ASFA Administrative Policies

Pending Board review, the Convention Planner may set registration fees at different rates: registrations received by a deadline and rooming at the hotel; Delegates not rooming at the hotel; registrations received late.

The Convention Planner will arrange an account for Board rooms and meeting expenses, separate from the Convention account, whenever possible.

The Convention Planner shall prepare a full financial accounting of the Convention, listing income and expenses; this shall be sent to the Recording Secretary in time to be circulated with the ACoD minutes of that Convention when published.

Any individual, upon payment of the appropriate registration fees, may represent only one member Club as a voting Delegate and any number of other non-member Clubs as an observer or alternate at the ACoD. The Convention Planner will require a separate registration fee for each Club.

Early registration for ACoDs must close at least 21 days prior to ACoD to allow the Convention packets to be sent via surface mail or electronic mail in a timely manner. All Board information required in the packet must be received by the Convention Planner at least 21 days prior to the ACoD. The Convention Planner must send reminders to Chairpersons and other relevant individuals two months before the packet item deadline. An additional reminder will be sent two weeks before the deadline.

Any written material prepared in advance that is to be acted on at the ACoD should be included in the ACoD Delegate package that is published on the ASFA website in advance of the Convention.

No member of the Board will be paid for services rendered.

When the Board discusses charges against an individual it shall go into Executive Session. The minutes of these Sessions shall not be included in the Board minutes but shall be filed with the original charges with the Corresponding Secretary.

The Corresponding Secretary will post on the ASFA website notice of any Club that has been officially admonished or censured by letter from the Board for violation of the rules. The Corresponding Secretary shall give a brief summary of the rules violation, citing the section of the Rulebook being violated.

Grounds for dereliction of duty by a Regional Director include but are not limited to either or both of the following: a) failure to attend two or more consecutive annual meetings of the Board of Directors, and b) failing to submit a ballot, whether Yea, Nay or Abstain, for at least 70% of the motions voted on during online meetings over the course of the year between annual meetings of the Board of Directors.

The President may, at his/her discretion, require a paid contractor to attend a Board meeting. The President may require the attendance of Chairpersons at Board meetings only when he/she determines that such Chairpersons need to make an oral presentation at the Board meetings.

The ASFA will pay reasonable repairs and maintenance costs on individually owned equipment used substantially for ASFA business, subject to review by the Chief Financial Officer.

The ASFA will pay the following expenses for Board members attending Board meetings: 1) the lesser of round trip coach airfare, or actual airfare, or mileage at the current IRS approved rate; and 2) reasonable and economical ground transportation and parking expenses. All other travel expenses incidental to meetings shall be paid by the individual Board member. Each Board member shall make his/her own travel arrangements and may submit an invoice for the allowable expenses to the Treasurer. This shall also apply to any guest who is not a paid contractor of the ASFA, invited by the President.

A hardship subsidy may be requested by a Board member to assist with Board meeting expenses which are not subject to the reimbursement policy. Such subsidy amount is to be determined by the President and the CFO.

Airfare to be submitted for reimbursement in excess of 75 percent of full coach fare must be pre-approved by the Chief Financial Officer.

Paid contractors and/or Chairpersons required to attend a Board meeting by the President shall be reimbursed as follows: 1) the lesser of round trip coach airfare, or mileage at the rate approved by the IRS, or actual airfare; 2) reasonable and economical actual ground transportation and parking expenses; and 3) reasonable and economical lodging expenses related to the authorized attendance.

The ASFA Committee List is the responsibility of the Recording Secretary and must be forwarded by mail or electronic mail to Board members and Chairpersons with revised address and phone number list as soon as possible after Board meetings.

The Treasurer shall not accept any expense statements that are older than 6 months for payment. Anything older than 6 months shall need Board approval.

All members of the Board of Directors and Chairpersons must have e-mail accessibility.

Registered mail as referred to in Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution means any traceable, signature-required form of mail.

Board discussion on the Internet discussion list will be archived for a rolling 12-month period only. Anything earlier will be deleted. The Recording Secretary will compile a list of actions taken by the Board on the discussion list since the previous meeting and distribute it at each Board meeting. This will be for informational purposes only.

The Chairperson of the Rules Evaluation Committee will have the ultimate authority on whether a Regionals rules change proposal has been submitted properly in the event a question of legitimacy becomes apparent.

When the ASFA has a need to hire a new employee or vendor, products or services, the following guidelines shall be followed: an appropriate job or project description shall be prepared. This description shall include the requirements of the position or project, the class of experience sought, the amount of remuneration as appropriate and the timeframe for filling the position or awarding the project. The announcement of a position opening and/or request for proposal for a vendor shall be advertised on the ASFA website for a time period suitable to receive a satisfactory response from an able recipient. An appropriate committee as directed by the President shall evaluate responses to advertised positions or requested vendor proposals. Such committees shall have the authority to hire employees or contractors/vendors at the discretion of the Board of Directors. It is the policy of the ASFA that employees and vendors be considered for contracts without regard for race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, nation of origin, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or veteran status.

