SCOA Committees

Awards Committee Email: [email protected]

Heather Jenner, Chair
Barb Spence, Ted Wentink, Sam Emmons
Board Liaison:

Mission: to recognize Spinone and club members for their outstanding performance in the advancement of the breed through the presentation of the listed awards. The committee will also suggest additional awards that might further this process.

Scope of Duties: The committee will administer the present awards and make recommendations to the board/officers of SCOA regarding the person(s) or dog(s) which will receive the listed awards at the annual meeting. The recommendations for the awards should be presented to the board no later than 30 days prior to the annual meeting. The time period covering all awards will be the previous calendar year. The committee should periodically evaluate the awards/recognition program and suggest the creation of new awards/recognition programs to stimulate participation in the club and further advance the breed. No club awards may be advertised in the Premium or Judging Program or any AKC Program booklet. All trophies are the property of SCOA and the committee will insure that the trophy's are returned prior to the awards ceremony at the annual national meeting. The committee will design and transmit to the membership an “Awards Nomination Form” that members may utilize to nominate persons/dogs for the respective awards under consideration. All awards are made to SCOA members only.

Award Definitions and Nomination Form (pdf file) Updated February 2023

SCOA Annual Awards and Recognition Descriptions Updated February 2023

Breeder Liaison Committee

Chair: Tammara Morgan

Members: Patti Johnson, Debby Forry, Erica Cross

Board Liaison:

Area of Responsibility: Research and develop ways SCOA can best serve the breed, preservation breeders and the public.

Scope of Responsibility: Initial responsibility is to address the SCOA Breeder Listing with the best way to represent SCOA, breeders and potential owners. Long term work can involve mentorship, education for breeders and potential owners, all to support preservation of our breed.

Calendar Committee (Now part of Digital Media) Email: [email protected]

Chair: Tony Arduino
Members: Erika Callahan
Board Liaison: Alan Bush

Mission: To produce the annual Spinone Club of America calendar using photos taken and submitted to the photo contest area of the website by members and voted on.

Area of Responsibility: Create the rules for a contest where members submit non-professional photos for 4 different categories. Work with each National Specialty Committee regarding contest needs. Allow attendees to vote for each category and the category winning the cover. Announce the winners. Create the annual calendar. Advertise the calendar for sale. Accept and arrange shipment of orders.

Scope of Duties:
Several months prior to the National Specialty begin soliciting the membership for photos for each category. (Such as Puppies, Field/Water, Just Being A Spinone, etc.) Use all means available. Communicate Photo Contest needs to the NS Committee so space is provided for the contest and a schedule allows for voting. Create photo boards for display at the NS. Conduct voting for the Category winners. Conduct voting for tyhe Cover winner. Announce winners at the annual banqueet and in the SCOA Newsletter. Accept or retain possession of all photo contest entries and photo boards. Create the annual SCOA Calendar.
Feature each winning photo on a page and the overall winner on the cover. Select other photos from the contest for all pages and back cover of the calendar. Accept calendar orders and payments. Ship orders beginning in November annually. (May work with Ways and Means Committee) Provide a free calendar to each category winner. Honor ties. Process photo contest, callendar bills and income through the SCOA Treasurer. Work with the liaison and Board regarding budget approval. Retain a copy or copies of the calendar for archive purposes.

Digital Media Committee

Chair: Tarn Rosenbaum Email: [email protected]

Members: Tony Arduino, Bobbi Benson, Tina Cordes, Kevin Hunt, Frank Leatherbury, Stacy Roberson, Dan Spence, Vienna Zuccaro

Board Liaison:

Responsible for the formation of recommendations for developing, maintaining, and implementing SCOA’s digital media and resources, and for the implementation needed for a viable and professional website that serves the needs of the Club as well as the general public.

SCOA’s digital resources and media will need frequent modernization to keep them consistent with newest technologies and best practices for Club news and communications, membership applications/renewals, database maintenance, merchandising, event management, and more. These responsibilities encompass numerous areas, including but not limited to website modernization, mobile app development, social media management, and streamlining of Club communications.

Health Committee Email: [email protected]

Sue Acquistapace, Chair
Mary Campbell, Karen Beyer, Wendy Rollins-Evans, Karen Moodie, Carrie Young, Nikki Davis, Julie Whaley, Kay McLeland
Board Liaison: Ann Bagnell

Area of Responsibility: All topics having to do with the health of the Spinone, e.g., CHIC, health surveys and databases, genetic issues and studies.

Scope of duties would include: Keep up to date on health issues affecting the Spinone and regularly share knowledge with the membership. Conduct health surveys and maintain database with results, reporting to the membership annually (or more often if there is something that the membership needs to know) Actively Educate members on health issues. Suggest and facilitate ways of mentoring and improving overall breed health. Make recommendations about health testing and participation in genetic studies, to include consultation with geneticist as appropriate.

