Revised 2/10/04
COMMITTEE PROCEDURES

These Committee Procedures are to be utilized by all ASCA Standing Committees, unless the ASCA Board of Directors has approved exceptions.

MEMBERSHIP

1. Committees shall normally be made up of thirteen (13)ASCA members including the Chairperson.
2. All Committee Members must have email capabilities, as all Committees are electronic.
3. The Board will appoint Committee Members for a period of two years. Members will be appointed each year during the Nationals. Vacancies to the Committees will also be filled during the Spring meeting of the Board of Directors.Vacancies may also be filled at other times during the year by the Board of Directors, if deemed appropriate by the Liaison. The term of Committee Members appointed in between Nationals will expire at the second National following their appointment.Committee Members may apply for reappointment by the Board.

1. Chairs of the Committee will keep track of their Members and their terms and announce in the AUSSIE TIMES and/or any approved ASCA e-mail list when vacancies occur and need to be filled or when terms are up for reappointment.
2. Each year, each Committee shall hold an election of its Chair during the period of 30 days before to 30 days after the National Specialty. Chairs shall serve a one-year term and may be reelected. This person may come from within or from outside the current Committee Membership. The person elected must have served a minimum of one year in that respective Committee as a Member and a minimum of three consecutive years as an ASCA Member in good standing. If the Committee Chair comes from within the Committee then that person will be replaced with someone within the region the Chairperson came from.
3. If the Chair is unable to carry out his/her duties as listed in these procedures, the Chair may resign his/her position as Chair and remain on the Committee until his/her position is up for appointment.The Committee shall then elect a new Chair upon the current Chair's resignation. If at any time a Committee Member believes the Chair is not carrying out his/her duties, the Committee Member may contact the Liaison for resolution.
4. Ideally the Committee shall have two (2) Members from each of the ASCA regions. Regions lacking Members may have a Member appointed from another neighboring region in order to fill the Committee.
5. New Committees created in ASCA will have the position of Committee Chair and Liaison appointed by the Board until the Committee is organized, then Committee Members will elect the Chair and the Liaison. The person elected as Committee Chair must have been a Member in good standing of ASCA for three (3) consecutive years.
3. All Members, including the Chair, will have one vote on all issues brought before them except when an issue is presented in which a Committee Member or Chair has a personal interest. Personal interest being defined as, involving them personally, a dog they own or co-own or a family Member. The Committee Member or Chair must recuse him or herself and will not be a party to discussion or have a vote in the matter. If the issue involves the Chair the Liaison will take over until the issue is resolved.
4. Each Committee shall vote to select one Board Member to function as the Liaison between the Committee and the Board. The Board Liaison is not a Member of the Committee but is responsible to explain to the Committee what the Boards position is and to see to it that Committee Procedure, Board Policy and Roberts Rules of Order are followed.
   1. The Liaison must fully understand the Committees recommendations so he/she may help the Board to understand the position taken by the Committee on any issue. The Liaison is not to participate or interfere in the deliberations of the Committee and is not allowed to change or alter any of the recommendations made by the Committee, but must endeavor to understand the Committees position and present it to the Board as presented by the Committee.
   2. The Board Liaison to a Committee is required to present the Committees proposal to the Board in the form of a motion as required by ASCAs Board procedures. No second is necessary.
   3. The Liaison will notify the Chairperson of all appointments to the Committee. The Executive Secretary will notify those who applied for membership but were not appointed to the Committee and keep those resumes on file should a vacancy need to be filled.
   4. The Liaison cannot be a Member of the Committee.
5. Once the Liaison has notified the Chairperson of all appointments to the Committee, the Chair will then forward Committee Members names and Committee Procedures to all Committee Members. The Chair will notify the Business Office of all Committee Members.The Business Office will then forward one current copy of the ASCA Program Rule Books to Committee Members. The Business Office will automatically send updated versions of the Rule Books.
6. When a Committee schedules a meeting at Nationals with the Board, it is requested the Committee Chairperson provide the Board with an Agenda for the meeting.
   1. The agenda may include, but is not limited to:
      1. Committee recommendations to the Board
      2. Issues requiring clarification
      3. Advice on trends or programs
      4. Issues requiring direct discussion.
   2. Committee recommendations on the Agenda will follow the Committee Procedures.
   3. Committee business may not be conducted at the Nationals without a quorum and Committee Members must be present in person to count as a quorum. When there is a quorum of the Committee present at the ASCA Nationals, business may be conducted and any motions passed at this time can be presented to the ASCA Board of Directors for their approval during the scheduled Committee meeting with the Board.