"Official Business" for publication is business that the Board explicitly decides is official.

The Minutes Review Committee will review and approve Executive Session minutes as recorded by the Recording Secretary. Such minutes will be approved in Executive Session at the following Board meeting.

An appeal of a protest regarding a judging decision may be considered on the Board's on-line discussion list.

Each motion made in the Board's electronic meeting shall be accompanied by a statement of the financial impact the motion, if approved, would have on the revenues and/or expenses of ASFA.

Each year the ASFA shall offer a plaque to each parent breed club. This plaque is to be awarded to the owner of the highest placing hound of that breed for the preceding year, under the ASFA Top Twenty system, which is owned by a member of the parent Club.

The ASFA will recognize the Bowen system as official and publish an official Top Twenty each year for each breed and the Singles stake.

Recommendations for applied Clubs by the Records Coordinator, Scheduling Chairperson and Regional Director must be sent within two (2) weeks of the Membership Chairperson's request.

Mail ballots cast by Club Liaisons are considered public and are available for release in all cases except Regional Director elections. For Regional Director elections, all information is available after the close of ballots; while balloting is in progress the Corresponding Secretary shall only release which Clubs have voted.

The Nominating Committee will ask the nominee for Recording Secretary to attend the Board meeting and Convention for the purposes of shadowing the outgoing Secretary. Any other potential nominee may attend for the same purpose. The invited nominee shall be reimbursed per Board travel reimbursement policy, provided he/she has attended and assisted in taking minutes at both the Board meeting and Convention.

The Recording Secretary will submit officers' job descriptions to the ASFA webmaster every other year in conjunction with the notice for nominations.

The Word "club" as used in Article V, Section 5 of the Constitution and Bylaws is interpreted to mean a Member Club with voting privileges.

In Regional Director Special Elections, once a candidate receives a majority of votes, he or she takes office immediately.

The Scheduling Chairperson will notify the Records Coordinator of any situations resulting in unexpected changes to a premium list or outstanding fines. The Records Coordinator will be responsible for whatever action is deemed appropriate.

The Treasurer is authorized to collect the amount of a check returned to the ASFA for any reason, plus any bank charges incurred, plus a $5 fine.

Any individual who has an outstanding debt to the ASFA for a period of 120 days may be suspended by a 2/3 majority vote of the Board. Any such suspension will remain in effect until the debt has been satisfied.

Whenever the Field Trial Improvement Committee finds it necessary to pass on entrant surveys to Clubs or Regional Directors, these shall be presented in an anonymous format in so far as possible.

The Recording Secretary will be responsible for notifying the Forms Chairperson of any forms that need updating and what the updates are.

New and updated forms containing changes in content must be approved by the Board before publication. Proofreading and editing forms is at the discretion of the Forms Committee.

All official ASFA business shall be finally formatted using Microsoft Office products, unless the Board makes a specific exception.

The Invitationals Chairperson shall publish the current policies for all Invitationals on the ASFA website.

The Judges Handbook is provided to applicants.

The Chairperson of Judges Licensing is empowered to approve any license (provisional, full and additional breeds) if all requirements are in order and there is no negative correspondence in the Judge's file.

The Chairperson of Judges Licensing will notify a Judge and Scheduling in writing within one week of any changes in status when the change is approved.

The Records Coordinator shall forward to the Judges Licensing Chairperson any Judge's sheets which excuse, dismiss or disqualify a hound and state a reason not in agreement with the rules.

The list of Canadian Judges will be available on the ASFA website.

The Records Coordinator will notify the Chairperson of Judges Licensing of all reasons that Judges were unable to fulfill their judging assignments.

Board will appoint a Judges Licensing Chairperson, who shall be responsible for administering the rules, requirements and procedures established by the American Sighthound Field Association for licensing of Judges. He or she shall have such duties and responsibilities as determined by ASFA rules, policies and by the Board of Directors. The Judges Licensing Chairperson shall be an ex officio member of the Judges Committee.

The Membership shall remind affiliate Clubs of Article 2, Section 1, once each year; a change to full member status with voting privileges is not automatic.

Any incomplete renewal applications received by the Membership Chairperson will be returned to the person who submitted the application for correction and reapplication.

When an ineligible person is named as a Club Liaison, the Membership Committee shall return the application with a request that another Liaison be named.

The ASFA will establish a program to allow acceptance of applications for affiliation from any qualified Club in North America.

