A revision of the Constitution and Bylaws has been made at the request of the NKCUSA Board of Directors to improve various processes, address inconsistencies, and correct mistakes in the document.  A summary of the major changes to the document are listed below.

1. Membership

   1. Redefinition of Associate Membership.  New members will no longer require to be Associate Members for the first 6 months of their membership. (Article II, Section 1(a))

   2. Conversion of the first year’s dues to a non-refundable application fee that will cover the current year’s dues.   To simplify the process of accepting new members this fee will not be prorated.  (Article II, Section 3(a))

   3. Clarify and simplify the process of election to membership. (Article II, Section 3)

   4. Specify an exception for the Junior Membership to automatically convert to Regular Membership.  Junior Membership shall automatically convert to Regular Membership upon the Junior’s 18th birthday to encourage continued membership. (Article II, Section 1(e), and Section 3(b))

   5. Require the inclusion of birthdate on the membership application for Junior Members so the club can determine when they are eligible to convert to Regular Members. (Article II, Section 3(a))

2. Elections

   1. Modified to clarify election dates and remove existing conflicts between postmarked date and announcement of the election results. (Article VI, Section 4 (f))

   2. Added language to explicitly allow for electronic balloting. (Article VI, Section 2)

   3. Limit of one member from the same Household to serve on the Board at a time.

      1. Change family to Household as Household Membership is well defined within the document and family is not a clearly defined term.  (Article IV, Section 4(a))

      2. Added language to limit members from the same Household serving on the Board at the same time. (Article V)

3. Treasurer’s responsibility has been expanded to include the preparation of a yearly budget. (Article V, Section 2(d))

4. Modified amendment language to add breed standard to bring in line with AKC requirements. (Article IX)

5. Various corrections and clarifications.

 

Respectfully,

 

Vincent Burzi

Chair, Policy & Procedure Committee

policy@kooikerhondjeusa.org