Hello:
At the March 9th Zoom meeting, the AIS Board of Directors approved five more chapters in the Handbook for Judges which brings the approved total to 12 chapters and two essays. There are plans for about 16 more chapters and two essays. Some of these are almost finished, some have only an outline.
The process of revision has been to reach out to sections for input on “their” chapter. Some have met in Zoom meetings while others formed committees to revise their chapter or chapters. When finished, they sent the draft of their revised chapter to the Handbook Revision Team. Jody Nolin, Andi Rivarola, Gary White and Claire Schneider are members of the Team with Bonnie Nichols anchoring as chair. The Team’s job is to see that each revised chapter follows AIS guidelines and has a consistency with other chapters in the Handbook. After the Team is satisfied with the chapter, it goes to one of the AIS Board of Directors special Handbook Meetings for review and approval.
There have been requests to release and implement individual approved chapters. Although tempting, consider the confusion and consternation when some judges are using chapters from the old Handbook (2007) while others use revised chapters. The Team has agreed that judges should continue to work with the old Handbook (2007) until the entire revision has been completed, and an organizational-wide effort to inform everyone about the changes has been made. Optimistically, the revision will be completed by the beginning of summer. The Handbook Team and the AIS Board of Directors have been working overtime, holding extra meetings to review and approve chapters. Progress has been made. Yet, there remains a lot of work to do.
On a positive note, there are several really fantastic aspects regarding this revised Handbook. It will be a living document, easy to access and easy to revise. The plan is to have the Handbook available in print and electronic versions, in black and white and in color to peruse via your digital devises. Consider how instructional and entertaining color photographs, videos and diagrams will be. Future revisions will be easier to produce. The plan is that a revised chapter can be presented at any time to the AIS Board of Directors for approval and not have to wait for the next entire Handbook revision.
One other positive note, for as long and protracted as this current revision journey has been, it has been gratifying to see the positive and cooperative efforts of all involved. A sincere thank you to all for your patience.
The Handbook Revision Team
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