Upon approval of affiliate status, permanent items remaining in Membership's files for a Club will be: all application forms, Club constitution, all trial evaluations (including fun trials), Change of Liaison forms, and trial error notices. All other correspondence/forms will be purged from the Club's files. As deemed necessary by the Membership Chairperson, items removed from the Club's files (such as premium lists) may be sent to Archives. Upon approval of member status, permanent items remaining in Membership's files for a Club will be: all application forms, Club constitution, all trial evaluations (including fun trials), Change of Liaison forms, and trial error notices.

For the purposes of Article II, Section 4 (c) of the ASFA Constitution [Termination of Membership], a calendar year shall be interpreted as January 1 through December 31.

Membership will retain records for lapsed Clubs for one year after the lapsing of the Club.

The ASFA will not knowingly accept an alias or fictitious name on applications for Club affiliation/membership.

The Board delegates the authority to move a Club to affiliate status to the Membership Committee.

Region 9 Includes New Brunswick, Quebec, and part of Ontario Canada, ending at the Eastern Time zone.

Wording of official news published on the ASFA website will supersede wording of the minutes until a correction to either the minutes or official news is published.

The Recording Secretary will circulate draft copies of minutes only to the Minutes Review Committee (MRC) within 30 days of a Board meeting and 60 days of a Convention. In the event that the majority of the MRC does not agree with the wording in the draft minutes, the MRC shall draft alternative wording which shall be circulated by the Recording Secretary with the draft minutes. After final review by the MRC, the Recording Secretary shall circulate minutes to all members of the Board and all Chairpersons within 3 months of a Board meeting and within 5 months of a Convention.

Minutes of the Board of Directors shall only be distributed to Board members and committee Chairpersons prior to formal approval by the Board.

Minutes of the ACoD may be distributed once approved by the Minutes Review Committee.

It is the responsibility of Chairpersons and/or employees of the ASFA to review the Board of Directors and Annual Convention of Delegates minutes to determine any Board actions that affect their positions and responsibilities.

The ASFA President will send a report of significant action taken at each Board meeting to the website as soon as possible after review by the Minutes Review Committee.

The ASFA President will provide a condensed version of the Board minutes, after review by the Minutes Review Committee, for publication on the ASFA website. This will bear the notice that the information is not official until approved at the next Board meeting.

After review by the Minutes Review Committee, a complete copy of the minutes of the Annual Convention of Delegates will be published on the website. These minutes will bear the notice that the information is not official until approved by the Annual Convention of Delegates the following year.

The Corresponding Secretary shall notify the Board of all protests received since the last meeting, but protests will not be read or discussed at Board meetings when no appeal is filed, with the exception of cases when the Field Committee files an appeal or requests that a specific case be reviewed by the Board, or when the Corresponding Secretary notes significant procedural irregularities.

The Corresponding Secretary shall forward a copy of all protests filed with appeals to the respective Regional Director.

If there is an error on a certificate due to an error on the entry form, a corrected certificate will be issued upon payment of a $10 correction fee. There is a charge of $10 for each duplicate certificate request.

The ASFA will not provide copies of record sheets to individuals.

The Records Coordinator will send the original record sheets and copies of the premium list for International and Regional Invitationals to the Historian, one year after publication.

The Records Coordinator will establish a duplicate copy of each hound's record on a bi-monthly basis, to be stored in a location away from the original records.

The Records Coordinator shall keep all trial records submitted by a Club for one year from the date of publication of that trial. All records received from Clubs will be destroyed after one year.

The Records Coordinator will make a reasonable attempt to follow up on judging changes noted on the trial results which are submitted without explanation and notify Judges Licensing of exceptions.

Minor record changes that do not affect points or placements can be signed off by the President of the ASFA for website placement.

Except for official ASFA purposes, the final year end Top Twenty results for a breed will not be released until they have appeared on the ASFA website.

The Records Coordinator will notify the Board when an individual acting as a Field Trial Secretary for multiple Clubs is responsible for multiple records error notices.

When a hound has earned an ASFA title, all known titles for that hound shall be published with the hound's name on the ASFA website.

The Region where a trial is held will be credited for the number of hounds running in that trial.

Less than a full two-year term served by a Regional Director shall not be considered a "term" for the purposes of determining if a Regional Director may accept a nomination and be elected to an additional term pursuant to Article VI, Section 4 of the Constitution.

Each retiring Regional Director and Chairperson shall turn over to his successor all properties and records relating to that office within 30 days of leaving his position.

Each Regional Director shall attempt to compile an historical photo album within the respective region.

At the discretion of the Regional Director or upon request by the Membership Committee, Field Trial Improvement Committee, the Regional Directors Committee, and/or the ASFA Board, Regional Directors, or their designee, shall complete a Field Representative's report form on at least one trial hosted by each Club attended within their regions. Completion of the report is optional only if the Regional Director is a member of the host Club or Field Committee. A copy of the report shall be forwarded to the Field Trial Improvement Committee Chairperson, Membership Committee Chair, and the Club Field Trial Chairperson within 30 days of the trial.