8. Committees may schedule one conference call each year at ASCAs expense, which will include all Committee Members and the Board Liaison. The Agenda for this call must be submitted to the Board two weeks prior to the call. The purpose of the call is to allow the entire Committee to be in touch at least once each year and enable them to discuss issues of a complex nature.

9. Board Members may be added to any or all Committees email groups of their choosing as long as they are read only and do not participate in the discussion.
10. Cause for Removal and Procedure:
    1. To remain on the Committee, each Member, including the Chairperson must respond to greater than 80% of the issues brought before the Committee. The Chairperson shall contact those Members who drop to 80% participation and advise them of this requirement. The Chairperson shall advise the Board, through the Liaison, of Members whose participation drops below 80%. The committee member will be removed immediately.
    2. The ASCA Board of Directors may remove any Committee Member, including the Chairperson, from the Committee.
    3. The Committee may remove the Committee Chair at any time for any reason. Removal will be by a vote of the Committee. Removal of the Committee Chair requires only a majority vote of the Committee Members. The Chairperson in question is entitled to participate in the debate but not the voting process.

AGENDA

1. The Board, Committee Members and the General Membership determine Committee agendas.
   1. First priority is given to items submitted by the Board.
   2. Priority of other items is determined by the Chair or a committee vote.

VOTING PROCEDURE

1. Any Committee Member may raise issues for discussion. All issues received from the General Membership, Judges, Non-Members, Directors or Committee Members must be sent to the Chairperson who will distribute issue(s) to the Committee Members and Board Liaison and be assigned a priority. The Committees are encouraged to discuss ideas presented before making a motion.

2. When a Committee Member has the floor during a discussion, the discussion will continue as long as the Members wish to discuss it or until the Chair calls for a motion to end the discussion.

3. Issues brought to the Committee should be considered within a 3-month period. If they cannot be considered within that time frame, Members, etc. should be notified when the issue will be addressed.

4. Processing of the motions may be done either randomly, as they come in or by a fixed schedule (set dates). This to be decided by Chair and Committee after Chair elections.

5. Fixed Schedule:

a. Moti o ns and seconds are due to the Chairperson by the first of each month. If a motion comes after the first it will be held over till the first of the next month before it is stated by the Chair. Motions that come in after the first of the month may be discussed by the Committee but the official comment period will not start until after the Chair states the motion on the first.

b. From the second (2nd) through the fifteenth (15th) of each month will be the comment period.

3. Beginning the sixteenth (16th) of each month through the twenty-fifth (25th) of each month will be the voting period.

6. Random Schedule:

1. As the motions with a second come in for consideration, the Chair immediately distributes the motions to the Committee and the Board Liaison

2. Chair sets a two-week deadline with a due date for receipt of comments back from the Committee. All comments to be distributed to all Committee Members and Board Liaison.

3. A ten (10) day voting period with a stated due date will be set at the end of the comment period. If the Committee is working on one topic at a time during the ten-day voting period, another motion can be distributed and discussed

7. Due to the complexity of making amendments through email, no amendments of a motion will be allowed.Motions should be withdrawn and restated.

8. Committee Members are reminded to read motions for exact content.If Committee Members believe the intent of a motion would be better served with an amendment, then Committee Members should request that the motion be withdrawn and restated.This request should be accompanied with suggestions for a new motion.If the motion is not withdrawn as requested then the Committee Members should vote his/her conscience.

9. A motion withdrawn and restated that does not significantly change the content or intent of the original motion should remain in the existing time frame for comments and vote as the original motion.

10. All votes are to go directly to the Chair who at the end of the voting period will tabulate the votes and send the results along with Committee Member comments to the Committee and to the Board Liaison for distribution to the Board. The Chair will, if needed, explain in writing, the Committee's recommendation to the Board.

11. The Board Liaison will then forward the recommendation fromthe Committee to the Executive Secretary in the form of a motion (no second necessary) for distribution to the Board for discussion, comment, questions and voting.

12. If the board has questions and/or comments, they must be made before the call for the vote. Comments/questions will be sent back to the Committee by the Liaison for their answers, input or action and returned to the Board via the Liaison during the Board's comment period, time permitting.

13. Rules and Procedures for Conducting Emergency Voting Only:

1. Emergency Motion and Vote is any Motion and Vote taken in less than the normal two-week discussion period and ten (10)day voting period.

