CubsRgr8 10 Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 On another thread I asked a question that got lost in the discussion, so I've reformatted it and hereby post it separately. What does it mean that national issues an annual charter to each council? Does it mean national evaluated the council performance and found it to be satisfactory? Does it mean the books (money and membership) were audited? Does it mean the camping/training/recruiting/roundtable programs were reviewed and "personal improvement plans" were established for the coming year? Or doesn't it? Link to post Share on other sites
Bob White 20 Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 Each Council is an independent non-profit corporation that contracts annually with the national office of the Boy Scouts of America to administrate the scouting program in a geographic area determined by the BSA's regional service office (there are 4 regions in the country). That contract called a charter is a statement of shared resonsibilities between the two parties. There are specific responsibilities that national has, developing program and program resources, training professionals etc. and responsibilities the council has, servicing youth, adhereing to BSA programs, policies and procedures, owning and operating local camps, training volunteers, operating local service centers etc. just to name a few. Local community organizations then sign charters (contracts) with the council to deliver the BSA program directly to youth, to select and approve leaders, and follow BSA programs, policies and procedures, and supply a year-round meeting place. This is a thumbnail sketch but should give you an idea of what a charter is. Link to post Share on other sites
eisely 13 Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Another way to think about a charter is that it is a license from the grantor of the charter to the council or chartered organization to operate the program and call the program a boy scout program. All licenses are contracts that impose requirements on both the licensor and the licensee. In scouting the license is subject to annual renewal. I don't know, but I presume that national does have some expectations and ways of measuring councils in deciding whether or not to re charter a council. Presumably it is largely a pro forma exercise most of the time, unless a council has really screwed something up. Does anybody know of a council that has lost is charter? Link to post Share on other sites
RMV 10 Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Here are a few thoughts on some of your specific questions. Does it mean national evaluated the council performance and found it to be satisfactory? No. But it does mean that the council wasn't found to be breaking some major rules in purposful ways. If a council board was to vote for letting youth ride in the back of pick ups, as an example, then the charter could be pulled. I guess this would be the way that National could hammer a Council to follow the rules. I have not heard of this ever happening, but it could. Does it mean the books (money and membership) were audited? Every Council does have its books audited by an outside accounting firm each year. A copy of that audit is sent to National. Membership is only audited when National believes there is a problem or when you get a new SE. When you get a new Scout Executive, the council gets what is called a "regional review" done by a member of the regional staff. This is a tool to assist the new SE in getting their hands around all the issues facing the council. Does it mean the camping/training/recruiting/roundtable programs were reviewed and "personal improvement plans" were established for the coming year? The charter applications is a multipage docucment asking many questions about program and the plans for the next year. I have helped fill out a part of one and the questions are numerous and complex. Or doesn't it? It asks questions of plans, but is not a guarantee that those plans will be carried out. Think of it as a very long quality unit application. RMV Link to post Share on other sites
CubsRgr8 10 Posted February 25, 2003 Author Share Posted February 25, 2003 RMV, Thanks for the detailed response, especially the reference to the quality unit award. This helps me to better understand why there can be such a wide range between councils in the quality of their training, camping, and other programs. Link to post Share on other sites
RMV 10 Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I think that quality of programs has a lot to do with tradition as well. If a council is used to having extremely good training or outdoor program, it is easier to recruit good people to help with those areas. When you look at how many volunteers it really takes to run quality programs at all levels, many councils have given up and have recruited people to do two, three and sometimes even four different volunteer positions. There are some vol's that pull this off, but most get burned out and really can't make any of the positions they have agreed to help with rise to the level of being the best of the best. New people see how hard the district and council volunteers are working and don't want to be a part of the group. People flock to being a part of something that is really good. Some people can handle some of the complicated positions in Scouting, others can't. If the ones that can't are put into those roles because they were easy to recruit, then a pretty negative tradition is started. RMV Link to post Share on other sites
RMV 10 Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I think that quality of programs has a lot to do with tradition as well. If a council is used to having extremely good training or outdoor program, it is easier to recruit good people to help with those areas. When you look at how many volunteers it really takes to run quality programs at all levels, many councils have given up and have recruited people to do two, three and sometimes even four different volunteer positions. There are some vol's that pull this off, but most get burned out and really can't make any of the positions they have agreed to help with rise to the level of being the best of the best. New people see how hard the district and council volunteers are working and don't want to be a part of the group. People flock to being a part of something that is really good. Some people can handle some of the complicated positions in Scouting, others can't. If the ones that can't are put into those roles because they were easy to recruit, then a pretty negative tradition is started. RMV Link to post Share on other sites
dsteele 20 Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Don't you hate it when professionals repeat themselves? Just Kidding, RMV, I couldn't resist. DS Link to post Share on other sites
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