Minutes of the Meeting of the ALSA Board of Directors
September18, 2001
ALSA Board Meeting 9-18-01
President Ray Howard called the meeting to order at 8:00 PM, EDT on Tuesday, September 18, 2001. All board members were present.Dwayne moved, Jeff seconded that the minutes of the June 30, 200l board meeting be approved. Motion carried.
Jeff led a discussion regarding the reimbursement for board members' travel expenses for the face to face board meeting at the national show in November. Board members are to turn in expenses to the ALSA office and will be reimbursed up to $500.
Jeff presented the Treasurer's Report. Dwayne motioned, Dick seconded that the Treasurer's Report be accepted as presented. Motion carried.
Cheryl asked the board how she should handle the many requests from exhibitors who have qualified in one region to show at another region's regional show. Cheryl's concern was that it is difficult to get a board vote on each request. Paige suggested Cheryl could handle the requests as long as each qualified animal is shown at only one regional show even if it has qualified in more than one region. It was mentioned the handbook states that animals can show at each region for which they are qualified. Jeff suggested the rule be changed so that each animal can only be shown at one regional show. Dwayne mentioned that was not conducive to helping increase attendance at the shows. It was determined that Cheryl could handle all reasonable requests according to the handbook and that more discussion on this matter would take place at the November meeting.
Jeff asked for clarification of the get of sire and produce of dam classes at the regional and national shows. Dick read the regional qualifications for get of sire and produce of dam from page 16 of the handbook.
Cheryl requested the purchase of a laptop computer for use by the ALSA office personnel while traveling and that the ALSA software and financial information be loaded onto the computer which would remain the property of ALSA. Polly questioned price of under $1500 and if Cheryl would need peripherals or a printer. Cheryl said peripherals or a printer would not be necessary.
Carol reported on the recommendations and suggestions from the Judges Committee. Carol moved, Dick seconded that the following recommendations from the Judges Committee be approved:
- Add Penny Davidson to the list of Assistant Llama Clinic Instructors.
- Add Becky Randall to the list of Assistant Llama Clinic Instructors.
- Extend Lorraine Guyn's Alpaca License until she completes the first available Advanced Alpaca Clinic scheduled after this year.
- Youth and Performance Judges should be required to complete all requirements which includes three satisfactory apprenticeships and attending an Advanced Llama Clinic, before being eligible for certification. This recommendation is not meant to be retroactive for those judges certified at the present time due to most of them having commitments for the remainder of the year. At present, there are two (2) Youth and Performance Judges needing to recertify by the end of this year. They both will need to attend the Advanced Llama Judging Clinic in the fall if they are lacking enough C.E. Credits to recertify. Most of the other Y&P Judges will be needing to recertify their current license by the end of next year. The Judge's Committee would like these obligatory requirements to be added to the 2002 ALSA Handbook. It is also recommended that all Youth and Performance Judges be assigned a Level; these levels based upon amount of total llamas at any given show. This level for present Youth and Performance Judges should be determined upon amount of shows judged, and/or performance evaluations, as well as instructor recommendation at any Advanced Llama Clinic attended.
- Recertify Susan Tellez as a Level III Alpaca Judge for a period of three years.Motion carried.
Ray led a discussion regarding the schedule of meetings at the Grand National Show. The board will meet on Thursday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM with the Judges Meeting at 6:30 PM on Thursday. The membership meeting will be from 8:30 am to 10:30 AM on Friday morning where Cheryl will give a presentation on the office's software program. The banquet will be Friday at 7:00 PM.
Dwayne led a discussion on the regional shows. Most qualifying information is out, however Cheryl received 8 shows for regional qualifying just today and there are still a few more shows to be held which will pass out qualifying cards at the show. Paige suggested the show managers send a list of qualifiers directly to the regional show managers. Cheryl said that would be a helpful and that a software system or a more uniform reporting system needs to be established to handle this situation in a more timely and efficient manner for next year's shows because the current system is difficult due to the sheer volume of information. Paige suggested Dwayne go back to the regional committee for suggestions on how to make their job easier which Dwayne said he would do. Dwayne said the regional money should be going out to the regional show managers next week.
Paige reported the Youth Committee is still looking for a judge to serve on the committee and that the committee is working on a proposal to change the youth divisions to three instead of two. She also reported Linda Wunce, Chair of the Youth Committee, has nominated Jonathan Sides, Karen Bum and Pam Hall for the committee. Polly moved, Dwayne seconded to accept the nominations of the Youth Committee Chair. Motion carried.
Paige presented a rough copy of the proposed membership survey to the board. A few board members had not had a chance to review it as it was submitted the day of the meeting. Several board members expressed concerns that some questions were leading questions and that the questionnaire needed a lot of work. Suggestions were made to send suggested changes to the membership committee, to send the proposed survey to committees for suggestions and that someone who's professionally involved in putting together questions for surveys be involved in the final survey. Jeff moved, Dwayne seconded to table the membership survey. Motion carried.