2. Emergency votes may be taken by e-mail.

3. Deadline for emergency vote must be stated at the beginning of the motion.In no case shall the deadline be less than twenty-four (24) hours.Committee Members must return receipt (e-mail) to the Chairperson they received the emergency motion, whether they choose to vote or not.

4. If no return receipt is received, the Chairperson will take whatever action necessary to contact the missing Committee(s) Member.

5. Reason for an emergency vote must be stated at the time the motion is made in the comments accompanying the motion.

6. Emergency voting procedures are not to be employed frivolously.Only those issues with imminent deadlines or concerning critical ASCA functions shall be eligible for an emergency vote.

7. Emergency motions shall require the Committee majority to vote and to approve.

8. All emergency motions with votes shall be reported to the Committee Members and Liaison immediately on expiration of voting deadline.

14. Material to be included with the recommendation to the Board of Directors.

1. Motion with a second.

2. Results of the vote

3. The Committee Chairperson will forward Committee Members comments to the Board Liaison for distribution to the Board.

15. Conditions affecting voting:

1. No vote will be taken if the motion does not have a second.

2. No votes will be counted after the deadline is reached.

3. If a Committee Member will be unavailable during the voting period the Committee Member may cast theirvote once the motion and second are sent by the Chair to the floor for discussion.

4. Once the vote has been called for the discussion stops.

5. Any Member may change their vote before the deadline is reached, once the deadline is reached the vote is final.

6. A simple majority of votes received is necessary to pass a motion. (Except Emergency Voting-see above).

16. Discrepancies in procedure. If an issue arises that falls outside the outlined procedures herein, the Committees liaison should be contacted.The liaison shall instruct the committee on the procedures which should be pursed, using the ASCA Board of Directors Voting Procedures and Roberts Rules of Order.

17. When notifying the Committee and the Board of voting results for the Committee, Members names and how they voted must be listed unless it is deemed by the Liaison and ASCA President that the issue is of such a sensitive nature the vote should remain confidential. When publishing votes in the AUSSIE TIMES, ASCA Secretarys Report and/or any approved ASCA e-mail list only the final count must be published.

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS DUTIES

1. All correspondence comes to the Committee Chairperson. The Chairperson immediately forwards it to Committee Members and the Board Liaison.

a.All Correspondence coming into the Committee must have the identification of the writer(s) who sent it.

b.Any and all Correspondence coming to the Committee without the identification of the writer(s) will not be distributed. The Committee will not consider anonymous correspondence.

2. The Chairperson is responsible for the administration of the voting procedures.
3. The Chairperson may raise a question, state their opinion and vote their conscious but must always remain unbiased while carrying out the will of the majority.
4. The Committee Chairperson will take or assign someone to take minutes at all Committee meetings and conference calls and will distribute these minutes to the Committee Members and Board Liaison within ten days of the meeting/call.

5. The Committee Chairperson will prepare a detailed report for each issue of the AUSSIE TIMES. This report will include, but is not limited to, the following:
   1. All issues sent to the Board with the Committees recommendation since the last report. Each of these issues should be accompanied by a short description.
   2. All issues, with short descriptions, under consideration by the Committee.
   3. In any AUSSIE TIMES Report and/or any approved ASCA e-mail list deemed necessary by the Chair, a request for resumes to fill any upcoming openings in the Committee may be made.
   4. The last paragraph of the report should be, "The Committee welcomes your comments on these issues".

e. This report must be approved in writing by the Board Liaison before being submitted via e-mail or regular mail to the AUSSIE TIMES editor prior to deadline published in the AUSSIE TIMES.

6. Electronic Newsletter: In order for the ASCA Membership to receive information in a timely manner it is recommended the Committee Chairperson set up an Electronic Newsletter. The Chairperson will forward current discussion, motions and vote results with comments to the Newsletter. No personal comments, sensitive or confidential items will be forwarded to the Newsletter. The Electronic Newsletter will be set up as read only for the Membership.

7. The Committee Chairperson must answer and forward a copy to the Committee and the Liaison on all correspondence directed to the Committee providing whatever answers or assistance is requested. If unable to help the person who is writing the Committee, the Chairperson must refer the person to the office or officer who may be of assistance.
8. Reimbursable expenses incurred by the Committee Chairperson are:
   1. postage
   2. cost of copies
   3. up to $25 in phone calls per month

d. All reimbursable expenses, with receipts, must be submitted to the ASCA Treasurer within sixty days of the expense