Becoming a USDAA Judge

To be a judge, USDAA regulations specify a person must have “satisfactory attendance, participation and completion of an approved USDAA judging clinic & examination, demonstrating sufficient knowledge, self-confidence, creativity and understanding of course design principles, physical mobility and effectiveness while judging.”

Judges Training
In fulfilling these standards, USDAA has developed curriculum for a three-day judging clinic followed by one day of examination, which are offered periodically at places to be announced. The clinic offers two and one-half days of lecture and discussion of rules and regulations and an interactive course design workshop to teach and reinforce USDAA principles. The final half-day is devoted to practical aspects of judging, including course building and judging of dogs in an actual match situation. Completion of the clinic shall meet the prerequisite for examination.

Testing
To meet the testing requirements of the regulations, USDAA has developed a five-part test – a three-part written test, a practical examination on course building and a judging examination in a match setting. Each of the parts must be passed according to the following standards and level of qualification:

Judging Experience Requirement *This experience requirement may be waived provided strong evidence has been submitted and approved demonstrating the requisite experience qualifications have been met (e.g., experience judging with other organizations, while having extensive experience in USDAA event administration and competition, and having achieved 90% or better on the practical examination and written test.) The Board of Directors shall consider the submitted information, along with recommendations of the clinic instructors in arriving at a final determination.

Apprenticeship
Regulations require a person must “have sufficient experience to competently perform the judge’s responsibility” as set forth in the regulations. A major component of the regulations is the interpretation and application of the rules to circumstances that may occur in performance, the skills for which cannot be satisfactorily evaluated in a clinical setting. As such, all persons completing the examination successfully may be placed on the Approved Judges List and shall concurrently therewith be placed in an apprentice program to assure that a person can demonstrate over time that they have the requisite skills in applying their knowledge to practical situations in a variety of classes as defined in the regulations.

The apprentice program sets forth the following general standards in working with one or more Supervisory Judges. The program provides the opportunity for new judges to officiate under the supervision of an established, qualified, judge. Further, the policies and procedures defined within this program are intended to be adaptable to individual needs and provide the educational support of the apprentice judge when and to the extent needed. See “Policy Statement on Supervising Judges” for more details.

Continuing Education
In order that the judging corp remains current in their understanding of the regulations and abreast of developing trends and issues, the USDAA Board of Directors has established a continuing education requirement for judges. A judge must return to a clinic periodically as follows:

The continuing education clinical requirement may be fulfilled through one of three means:

First two days of the four-day clinic and examination,
Two-day continuing education clinic, or
Completion of requirements for a continuing education examination; the USDAA Board of Directors on occasion may establish that a continuing education examination be issued when rule changes have been substantive, or trends have been discovered that might indicate that certain rules are being misapplied. An incident of this nature would be either rule changes adopted by the Board.

In any case, all ‘means’ may not be readily available at all times or in all locations, and it is up to the individual judge to stay in compliance. Therefore, judges are encouraged to attend a clinic anytime one may be in their area, regardless of whether they are current. Judges are advised that clinics are not systematically scheduled and one may not be available when it is needed to stay in compliance.

The period (five-year or three-year) shall be measured from the month following the last date that a clinic was attended.

Failure to comply with the standards may result in one of the following sanctions:

Placement of a judge back under supervision until requirements have been met
Temporary suspension until requirements have been met
Removal from the Approved Judges List, with testing required for readmission to the Approved Judges List

USDAA Policy on Qualification & Advancement of Judges (abridged)
http://usdaa.com/binary/files/policyqualifyingJudges.pdf