Hall of Fame Guidelines

PURPOSE
The Hall of Fame Committee shall receive nominations and recommend candidates to the WGSDCII™ Hall of Fame; such recommendation to be presented to the membership-at-large at the annual Club meeting held in June of each year. The membership shall accept or reject the Committee’s recommendations by a motion at the meeting, after which the proposed candidate(s) will be presented to the Board of Directors. The Board must approve any and all inductees into the Hall of Fame by a majority vote, however, need not approve all dogs recommended by the Hall of Fame Committee.

COMMITTEE
The Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee shall be either the WGSDCII™ First or Second Vice President, as provided by ARTICLE IV, Section 2 of the Bylaws, and shall be appointed by the Club President, with approval of a majority vote of the Board of Directors.^* The Chairman shall have no vote on the Committee, except in the event of a tie vote. The Committee shall consist of four (4) additional non-Board members selected by the Chairman, whose names shall be submitted to the Club President for approval. All Hall of Fame Committee members must be members in good standing of the WGSDCII.™

The term of office for the members of the Committee shall be one (1) year, commencing at the National meeting and ending at the following year’s meeting. After one year, the President may appoint a new Chairman. The Chairman has the option of retaining any existing Committee member or members; however, at least one new Committee member must be appointed each year.

PROCEDURES
Any member in good standing of the WGSDCII™ may nominate a German Shepherd Dog for consideration as a candidate for the Hall of Fame by sending the name of the dog and a list of its accomplishments with the approved Hall of Fame Nomination Form to the Chairman of the Committee, whose name and address shall be listed in the DIN. This information should come from the person making the nomination. Prospective candidates should be purebred German Shepherd Dogs. The deadline for receipt of nominations shall be March 15^th of each year. No nomination will be considered if received after that closing date, regardless of postmark, but will be held for consideration for the following year. There is no limit to the number of times a dog may be nominated for the Hall of Fame. The Committee may recommend more than one dog for induction into the Hall of Fame. Since it is almost impossible to establish criteria for selection of a candidate, the Committee will evaluate each nomination on a case-by-case basis. The Hall of Fame award is a prestigious award; therefore, it should be granted for outstanding achievements. Ordinary titles such as those in obedience, herding, tracking, etc, although impressive, are generally not considered outstanding and these titles are already honored in other ways by this Club. Any dog winning the Award of Valor for Lifesaving will automatically be considered for the Hall of Fame and no formal nomination shall be required.

Once the nominations have been received, the Chairman shall send any material submitted on each nominee to all Committee members, together with a ballot listing each nominee and providing a space for "Approval" or "Disapproval" on each candidate. The ballots and information must be provided to each of the Committee members no later than March 30^th.

The Committee members shall have until April 30^th to review all materials submitted on each nominee, to confer (if necessary) and to return their ballots to the Chairman. Ballots must be returned and received by the Chairman no later than April 30^th. The Committee is not obligated to propose any nominees if the Committee members feel there are no qualified candidates. Once all ballots have been received, the Chairman shall tabulate the results and submit them together with the original ballots to the WGSDCII™ Recording Secretary for verification. A unanimous vote of the Committee members shall be required for any nominated dog to be recommended by the Committee for induction into the Hall of Fame.^** After the results are verified by the Recording Secretary, a report/tally shall be prepared by the Committee Chairman and sent to all Committee members.

The Chairman shall make all efforts to ensure that all members of the Committee return ballots. If a Committee member does not return a ballot, a second ballot will be mailed by certified mail to that member. If that ballot is not returned to and received by the Chairman within fourteen (14) days after mailing, the Chairman shall deem that individual no longer a member of the Committee, shall tally the ballots then received, and so notify the other Committee members.

The Committee shall conclude all its business, including nominations and balloting, no later than May 15^th of each year. Any dog(s) recommended by the Hall of Fame Committee shall be published for the membership’s review in the DIN preceding the National. The candidate(s) shall then be presented to the membership at the annual Club meeting for approval/disapproval into the Hall of Fame by a majority vote. The membership need not approve all or any dogs recommended by the Hall of Fame Committee. If any candidate(s) is/are accepted by the membership, a quick meeting of the Board shall be held immediately following the annual Club meeting to approve inductee(s). Any inductee(s), including honorary titles, shall be awarded at that current National Weekend Awards Banquet.

The Hall of Fame Committee may, by a unanimous vote of the Committee members, present honorary titles such as the Award of Valor and Honorable Mention^*** to any nominee. Any dog which is awarded an Award of Valor shall be awarded a Certificate. Any dog awarded an Honorable Mention may either be given a Certificate of Recognition or may merely be listed in the DIN as the recipient of Honorable Mention. This determination shall be made by a majority vote of the Committee.

NOTE: Since approved inductees will be honored at the current year National Awards Banquet, plaques and certificates shall be supplied for the presentation and will be filled out and name plates added accordingly.

* In the event there is no First or Second Vice President currently serving, the Chairman may be any other member of the Board of Directors.
** A voting Committee member may chose not to approve or disapprove a particular nominee. If all other Committee members have approved such nominee, this "non-vote" shall not count against a unanimous vote and the nominee shall stand approved by the Committee. Only one "non-vote" shall be allowed per nominee; more than one "non-vote" shall be deemed a disapproval.
*** Honorable Mention may (but not must) be those dogs that have received all but one approval vote from the Committee.