Paige reported that the Fiber Committee did recommend to the board that Level III shows be required to hold a llama fleece show with 4 divisions which is in the handbook, but was eliminated by changes mentioned in the minutes and in Showring. The board agreed that the correction should stand that Level III shows do not have to include a fleece show. The Fiber Committee also reported that the requirements for becoming a fiber judge were omitted from the handbook. Paige said she would send the correction to Gayle Woodsum.
Ray reiterated that agenda items and committee reports must be sent to the ALSA office before board meeting packets are mailed in order to be on the agenda for the meeting.
Dick reported that the Education Committee recommended the format for alpaca and llama judging manuals be changed to a 3-ring binder to enable updating without reprinting the whole manual. The committee also suggested this matter be addressed by the Judges Committee as well so it could be discussed from the standpoint of both committees at the meeting in November. He also reported that the committee has recommendations for clinic fees that should probably be discussed at the November meeting.
Dick reported that the Performance Committee's chair now has the performance video that may require some editing and needs to be narrated. Cheryl recommended that the performance video be included for sale on the membership application. Everyone agreed to wait and see what the finished video looks like. The following recommendations from the Performance Committee will be discussed at the meeting in November.
1. The minimum age for a llama participating in any pack class will be 12 months. This applies to all classes - youth, open, novice and advanced.
2. The following classes will be offered in Pack: Open, Novice and Advanced. (The category presently designated Young Pack will be eliminated.)
3. The mandatory obstacles for each of the three obstacle categories will be the same for youth, open, novice and advanced. (This will eliminate the differences between the youth classes and the others.)Dwayne reported that the Protest Committee has one protest that is being processed. Dwayne motioned, Jeff seconded that Jodi Robinson be added to the protest committee to take the place of Bill Able as a past board member. Motion carried.
Dwayne moved, Dick seconded that Lauren Wright may show a substitute animal at the Southeast Regional due to the death of the animal that qualified. Motion carried.
Jeff motioned, Dwayne seconded the following changes to the handbook.
1. Replace Advanced Alpaca Agility with Advanced Alpaca Obstacle and Advanced Alpaca Public Relations.
2. Replace Youth Alpaca Agility with Youth Alpaca Obstacle and Youth Alpaca Public Relations.
3. Award ribbons only for Alpaca Performance Champion and Alpaca Reserve Performance Champion for the Advanced Division.
4. Award ribbons only for Youth Alpaca Performance Champion and Youth Alpaca Reserve Performance Champion.Ray led a discussion regarding paying the clinic coordinator out of the ALSA budget. Jeff motioned, Dwayne seconded that the clinic coordinator be paid $10 per hour and that this expense be charged to the clinic budget. Motion carried.
Ray led a discussion regarding corrections to the ALSA Handbook. He suggested an addendum the same size of the handbook be sent out at the time of the membership renewal. This would limit corrections to what really has to get done. Gayle Woodsum should send corrections to the board prior to the November meeting for board approval. Dwayne addressed the computer differences between Polly's software and Gayle's software. Ray mentioned the difference in programs won't affect the addendum.
Polly moved, Jeff seconded that ALSA purchase a laptop computer for the ALSA office for under $2000 and that ALSA will own the laptop. Motion carried.
After researching possible recipients, Ray gave the board his suggestions for this year's President's Award. Paige and Jeff suggested that more names be submitted within the week for consideration.
Paige reported that the applications have been sent out for the Tony Rollins Youth Scholarship Awards. An added criterion this year is that the applicant plan to attend college within the next two years. The applications are due back by October 1 to the Youth Committee which will prepare the applications for the board's vote hopefully in a week's turn around time. The Board will select two recipients this year.
Ray led a discussion on Dan Milton's suggestion that ALSA awards be recorded on the ILR certificates. After a discussion with Jan at ILR, Ray suggested a committee be formed to explore the possibility and work out the details for a proposal to the board and that this committee perhaps should include a member of the ILR board. Jeff suggested this should be a joint committee. Jeff volunteered to be the ALSA liaison to the committee. Cheryl suggested that ALSA should charge something for ALSA'S office time. Dick suggested that Jeff send a letter to Dan Milton to keep him informed.
Dick requested clarification of the board procedure for contacting and requesting input from the attorney for which the attorney charges a professional fee to ALSA. Quite a lengthy discussion ensued regarding the relationship with the ALSA attorney of record and the ALSA Board. Jeff moved, Dick seconded that the discussion on the ALSA attorney be discussed at the November Board Meeting. Motion carried.
Paige suggested Polly's information on selling young llamas at ALSA shows be added to the agenda for the November meeting.
Ray mentioned that the request of a junior member to change regionals doesn't require board approval and requested that the matter be handled by the ALSA office.
Jeff motioned, Dwayne seconded that if ALSA Regional Championship Shows or the ALSA Grand National Show are cancelled due to our present national situation entry fees will be refunded minus fixed expenses. Motion carried.
Ray mentioned that a member suggested a driving video be made at the national show from the judge's viewpoint which could be used to help train new judges on how to judge driving. The idea is to give more driving information to judges because driving classes cannot always be taught at the clinics. The expense of the video will be charged to the education committee.
Jeff motioned, Dwayne seconded that the meeting be adjourned. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 PM, EDT.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Hicks, Secretary
