Carolina Working Group Association

Serving dog breeds in the AKC Working Group

GENERAL STANDING RULES

Standing Rules are administrative guidelines with respect to the day-to-day operation of the Club. In no instance may the Standing Rule conflict with the provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Carolina Working Group Association

1.  The CWGA Board of Directors shall maintain a current list of standing rules and they will be posted on the CWGA website.  A hard copy is available from the Recording Secretary.

 2. The Recording Secretary will send the standing rules to each new Officer/Board member within 2 weeks of their election to office  

3.  The new Board shall review the Standing Rules annually.

4.  Any motion that is duly passed by the CWGA Board and General membership that is relevant to the Standing Rules shall be added without an additional vote.

CWGA BOARD OPERATIONAL & VOTING POLICY

• All Board communications and correspondence should be considered confidential and only shared with other Board members.  If general Club members need to be brought into Board discussions all Board members need to be in agreement that information will be shared with the general member.
  
• All motions other than those proposed during Board Meetings will be proposed in writing and seconded in writing to the Recording Secretary.   Ballots will either be sent through the mail or via the internet and “in writing” and “mailed” refers to either method.   In either case the Recording Secretary will mail a ballot within 14 days after receipt of the second.   Motions that are not seconded in writing within 14 days shall die for lack of a second.  For motions to be proposed and voted on by e-mail the following AKC procedure must be followed. Each ballot will include the following a) the motion b) who made and who seconded the motion c) a starting date for voting (this gives the Board a chance to discuss the motion before any voting takes place) d) date voting ends e) place to mark “yes” “no” “abstain” with initials/name date voted and password. The Recording Secretary will send results of each ballot to the Board members within 7 days after the indicated return date.  At the same time the results will be sent to the NEWSLETTER Editor or CWGA Webmaster in order to facilitate changes in policies & procedures and Standing Rules.
  
• A motion duly proposed must be voted on by at least 6 members of the Board to be adopted by a majority of the votes cast. A motion is lost on a tie vote.
  
• The Recording Secretary shall send the results from official Board ballots to the NEWSLETTER Editor quarterly and to the CWGA Webmaster by the 10th of each month for the Members Only section of the website. The results will show a) who made and who seconded the motion b) how each member voted and c) the outcome of the vote.
  
• When necessary the Board may conduct important Club business by scheduling a conference call to include all Board members if possible.
  
• The minutes of Board Meetings and Conference Calls shall be mailed to the Board members within 7 days after the date of the meeting for review and corrections. Any corrections will then be done and a revised copy of the minutes will be sent out 7-10 days prior to the next meeting for review.
  
• Once the minutes are approved by the Board the Corresponding Secretary shall send a copy to the NEWSLETTER Editor and to the CWGA Webmaster.
  
• Copies of letters originated by members of the Board of Directors relative to the running of the club will be sent to all Board members.   The Recording Secretary will retain copies of all such correspondence in the club files.
  
• Responses to any non-routine correspondence shall be reviewed and approved by the Board prior to sending to ensure consensus on the response and that it reflects the opinion of the majority of the Board.
  
• The use of CWGA letterhead/logo on communications outside the CWGA Membership is subject to prior approval of the Board.
  
• On letters and emails in regard to CWGA business, the use of personal kennel names web sites dog names etc. is inappropriate and is not allowed.  Conversely on personal correspondence CWGA titles/position shall not be used.
  
• The outgoing President shall serve in an Ex-Officio position for one year to provide continuity, background, advice and information as necessary.  He/She will be included in Board correspondence during this period but will not have any voting or other Board privileges.
  
• Board members should notify the Recording Secretary or President when they will be away from home or off-line for an extended period of time. 
  
• All Board members must conduct themselves in a tactful and diplomatic manner no matter the venue, email correspondence included.  
  

BUDGET & GENERAL FUNDS

• All contracts/policies whether new or renewals must be reviewed and approved by the Board before being signed/paid.
  
• The President and Treasurer shall both have equal access to write checks and pay expenditures for the club as necessary to further the legitimate needs of the club.  The President may write checks when the Treasurer either 1) cannot for any reason or 2) will not in a timely manner as determined by the Board for any reason fulfill these duties.
  
• At Board and General Membership meetings the Treasurer must provide to the Recording Secretary a written up to date report of the clubs Expenses and Income.  It is best that this report be computer generated. 
  
• At the end of each fiscal year the Treasurer (regardless of term of office) shall submit to the Board a proposed budget for the next fiscal year.
  
• The Treasurer shall maintain an inventory of all equipment and property owned by the CWGA.
  
• Unless otherwise provided, no committee chairman, committee member, or Board member can obligate CWGA funds without prior Board approval.
  
• Any member of the CWGA that has a returned check from the bank for any club related business will immediately be put on a “cash only” basis at the discretion of the CWGA Treasurer.  The Treasurer shall also add on a fee to cover the cost of the bank’s charge as well as to cover CWGA “handling” costs.
  
• Any checks over $250.00 must have the President and Treasurer signatures.  
  

BALLOTS ANNUAL MEETING & MEMBERSHIP

• As per the Bylaws the Recording Secretary shall notify the membership of the date of the Annual Meeting each year.  This notification shall also include a request that any member wishing to have a motion(s) presented at the meeting submit the motion(s) to the Corresponding Secretary no later than 2 weeks before the date of the meeting in order that it be added to the meeting agenda.  The member should be present at the meeting to read the motion and have it seconded.  Should the member not be present the President shall present the motion to see if there is a member present who wants to make the motion and have it seconded.  However motions can always be made from the floor and matters brought up under new business.
  
