KCPA Judging Scheme
KCPA Judges Scheme Oct 2015 v4
First Draft- July 2014 with revisions November 2014
And February 2015
The KCPA Judging Scheme
The scheme covers all aspects relating to the function and promotion of judges within the KCPA.
- Administration.
1.1. The KCPA Judges Panel is constituted to oversee the operation of the judging scheme.
- Panel members are approved by the KCPA Committee and may normally only be changed at an AGM.
- The KCPA Committee must ratify all decisions made by the panel.
- A KCPA Officer will normally chair the panel, but if inappropriate, the panel may elect a chair from within their number.
- The chair has the casting vote.
- The chair is responsible for organising the business of the panel.
- The current panel membership is:
- T.J.Hughes. LRPS CAPAGB BPE2* (Acting chair from Oct 2020)
- J Puncher (Secretary).
- C.Tanner. FRPS. MPAGB
- R.Force. FRPS. DPAGB.APAGB.
- C.Shore. FRPS. MPAGB. EFIAP BP4*
- Helen Taylor ARPS DPAGB BPE3*
- Paul Parkinson ARPS CPAGB BPE3
- KCPA Provisional Judge
- A letter stating the willingness of the candidate to become a provisional judge, together with a recommendation from their associate committee, should be sent to the KCPA Secretary.
- This recommendation should include details of the candidate’s photographic competence and general personality as well as indicating the prospective provisional judge is a regular entrant in club and federation competitions and length of membership. This letter of support and recommendation should be signed by the club Chairman and Secretary. It should be stated in the letter which combination of prints, projected images, or AVs, the candidate wishes to judge and evenings when the candidate is unavailable. The Delegates meeting agreed that informal interviews could be beneficial.
- After approval by the KCPA Committee, the candidate will be advised by the Secretary and will be placed on the Provisional Judges list. The new provisional judge will then be free to accept bookings from associates.
- Provisional Judges are not listed in the KCPA section of the PAGB Handbook.
- KCPA Accredited Judge
- After three years of active judging, each provisional judge is required to apply for accreditation. Should such an accreditation be unsuccessful, further training, or mentoring will be offered and a ‘resit’ will take place after a further two years. Provisional judges will not be kept on the KCPA list indefinitely.
- Applications must be in writing to the KCPA Secretary and must include a list of all bookings for the next twelve months.
- The accreditation process is in two parts, the first relates to judging performance at routine associate bookings, where the panel members will evaluate performance.
- The second part consists of an informal interview with the panel. At this interview the candidate will be asked to show a selection of their work and be asked to comment on selected photographic examples presented to them by the panel. This will be followed by a brief discussion about the candidate’s photographic interests, which may include books read, exhibitions attended, etc.
- The panel will advise the KCPA Secretary of their decision with a recommendation, or not, as appropriate.
- The KCPA Secretary will notify the applicant after formal ratification by the KCPA Committee.
- If Accreditation is not recommended, advice will be given with a view to reconsideration at a later date.
- The Panel reserves the right to circumvent the normal selection procedure in exceptional circumstances.
- KCPA Premier Judge.
- The title of KCPA Premier Judge is awarded in recognition of outstanding judging ability, and only Accredited Judges may apply.
- Applicants must have been accredited for a minimum of two years, or have a similar level of judging experience.
- Applications must be in writing to the KCPA Secretary and must include a list of all bookings for the next twelve months for assessments to be carried out by panel members.
- The written recommendation of the panel will be sent to the KCPA Secretary, who will present this to the KCPA Committee for ratification.
- The KCPA Secretary will notify the applicant of the result.
- It is impossible to produce a list defining the precise requirements for a KCPA Premier Judge, notwithstanding this, the following criteria form the basis for the assessment.
The applicant should demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of techniques, styles and processes likely to be encountered in advanced section club activities. This is essential, to give a balanced technical overview and to allow advice to be offered for improvement.
The applicant will be expected to be familiar with examples of historical and contemporary photographic work, the latter being achieved by regular entering/viewing of work at federation, or national level. They should also demonstrate confidence when faced with images showing advanced standard, wide variety, high entry number, and the pressure of “Off the Cuff” judging.
The applicant will be expected to demonstrate both confidence and competence in controlling the evening, and be capable of providing a concise fluent and well-constructed commentary.
- KCPA Senior Judge
- Occasionally, a Premier Judge may wish to step back from the rigorous demands placed upon that position, but not give up judging altogether. In these circumstances a judge may wish to be placed on the Senior Judges list.
- Judges in this category would still like to be invited to judge in situations where their experience may be put to good use.
- This category is only open to KCPA Premier Judges.
PAGB Judge.
- Recognition as a PAGB Judge is the prerogative of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain and is not a part of the KCPA judges Scheme.
- The panel may, at their discretion, recommend possible candidates to the KCPA Committee for consideration, endorsement and recommendation.
- Please note that this section has been modified by PAGB Executive and agreed at their meeting of 1st February 2015
- Performance Monitoring.
- The scheme operates bilaterally, judges monitoring associates and associates monitoring judges.
- A judge may report any KCPA associate who, in their view, has treated them particularly poorly in connection with a booking, or behaved particularly poorly or well on the evening of the judging. A pro-forma is provided for this purpose.
- An associate may report any judge who, in their opinion, has performed particularly poorly or well on the evening. A pro-forma is provided for this purpose. It should be noted that KCPA Committee does not have the mechanism yet to review reports from every meeting but wishes to learn of notable successes or problems.
- All pro-formas should be initiated by the associates committee and signed by an authorized Club Officer signed and sent to the KCPA Secretary.
- On receipt of the pro-forma, the KCPA Secretary will acknowledge it, and also advise the chair of the Judges Panel.
- The complaint will then be placed on the agenda of the next Judges Panel meeting.
- The panel may note the complaint but take no action, or decide matters should be taken further. In either case, the panel will inform the KCPA Secretary accordingly.
- After discussion by the KCPA committee, the secretary will advise all parties concerning the final course of action.
- Should the decision be to take matters further, the chair of the Judges Panel, and at least one member of the KCPA Committee, will contact those involved with a view to resolving the matter.
- If the dispute is with an associate, the KCPA guidelines for associate behavior towards visiting judges will form the basis for the discussion.
- If the dispute is with a judge then options such as mentoring or further training will be considered as possible options.
- In all cases it is hoped that all disputes can be resolved both speedily and amicably to the benefit of all involved.
Every judge will be given a copy of this revised KCPA Judging Scheme, each will be asked to sign up to the scheme .
Originated by R Force 14 July 2014
Amended by Delegates Meeting November 2014 and KCPA Committee February 2014