The Regional Director will send a letter to the Scheduling Chairperson listing the Club which is approved to host that year's Regional Invitational, with a copy to each Club that submitted a proposal.

Regional Directors shall be reimbursed for any reasonable expenses incurred: helping new Clubs organize, renting facilities for a regional meeting, keeping Clubs informed, traveling to trials within the region and for the promotion of the ASFA. Each Regional Director may not exceed a total of $250 in reimbursable expenses each year.

Whenever possible, the Regional Directors Committee will meet on the first or second day of the Board of Directors meeting.

The definition of "administrative" has been moved to beginning of Administrative Policies.

The definition of "operational" has been moved to beginning of Administrative Policies.

The Policy Compilation Chairperson shall prepare current Operational and Administrative policies to be posted on the ASFA website. The Chairperson shall also prepare an update of all policies amended, adopted, or deleted during the prior calendar year for distribution to the ACoD.

When the Board submits an issue to REC, the Board shall specifically indicate if REC is expected to develop a rule change proposal or review the issue and make recommendations.

The REC will have three regular members and two alternates. The alternates have a voice during discussion, but do not have a vote unless replacing a regular member. The REC Chairperson shall designate the alternates as #1 and #2.

ACoD policies will be formulated by the Policy Compilation Committee and integrated with Board policies. The ACoD policies should be submitted for publication on the website as soon as possible after the Convention. These polices will go into effect upon publication on the website.

In its reports, the REC will provide a brief and dispassionate explanation of its reasoning in the case of a recommendation against a rules change proposal.

The acronym ASFA, when used for the American Sighthound Field Association, shall not be used for any commercial venture without prior approval of the Board of Directors. Only ASFA events specifically designated as hosted by the ASFA (i.e., the ACoD, the Regional and International Invitationals, the approved National Specialties) may include the ASFA acronym as part of the title of the event.

The "official" version of the ASFA Policies shall be the version on the ASFA website. That "official" version shall be watermarked with the ASFA logo and the word "official".

When a new or revised policy is presented to the Board, the Corresponding Secretary shall send it to the Policy Compilation Committee (PCC) for review and comment, before being presented to the Board for seconds. The committee will respond within two weeks with their input regarding conflicts with Rules, the Constitution, or existing Policies to both the original submitter and the Corresponding Secretary. The Corresponding Secretary will then present the Policy (with incorporated changes as made by the submitter based on the Policy Compilation Committee's comments) to the Board for Seconds. The revised policy presented to the Board for seconds shall also include the comments from the Policy Compilation Committee. Should the Board pass the motion, it would then be sent immediately, by the Corresponding Secretary, to the Policy Compilation Committee Chair for inclusion or updating in the appropriate Policy Manual. The Policy Compilation Committee Chair will then forward it to the Internet Liaison for posting on the ASFA website and take effect.

The Scheduling Chairperson may, in extreme circumstances, require a print-ready premium list from Clubs 45 days prior to the trial date. Second offenses will be called to the Board's attention.

The Scheduling Chairperson shall compile a list of Clubs that have failed to send a final premium list in advance of the trial date and send it to the Corresponding Secretary, to be reviewed at each Board meeting.

The Scheduling Chairperson will retain electronic copies of premium lists for one year unless the trial or Club is under investigation by the ASFA. Electronic copies of Fun Trial and Fast Track Fun Trial premium lists shall be forwarded to the Membership Committee.

Clubs may send premium lists for approval to the Scheduling Chairperson via electronic mail. Final approved copies may be sent to the Scheduling Chairperson in an electronic format, including applied Clubs and those Clubs on the "Fast Track" program. These Clubs must also include a copy to the Membership Chairperson.

The Scheduling Chairperson shall notify the Records Coordinator in writing, within a week, every time an event is scheduled.

The Scheduling Chairperson will notify the Awards Chairperson of approved National Specialties so that the appropriate plaque can be provided, identical in size and appearance to the plaques awarded to the Best of Breed winners at other National Breed Specialties. This plaque can be available for presentation at the approved National Specialty trial.

The Scheduling Chairperson shall notify Membership of an approved date for a Fun Trial.

Unless specifically requested not to do so by the hosting club, the Scheduling Chair will forward a PDF copy of each approved premium list to the Webmaster for posting in the Trial Schedule section on the ASFA website.

The Recording Secretary will provide the Internet Liaison a list of Board members and Chairpersons within 30 days from elections or change in positions.

Updates to the ASFA website can only be submitted by the Chairperson of the respective committee and should be made to the Internet Liaison.

The Policy Compilation Committee Chairperson will submit the Operational and Administrative policies to the ASFA Webmaster for placement on the website.

The Hall of Fame guidelines and nomination form will be published on the ASFA website.