Hunt Test Committee Email: [email protected]

Alyssa Pease, Chair
Lauren Friedman, Karen Luckey, Becky Koch, Denise Hanna-Nosko
Board Liaison:

Area of Responsibility: To facilitate and promote the testing of Spinone in AKC and NAVHDA hunting tests/field trials.

Scope of Duties: To facilitate, organize and operate AKC/NAVHDA Hunting Tests/ Field trials (When that day comes) at all National meetings and at other locations, times and dates as approved by the board throughout the year. To educate and assist club members in hunting related areas. To promote the testing of Spinone and facilitate hunting tests/field trials in all area and regional clubs. The committee will develop and encourage club members to participate in their respective events. Programs should include educational article, programs at club events, including regional and area clubs and mentoring programs.

Judges Education Committee Email: [email protected]

Suzanne Hudson, Chair; Liz Bodell, Co-Chair
Karen Luckey, Patti Johnson, Kim Vanderbilt, Bobbi Benson and John Brading
Board Liaison: Kim Vanderbilt

Area of responsibility: The continuing education of AKC conformation judges about the Spinone.

Scope of duties: To develop and maintain a standard breed seminar presentation that will be used by all seminar presenters. To develop and maintain educational material, including written handouts, an illustrated standard, a "guide for judges" reference card, and a web site judges education section which includes the above items as well as other relevant items. To develop qualification criteria for breed seminar presenters and ringside mentors and recommend to the SCOA board persons to be authorized as seminar presenters and/or mentors.
To receive requests for breed seminars and recommend approval/disapproval. To maintain a list of all attendees of SCOA-approved seminars.’ Final approval of the Breed Standard presentation, educational materials, presenters and ringside mentors is the responsibility of the SCOA Board of Directors.'

Judges Selection Committee Email: [email protected]

Sue Acquistapace, Chair
Wendy Evans and Denise Hanna-Nosko
Board Liaison:

Area of responsibility: To identify AKC and foreign judges who are qualified to judge the breed at the National and Parent Specialty level. All judges must be approved by AKC or approved to judge the Italian Spinone by a foreign registry which is recognized by AKC to judge the Italian Spinone.

Scope of duties: The following is a partial description of the duties of the committee. Please see the Standing Rules for further details.
Obtain and maintain past surveys of judges and accept or modify future surveys to be used by this committee to conduct their research.

Obtain and maintain a list of all judges who have attended SCOA JEC educational seminars and other Spinone-related educational seminars to include whenever possible, the date(s) of attendance and the name of the seminar presenter.
Regularly update judging history.
Obtain updated biographies of those judges who will be placed on a ballot for membership vote.
Maintain a list of past and current National and Parent Specialty judges and the years in which they judged.
Continually search for and identify additional judges who become qualified or available for future judging assignments.
Judges should be selected 1 to 3 years in advance of the National & Parent Specialty dates.
Maintain a list of judges and their qualifications.

Junior Showmanship Committee Email: [email protected]
Leslie Miller, Chair Patty Miller Board Liaison: Area of Responsibility: Promote and encourage involvement in the AKC Junior Handling program. Scope of Duties: Develop ways to help juniors and recognize achievement of those juniors showing Spinoni.

National Specialty Advisory Committee

Chair: Sue Acquistapace
Email: [email protected]
Board Liaison: Ann Bagnell

Area of Responsibility: To provide support to the SCOA Board and club members who are developing proposals for future National Specialty weeks. Also, to help each current year's National Specialty committee with coordinating, planning, and executing a National Specialty event week. As a resource group, the committee will be available to help vet locations, review contracts, assist with timelines and checklists, prepare schedules, and answer questions regarding AKC requirements, among other things. The committee will work to document plans specific to SCOA in a National Specialty guidelines manual.

Newsletter Committee Email: SCOANewsletter@gmail.com
Tony Arduino, Editor Bobbi Benson, Consultant Liaison: Alan Bush Newsletter Deadlines: Pending changes to a Blog style newsletter Publication Months: Pending changes.
REGIONAL REPORTERS:
Midwest Region	MN, WI, IA, IL, MO, MI, IN, OH, KY	Reporter: KathyHamaker [email protected]
Northeast Region	ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, CT, NJ, DE, MD, PA, NY	Reporter: Reporter Needed
Northwest Region	WA, OR, NV, CA, AK, HI	Reporter: Sue McGregor [email protected]
Rocky Mountain Region	MT, ID, WY, UT, CO, ND, SD, NE, KS	Reporter: Reporter Needed
South Region	TN, WV, VA, NC, SC, MS, AL, GA, FL	Reporter: Reporter Needed
Southwest Region	AZ, NM, OK, TX, AR, LA	Reporter: Reporter needed

Nominating Committee Email: [email protected]

Appointed by the board in November annually.

