standard of education before starting to judge for ASCA. Comment: The Conformation Committee is in its final phase to come up with a new set of standard for the application to become a Non- Regular Breeder Judge. The process should be finalized within the next couple of weeks. The committee feels it is important to start all future applicants at the same level when it comes to requirements and the committee would also like to avoid any possible impropriety by draggig this process out over months.
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	Stockdog 93:17 STOCK DOG RULES - Finals Judges. Motion to reconsider by Hellmeister, seconded by Davenport. Directors: I need your comments on the enclosed motion by May 15, 2008. Thanks, Jo ----- Original Message ----- From:Jo Kimes To:Jerry Aufox ; Chris Davenport ; Rick Gann ; Kristin McNamara ; Ann DeChant ; Michelle Berryessa ; Roger Stevens ; Peter Hellmeister ; Patrick Macroberts Cc:Jean Miller ; ASCABoD@yahoogroups.com ; Heidi Mobley Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 7:11 AM Subject: Fw: 93:17 STOCK DOG RULES - Finals Judges 93:17 STOCK DOG RULES - Finals Judges. Motion by Davenport. Directors: Voting on the enclosed motion went as follows: Approve: DeChant, Aufox, MacRoberts & Davenport. Disapprove: Berryessa, Stevens, Hellmeister & McNamara. Abstain: Gann. Motion is defeated. Thanks, Jo I move the following SDC motion Approve: Baker, Bryant, Caldwell, de Jong, Hardin, Holmes, Kelly, Kissman, May, Pechka-King, Shope, Warren Non-voting: Silveira Motion is carried. +++++++++++ Motion by Warren, second by Bryant. Last day to vote is March 22. I move to add the three documents attached for the selection of Finals Judges to the Stockdog Rulebook Appendix. (one is attached as a spreadsheet) Comments: Seems somewhere along the way the process of how to select Finals Judges was lost. We went through this process last year it seemed to work OK. Now it needs to become part of the rulebook. I made some minor changes to what I originally sent you. I took out my comments and reworded the last sentence of Step 3 #1 dealing with ties. The Business Office can supply the Appendix number. -- COVER LETTER FINALS JUDGES Dear SDC Members, Once again it is time for the Stockdog Committee to recommend judges for the National Stockdog Finals to the National Host Club. There will be a minimum of six judges recommended to the Host Club and the Host Club will make the final determination of which four judges will be used. The attached questionnaires are a result of the established Procedures for Choosing Finals Judges and have been devised to help in making these recommendations. None of these questions are meant to exclude any judge from being considered as a prospective Finals Judge. They are simply a method, instituted by the Stockdog Committee to choose judges who will be recommended irrespective of the answers. All judges that have returned an acceptance letter and questionnaire must be ranked from first choice through as many as have returned their questionnaires. If only a partial list is received the list will be returned to the SDC member to complete. If only a partial list is received by a SDC member by deadline it will not be considered complete and will not be used as it skews the end results. Also attached is the process for selecting Finals Judges and a Finals Judges Work Sheet. This work sheet is just an aid in determining ranking and does not have to be returned to the SDC. There is no set standard for filling out the work sheet. See Chapter 11 Section 7: Selection of Finals Judges for more information. Return by_____________________ PROCESS FOR SELECTION OF FINALS JUDGES STEP ONE: 1. Business office will send a letter and questionnaire to all ASCA Stockdog judges by January of the year preceding the next Finals (example: the letter will go out by January 2008 for the 2009 Finals) with a 90 day deadline for return of acceptance and questionnaire to the Business Office. 2. The cover letter must include dates and place of Finals to be judged. 3. Business Office will then send all questionnaires received to the SDC Chair for distribution. STEP TWO: 1. The SDC Chair will send out a cover letter and questionnaires that were returned by all the Stockdog Judges willing to judge the Stockdog Finals. 2. The cover letter will include the following: a. The questionnaires from all judges that have returned an acceptance letter. b. The Finals Judges Work Sheet which will include the judge's name filled in by the SDC Chair. This is just an aid in determining ranking. There is no set standard for filling out the work sheet. c. Where to find information on Finals Judges in the rule book. d. Deadline for return of individuals SDC members ranking of judges. e. SDC members must rank all of the judges from #1 through as many have accepted the invitation to judge. STEP THREE: 1. The Chair will then take all the ranking information and put it on the Judges Ranking Information Work Sheet, add the results and determine the ranking of the judges. The ranking of the judges is determined by adding all SDC members individual ranking for each judge giving each judge their total score. The lowest score to the highest score determines the six judges that will be sent to the host club. A copy of this work sheet must go out to the entire SDC. The Chair will then send the top six ranked judges on to the host club. If there is a tie for the sixth ranked judge then as many judges who receive the same score will be sent on to the Host Club. 3. The Host Club must contact all available judges provided by the SDC until they come up with four that accept the judging assignments. If less then four are available from the list provided by the SDC the Host will then contact the SD Chair for the next available judge until four have accepted the assignment. 