What are the ACEF Graduate Institutes? What is the difference between the ACEF Graduate Institutes and the ACEF Judges Institutes?

The Graduate Institutes are the Institutes in which all the individual breeds in an AKC Group are presented. These Institutes are held in conjunction with dog show clusters to make the individual breeds more readily available to the students. Students interested may choose to schedule ringside observations and mentoring.

The ACEF Judges Institutes are the week long Institutes which cover: Anatomy, Movement, Judges Approval Process, Judges Ethics, and Management Guidelines for Judges, Ring Management and Procedures, AKC Rules, Regulations and Guidelines, and more. During the Judges Institutes, dogs are used to demonstrate Wicket measuring or types of movement.

How long does the ACEF Graduate Institute last?

The Graduate Institutes last approximately 4 - 5 days depending on the Group size. The Verbal Breed presentations generally start on a Wednesday or Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. and usually end on a Sunday by 3:00 p.m.

How much time will I have to give my Breed presentation?

You will have 1-½ hours (90 minutes) to give your Verbal Breed presentation. Most presenters give a verbal presentation with audio-visual (ex. Power Point, slides, videos, etc.).

What kind of information do I need to include in my Verbal Breed presentation?

For students to receive the AKC component credit, AKC requires you to include the following to meet their (AKC) criteria: Your 90 minute verbal presentation must provide information essential to judge your breed; history of your breed; form and function of your breed; in-depth consideration of your breed standard; a question and answer period; and 1-2 dogs must be available for illustration.

Do I have to bring any Audio-Visual Equipment?

You do not have to bring Audio-Visual Equipment. We will need to know of your AV needs and we will have an AV person that will run your presentation on our equipment.

In addition to the Verbal Presentation, will the ACEF also be having a hands-on workshop?

The ACEF has, prior to 2006, always had a hands-on workshop following the verbal presentation. We believe this is extremely important, however with the new AKC requirements, time constraints do not allow us to offer a “hands-on workshop” with the Verbal Presentations for an entire GROUP. Following the new AKC presentation and workshop criteria, 26 breeds would require 169 hours of classroom time! (That’s more than 4 – 40 hour workweeks.)

We considered several options for holding both Verbal Presentations and Hands-On workshops. We felt the most economical way to meet the needs of our students, and to ensure that our students are able to attend any and all breeds they need, is to have an entire Group at an ACEF Institute. For these reasons, at this time, we will only be offering the Verbal Presentations for each breed at our Graduate Group Institutes.

Do I need to send you any information on me as a presenter, or on my presentation, or on the information I plan to hand out?

You will be asked to submit a brief biography with a head shot photo to include in our student book. If the presentation of your breed is on a CD, we ask that you send us one copy of the CD so that we can test it on our equipment. Do not send us your original! You may also be asked to send one copy of those items you plan to hand out. This request will be made approximately 4 weeks prior to the date of the Institute. If you send a copy of your presentation CD, you will still need to bring a presentation CD as a backup.

When should I arrive if I am a Breed Presenter?

It is best to arrive 30 – 45 minutes prior to your scheduled presentation time in order to assure that everything is working well for your presentation. Due to the number of breeds in each Group, our scheduling is very tight and we must keep things running on time.

Who chooses the dogs for the front of the classroom for illustration?

As the designated Breed Presenter, you find and choose those specimens you wish to represent your breed at the presentation. Is it a good idea to have from 1-2 specimens available in the front of the classroom. These dogs should have features you wish to point out to the students.

When should the dogs and their handlers arrive at the classroom?

The dogs and their handlers should arrive at the classroom at least 20 minutes prior to your presentation. Please have them available at the beginning of and throughout your presentation in the front of the room while you are talking. This way you can point out something specific on your breed.

Will the students also observe the breeds and dogs at ringside during the shows?

This is entirely up to each individual student. If a student/judge is already approved to judge a breed that is being presented, they may certainly leave the classroom during that breed and observe other breeds and/or be mentored at ringside during the shows. All ACEF Breed Presentations will take place in our assigned classroom.