• The Recording Secretary will notify the CWGA Board of Directors of any AKC suspensions of CWGA members. 
  
• The CWGA Membership List and/or mailing labels will not be sold.  However labels or computer disk will be provided to the NEWSLETTER printer , Superintendents/Show Secretaries or mailing service solely for the use in membership ballots/mailings.  The printer, Superintendent/Show Secretary, or mailing service will be required to sign a Confidentiality & Exclusive Use Agreement stating that the list will be used for the purpose intended and will not be given or sold to any other parties nor integrated into their own database.
  
• Per CWGA bylaws a member will be considered lapsed and automatically terminated if such member’s dues remain unpaid 90 days after the first day of the fiscal year.  The Board of Directors may grant an additional 30 days of grace to such delinquent members in meritorious cases.  In no case may a member be entitled to vote at any club meeting whose dues are unpaid as of the date of the meeting.  After 90 days time a $10 reactivation fee will be charged.
  
• The New Membership Chairman may only accept the previous membership application forms for a period of 90 days following the date of approval of a revised form by the Board.
  
• After processing all membership applications shall be retained by the Recording Secretary with the permanent records of the Club.  
  

 CWDA NEWSLETTER

• The following Standing Rules apply to the NEWSLETTER ONLY
  
• All issues shall include the disclaimer “The opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Newsletter Editor or those of the CWGA Officers and Board of Directors ”
  
• The Membership Chairman shall submit to the Newsletter Editor the names of newly elected members so that they may be published in the next issue of the NEWSLETTER.
  
• All letters to the Editor from members will be published provided they do not contain anything of a slanderous nature or endorsement of a commercial product. Any letter concerning club policy shall be forwarded to the Board upon receipt.
  
• The minutes of the CWGA Annual Meeting and all Board Meetings and Conference Calls shall be printed in the NEWSLETTER after approval.  The results from official Board ballots* shall also be printed showing a) who made and who seconded the motion b) how each member voted and c) the outcome of the vote.  Each quarter the Recording Secretary will send all of the above to the Newsletter Editor for publication (*Exception secret ballots as allowed by the Bylaws).
  
• A financial statement from the Treasurer shall be printed in each issue of the NEWSLETTER.
  
• Prior to publication each issue of the NEWSLETTER will go to the NEWSLETTER Board liaison for review.  Review would include but not be limited to content, spelling, grammar.
  
• The following Standing Rules apply to BOTH the NEWSLETTER and the website
  
• Anyone submitting an article or photo (excluding Advertisements) to be published in NEWSLETTER and/or on CWGA website shall give permission for it to be reproduced by outside individuals as long as credit is given to the writer/photographer and to the Carolina Working Dog Association for its reproduction.
  
• Anyone wishing to reprint an article or photo (excluding Advertisements) from the NEWSLETTER and/or CWGA website must first receive permission from the CWGA Board and if granted give full credit to CWGA and to the writer/photographer
  
• All AKC correspondence addressed to the CWGA that is of general interest to the membership will be published in the NEWSLETTER and posted on the website
  
• The following Standing Rules apply to the website ONLY
  
• The scope of the Carolina Working Group Association website is both an educational forum concerning the working breeds and a vehicle for the Board of Directors to communicate pertinent issues of interest to the club and the public. The website is not an advertising forum
  
• Unless previously published in the NEWSLETTER all articles must go to a committee of up to 3 CWGA Board members to be reviewed and approved before being posted.
  
• The website shall include the following disclaimer  “The opinions expressed on this website are not necessarily those of the Webmaster or those of the CWGA Officers and Board of Directors ”
  
• Certain CWGA documents will no longer be published in the NEWSLETTER. but will only be published on the CWGA website.  They will also be available as a hard copy by request from the CWGA Board of Directors.  The documents include but are not limited to the following Constitution & Bylaws and Standing Rules.
  

COMMITTEES

• Subject to the approval of the Board, the President may appoint standing committees to advance the work of the club in any area that may well be served by committee.   Such committees shall act in an advisory capacity to the Board and shall always be subject to the final authority of the Board.  Special committees may also be appointed by the Board to aid it on particular projects.
  
• Whenever possible all committee appointments (i.e. Nominating, Judges Selection, etc) will be made at the first meeting of the full Board following the Annual Election.  These appointments will be published in the NEWSLETTER and on the CWGA website so that members will have ample time to submit suggestions to the committee members for their consideration before the committee’s business is finalized.
  
• Any committee appointment may be terminated by a majority vote of the full membership of the Board upon written notice to the appointee and the President with the approval of the Board may appoint successors to those persons whose service has been terminated.
  
• A current list of Committees will be included in each NEWSLETTER and posted on the CWGA website.
  

MISCELLANOUS

• Any falsification of information provided to the Board or Awards committees will result in a fine to be determined by the Board of Directors.
  
• Standing Rules should be updated by the Parliamentarian, all minutes of Board and General meeting should be provided to the Parliamentarian in a timely manner so any new Standing Rules can be added and the updated document should be sent to the Recording Secretary for disbursement to appropriate individuals. 
  
• New members of the Club and also all new Board members should be given an updated copy of the Club Bylaws and Standing Rules. 
  

 

Revised 12/21/10 jbk