4. An alternate judge may also be asked to judge finals but also must come from the list of provided by the SDC. finalsjudgessheet.xls 93:17 STOCK DOG RULE - Finals Ch. 11, Sec. 2, 4 & 5. Motion by Davenport. Directors: I need your comments on the enclosed motion by May 15, 2008. Thanks, Jo I move the following motion from the SDC; this was to come before the BOD at the spring meeting but didn't and is housecleaning which means, if you read the comments, there aren't rule changes but getting rules in order on paper again Motion by Warren, Second by May I move to make the Finals additions and changes marked in gray, attached. KW Approve: Warren, May, Caldwell, de Jong, Shope, Kissman, Kelly, Bryant Non-voting: Baker, Hardin, Holmes, Pechka-King, Siveira The motion passes. CHAPTER 11 ASCA STOCKDOG FINALS: SECTION 2 - ELIGIBILITY 1. Eligible dogs will be ASCA registered Australian Shepherds that have accumulated four (4) or more points in each class of stock that the dog will be competing in at the Finals. Points from each class of stock must be earned under at least two (2) different Judges and must be received from the Advanced Divisions. CHANGE TO READ: Only ASCA registered Australian Shepherds owned by ASCA members with full member privileges may accumulate points towards ASCA Stockdog Finals. Eligible dogs must have accumulated four (4) or more points in each class of stock that the dog will be competing in at the Finals. Points from each class of stock must be earned under at least two (2) different Judges and must be received from the Advanced Divisions. SECTION 4 - FEES 1. The entry fee charged for the Stockdog Finals will be forty dollars ($40.00) per dog, per class of stock. This money will be used to cover any expenses that the host organization may incur while putting on the Stockdog Finals Trials as well as for awards for the top Finals winners. The host club will submit their expenses to the ASCA Board of Directors. When all expenses have been met any additional moneys will be used as part of the prize money. CHANGE TO READ: The entry fee charged for the Stockdog Finals will be forty dollars ($40.00) per dog, per class of stock. This money will be used to cover any expenses that the host organization may incur while putting on the Stockdog Finals Trials as well as for awards for the top Finals winners. The host club will submit their expenses to the ASCA Board of Directors. When all expenses have been met any additional moneys will be used to help cover the following years Finals. 2. Additional Event Membership dues of $.50 per entry (run) will be charged to Affiliate Clubs hosting ASCA sanctioned trials. These dues will be sent along with the trial result forms to the ASCA Business Office. This money will only be used to support the expenses of the Finals program. Affiliate Clubs who wish to donate money or prizes for the Stockdog Finals are encouraged to do so. 3. The ASCA Business Office and Treasurer will keep an accounting of all money, keeping donations for prize money separated from expense money. The Business Office or the Treasurer will inform the ASCA Board of Directors as to how much each placing will pay and how much expense money was earned throughout the year SECTION 5 - AWARDS 1. All of the money received from the Finals form, minus the expense money to the host club and all money received from the sanctioned trials fees will be used for the prize money at the Stockdog Finals only. This money will be divided into thirds, with one-third going for each class of stock. Any unused prize money will revert back to the Finals Fund for the following year. CHANGE TO READ: All of the money donated to ASCA for Stockdog Finals payback must be used for prize money at the Stockdog Finals only. This money will be divided into thirds, with one-third going for each class of stock. Any unused prize money will revert back to the Finals Fund for the following year. 2. All classes will pay to four (4) places. The money will be split as follows: first place - 40%, second place - 30%, third place - 20%, fourth place - 10%. All placing will be awarded including non-qualifying scores. Comments: We have some discrepancies within the Stockdog Finals rules. I dug up my old files dealing with the Finals to make some sense of Section 4 and 5. Originally the SDC did not want to charge an entry fee