Should we provide Approved Mentors at ringside?

This is left up to the Breed Club and the Breed Presenter. If at all possible we strongly encourage the Parent Club to have an approved breed mentor or a knowledgeable breed person at ringside during breed judging when their breed is not being presented in the classroom. If you plan on having Mentors at ringside, we suggest that you announce this including the day, time and ring number at some point during your breed presentation. You may also inform us ahead of time and we will post this where students will see the information.

If this Institute lasts 4 - 5 days, exactly when and how long do I have to be present?

The Breed Presenters need only be present shortly prior to and of course during their presentation. This amounts to approximately 2 hours during the 4 - 5 days. You will be given a scheduled time for your presentation and then you are asked to arrive approximately 30-45 minutes prior to your scheduled time.

What if I am showing a dog(s) and also doing the presentation? Will there be a conflict of times? What about the dogs I need for the front of the classroom being available?

We work very closely with the Show Superintendent on scheduling. The Show superintendent receives our final schedule of breed presentation times and does his/her best to make sure there is not a conflict of times. Due to the amount of scheduling involved, please understand that if you are planning to show breeds other than the one you are presenting, obviously we cannot guarantee that a conflict will not arise and we will not be able to reschedule your presentation once our schedule is sent to the Show Superintendent.

Are we required to supply any educational material on our breed to the students?

You and your Parent Club are not “required” to pass out educational material however, do understand that many of our students (potential judges, present breed judges, and Group judges) are going to be applying for “your” breed. What better way to inform them than to pass out your educational information? We understand that many of the Parent Clubs have spent an enormous amount of time, effort, and money in putting together handouts that help explain and stress the points and characteristics of their breed. We know this material is expensive and leave this decision up to the Parent Clubs. If your Parent Club wishes to charge a fee for the handouts this is permissible. If you decide to do this, please make sure to assign someone to take care of this aspect. As an alternative, you may choose to have some handouts available and others for a fee. If you and your Parent Club choose to provide educational materials, please plan on having a minimum of 50 handouts, and assign someone to hand them out as well as take names of those who did not receive a handout.

Should our Parent Club provide Certificates of Attendance?

Your Parent Club does not need to supply Certificates of Attendance, as the ACEF will take care of this at the end of the Institute. A student must attend your entire presentation to receive credit for attending your breed. Students will turn in a signed Attendance form at the end of the Institute attesting to those breeds they did or did not attend in their entirety. If your Parent Club requires names of those students in attendance, feel free to pass around a sign up sheet at some point during your presentation.

Can our Parent Club provide more than one Breed Presenter?

Yes you can have more than one presenter however; due to the logistics and scheduling involved we ask that you have only one MAIN Breed Presenter as our contact. This Main Breed Presenter will be responsible for the Breed Presentation, and handle all the particulars for that Breed Presentation, including coordinating with any assistants for their breed and finding 1-2 dogs with handlers for the front of the classroom to be used for illustration.

As the main Presenter for my Breed at the ACEF Graduate Institute, will any of my expenses such as travel, motel, or copying of materials be reimbursed?

Unfortunately we do not have the funds available to reimburse the many presenters or volunteers connected with the ACEF Institutes. No one connected with the ACEF receives any remuneration for the many hours they put in working on this worthwhile educational event. The rewards however, are many, not only in educating potential judges, including multiple Group judges, about your breed but also the camaraderie with fellow breeders, judges (on both breed and Group level) and aspiring judges.

A benefit that we do extend is an invitation to the MAIN Breed Presenter to attend as our guest, any of the other breed presentations during the Institute. On the day of their breed presentation we also invite the Main Breed Presenter to lunch as our guest. The Main Breed Presenter will receive a special certificate from the ACEF stating their participation in this Institute.

UPDATED: July 30, 2010 by Nina Marie Sherrer

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