The Committee for 2023 Election

Becky Tevis (Oregon)
Tom Nortley (Michigan)
Donna Lacroix (Massachusetts)

The Alternates (These members will participate in all discussions, but not vote on the selection unless another committee member is unable to complete their assignment.)

Bonnie Blink (Texas)
Delita Rosenbaum (North Carolina)

Article III, Section 1. In order to maintain continuity on the Board of Directors, the President, Treasurer, and one Director shall be elected in odd numbered years; the Vice President, Secretary and two Directors shall be elected in even numbered years. No Officer or Member of the Board of Directors may serve for more than three (3) consecutive elected terms. . . . .

Article IV, Section 4: Nominations and Ballots. No person may be a candidate in a club election who has not been a member in good standing for four continuous years and has not been nominated in accordance with these bylaws. A Nominating Committee shall be chosen by the Board of Directors in November. The Committee shall consist of three members from different areas of the USA and two alternates, all members in good standing, no more than one of whom may be a member of the current Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee may conduct its business by mail.

(a) the Nominating Committee shall nominate from among the eligible members of the Club, one candidate for each office and for each position on the Board of Directors and shall procure the acceptance of each nominee so chosen. The Committee should consider geographical representation of the membership on the Board to the extent that it is practicable to do so.

The Committee shall then submit its slate of candidates to the Secretary who shall mail the list, including the full name of each candidate and the name of the State in which he resides to each member of the Club on or before January 1 prior to the election so that additional nominations may be made by the membership if they so desire.

Regionalization Committee

Chair: Pending Appontment

West Coast Spinone Club * Sue McGregor

Rocky Mountain Region Spinone Club * Debby Forry

Blue Water Spinone Assoc. * Valerie Lewis

Northeast Spinone Club * Trisha McNamara-Vannoni

Board Liaison:

Area of Responsibility: To facilitate and promote the formation of regional clubs for the Spinone Club of America.

Scope of Duties: To facilitate and assist in the organization and establishment of SCOA regional clubs in the United States. The committee will develop a program to assist groups of SCOA members in the formation of dog clubs.

Registry of Merit
Chair: Reyna Hull-Walton Email: [email protected] Board Liaison: NOTE: See the individual application forms for requirements, fees, and mailing address options. Forms may be downloaded, completed and emailed along with all all documentation from AKC and NAVHDA to the address above. See the list of qualified dogs submitted to date. A Registry of Merit is an award given to a sire or dam who has demonstrated their ability to produce offspring that reflect the breed’s character and purpose, as evidenced by the titles achieved by the offspring.
ROM Conformation Dam form	ROM Conformation Sire form
ROM Field Dam form	ROM Field Sire form
ROM Performance Dam form	ROM Performance Sire form
ROM Versatility Dam form	ROM Versatility Sire form

Supported Entry/Specialty Committee Email: [email protected]
Reina Sachs Board Liaison: Alan Bush
Supported Entry Forms (download form, open with Acrobat Reader and fill it out on your computer. You can save the form to finish completing later; email completed form to the committee - use the same form to report results.)

Volunteerism Committee Email: [email protected]

Laura Penfold, Chair

Board Liaison: Ann Bagnell

Area of responsibility: To promote, coordinate, report on and reward the spirit of volunteerism throughout the membership and functions of the Spinone Club of America

Scope of Duties:
1) Survey and annually report to the board and membership on volunteerism throughout SCOA.
2) Provide a coordinating body for identifying new volunteers and volunteerism needs for SCOA.
3) Promote and assist in further developing current SCOA volunteers.
4) Act as a resource to any group within SCOA which requires newly volunteered skills with which to fulfill its mission.
5) Annually offer suggestions to the Awards Committee for a 'Volunteer of the Year' award.

Ways and Means Committee Email: [email protected]

Chair: Rebecca Van Ess
Karen Beyer, Harbara Horrell, Jill Krebs, Angie Nortley
Board Liaison: Mike McLeland

Area of Responsibility: To develop programs and merchandise to facilitate funding of SCOA events and the club in general.

Scope of Duties: To develop fund raising programs. To secure and recommend to the SCOA board the use of the SCOA club logo on merchandise and items of interest.

AKC Legislative Liaison

Chris Sweetwood
Email: [email protected]

AKC Gazette Coordinator / Contributor

Chair: Kim Vanderbilt - AKC Gazette Coordinator

Mission: To prepare and contribute articles featuring the Spinone and to seek and work with Guest Columnists.

Scope of Duties: The Coordinator contributes articles and works with Guest Columnists. Members are invited to offer to contribute an article.

Here are a few things to consider. Who reads the AKC Gazette? What is special about our breed? What knowledge do you have to share?

AKC Gazette Breed Column Guidlines

AKC Guest Columnist Information Sheet

AKC Guest Columnist Information Form