for the SD Finals but instead wanted to require those who wanted to compete at Finals to fill out a Finals Form and submit $10 with each form submitted. This was back when we were not going to be able to have this automatically tracked at the Business Office. During the development of the SD Finals automatic tracking by the Business Office became available and it was decided to charge an entry fee instead. The use of the term Finals Form in Section 5 should be removed. Second issue: Section 4.1 When all expenses have been met any additional moneys will be used as part of the prize money. I'm wondering if this has ever been done? I think not. We either need to remove this from the rules or beef it up some how so that it is used. Originally there was a division between SD members and Board some wanted to make sure there was prize money others preferred it to be just a bragging rights kind of thing. The Board made it clear there was going to be no prize money from the general fund so the SDC found ways to attempt to come up with prize money besides donations. Any profit was to go to contestants. Third issue: Section 5.1 and all money received from the sanctioned trials fees will be used for the prize money at the Stockdog Finals only. Another attempt by the SDC to have additional prize money added, sanctioning fees. However this was never implemented. I'm not really sure it ever was intended to be implemented as this would take money from the general fund and the Boards at the time were very much against this. It is possible during the SD Finals development that like the Finals Forms this should have been removed. I don't know but every set of "rules" in my files, and there are many, has this in it. There was a lot of give and take during the SD Finals development over supporting Finals contestants with prize money. Again we either need to remove this or get it implemented. Due to Committee input I have removed any prize money coming from the general fund. Section 2, Eligibility changes were per the Office Manager's request. This is in the policy book already but would be helpful if it were in the rule books also.
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	Miscellaneous Motion to reconsider by Hellmeister, seconded by MacRoberts. Directors: I need your comments on the enclosed motion to reconsider by May 15, 2008. Thanks, Jo MISCELLANEOUS - Gossip - Bulletin Board Motion by Stevens, seconded by Gann. Directors: Voting on the enclosed motion went as follows: Approve: MacRoberts, Hellmeister, Stevesn, Aufox & Gann. Disapprove: Davenport, DeChant, McNamara & Berryessa. Motion is approved. Thanks, Jo I move to approve the following: Since this is the last day to put in motions and it seems some are getting cold feet about the cross-bred issue I feel that there needs to be an official vote so the membership will know what is going on and who is trying to do something about this issue. At our Spring board meeting after all the e-mails were passed around and Russ Ford had made his talk I read the statement listed below. There was some discussion and there was a consensus at that time by the Board for Ann to put this in The Bulletin Board starting with the July-Aug. issue of the Aussie Times and to run in each issue of the bulletin board of the Aussie Times until further notice. So therefore the motion is listed below and upon passing will be in each issue of The Aussie Times listed in The Bulletin Board. ASCA and the ASCA Board of Directors do hereby request the ASCA membership afford all ASCA registered Australian Shepherds the honor due them by this registration. All registrations done by ASCA have met the criteria set forth by the Registry and are accordingly assigned. Therefore, the ASCA membership should refrain from derogatory comments related to the ancestry of ASCA registered Australian Shepherds. To do so would be a reflection upon the integrity of the ASCA Registry and will not be tolerated. Comment-- This is to be ASCA's official statement about the cross-bred issue at this time and may be changed or amended in the future by the ASCA Board. The cross- bred issue is hurting ASCA in many ways,bottom line it affects ASCA financially. 08:03 ASCA HEALTH AND GENETICS COMMITTEE - Mission Statement. Motion by DeChant. Directors: I need your comments on the enclosed motion by May 15, 2008. Thanks, Jo I move the Board approve the Mission Statement for the ASCA Heath & Genetics Committee as stated below. Motion by Kim, second by Michelle to accept the Mission Statement as presented. ASCA Health and Genetics Committee Mission Statement Educate ASCA members, people interested in the breed and members of the veterinary profession on the inherited diseases of the Australian Shepherd. Encourage Aussie owners to use current genetic testing before making breeding decisions. Support health and genetic studies by encouraging owner participation and support such research with the help of the ASCA Foundation when feasible. Utilize and promote current health databases so that interested owners can submit information or access the data to make informed breeding decisions. Approve: Kim, Michelle, Bill, Gina, Linda, Valerie, Chris EMERGENCY MOTION EMERGENCY MOTION Motion MacRoberts, second Hellmeister. Directors: I need your comments on the enclosed motion by May 12, 2008. Thanks, Jo I move the following (also attached) be adopted as the job description for the Executive Secretary: Executive Secretary According to the ASCA Bylaws: The Executive Secretary shall: A. Keep the minutes of the proceedings of the Board of Directors; B. See that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws or as required by law; C. Be custodian of the corporate records and of the seal of the Club and see that the seal of the Club is affixed to all documents the execution of which on behalf of the Club under its seal is duly authorized. D. Be the Assistant Election Secretary; and E. In general, perform all duties incident to the Office of Executive Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him by the President or by the Board of Directors. Executive Secretary is responsible for: Corporate recordkeeping: Maintains Board Meeting minutes and archives Maintains Board email archive Maintains records of all incoming and outgoing communication for the ASCA Board. Maintains roster of incoming resumes for committee positions. Updating existing ASCA policy and bringing to the Board any issues that are not covered by the policies Coordinates mediation and dispute resolution on behalf of the Board of Directors. Operations: Handles mechanics of the voting calendar for the Board of Directors. Distribution and tracking of Board of Directors motions for comment Recording and distribution of voting results. Recording and distribution of operating manuals for the Board of Directors and appropriate offices. Records minutes of all Board of Directors meetings and conference calls. Communicates effectively with Members on matters relating to the ASCA Board or ASCAs operation. Operates as the communications conduit between the membership and the Board. Facilitates Board meeting organization and management Files and keeps archives of all Board business records from hard-copy and electronic media. Maintains archive of all Board actions. Maintains archive of Club and Board operating policies documentation. Coordinates travel and lodging arrangements for Board of Directors and Staff to the Nationals, Spring Meeting and any other travel that may become necessary. Administrative details: This is a part-time position which is elected annually by the Board of Directors Service provided shall be in proportion to the Board of Directors business workload which will be variable and may include periods of activity during 7 days/week. Salary shall be provided at a rate determined by the Board of Directors. Vacation, sick leave and employee insurance are not provided. During emergencies and authorized Club business shut-downs, provisions for salary and compensation shall not be affected. Required skills/qualifications: 1. Demonstrated experience in a non-profit Board or Executive Secretarial context. 2. Background in secretarial and/or communications skills. 3. Demonstrated experience in organizational leadership 4. Demonstrated knowledge of basic office equipment. 5. Excellent interpersonal skills 6. Good writing and communication skills 7. Ability to work independently with ease and professionalism 8. Excellent organizational skills; self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision 9. Moderate to high degree of computer literacy 10. Personal philosophies congruent with the mission and vision of ASCA 11. Ability to set goals and meet deadlines Preferred Education 4 year degree Comment: I believe that the suggestions from the Board and Jo have been incorporated into this description. It needs to be available to be published in the next Aussie Times to enable interested parties to apply for the position should it become available. It would be optimal to publish in the July/August Times, so I'm asking for this to be an emergency motion with a 5-day discussion period. 04:02 COMMITTEE PROCEDURES - Page 1. Motion MacRoberts, second McNamara Directors: I need your comments on the enclosed motion by May 15, 2008. Thanks, Jo I move to add the following wording to the Committee Procedures to be placed on page 1, directly under: "COMMITTEE PROCEDURES These Committee Procedures are to be utilized by all ASCA Standing Committees, unless the ASCA Board of Directors has approved exceptions." at the top of the page. MISSION STATEMENT First order of business for the Committee will be to write a Mission Statement defining the goals the committee will work toward. The Committee will have 90 days to submit the Mission Statement to the Board for Approval. Committee Mission Statements shall be placed on the ASCA website on the Committee Page below their respective Committee and as an Appendix in the Committee Procedures. Comment: This is a "clean up" motion so that the generation of the Mission Statement is part of the Committee Procedures. It also establishes a location that our members can access Committee Mission statements.