Timing of Boy Scout Rank Advancement

[hottik]

In our Troop, official rank status & badges are awarded only at the Courts of Honor. So, if a scout meets all of the requirements of a particular rank a couple weeks after a Court of Honor, then he has to wait 3-4 months to be considered as promoted to the next rank. Consequently, the scouts cannot start the clock for ranks that require "being active for _ months as (the previous rank)" until the next Court, even though they have passed all the requirements. I know it is frustrating for the boys, but it also seems inconsistent with "immediate recognition" of advancement. I don't have a copy of the "Advancement Policies & Procedures" manual, but does anyone have any info about official BSA policy on this? Thanks!

[FScouter]

A boy has earned his rank at the moment he has completed all the rank requirements including a board of review. The BOR date is recorded on the advancement form which is turned into the council. The badge should be presented ASAP, such as the next troop meeting.

 

The court of honor is a formal recognition of what has already taken place. It is not a rank requirement. This is covered in the Scoutmaster Handbook in addition to the Advancement book.

[AwHeck]

Even if the badge has not been presented, the date of advancement is still the date of the BOR.

[anarchist]

Hottik,

Rank is earned the date of the BoR...what is served making a scout wait??? (If your SM missed pay day...would he happily sit on his/her hands 'til the next one?? Not!...good grief! Even the Eagle awards date is not when it comes back from "the great beyond" ...but the Date of the EBoR!

 

The night we do BoRs, at closing the SM announces we have a new__x___ and new___x___ or three new___x's___ and would everyone congratulate these scouts on their accomplishments...We hold the card and the parents pen to give the boy "something" at the CoH...so they get recognized twice!

 

Your committee needs to have a look at the situation...Its just plain wrong to make them wait and to slow up their advancement program

[hottik]

Thanks to all for the timely responses! Just what I was looking for ...I agree totally on the "immediate recognition" aspect of advancement. (Now...Anyone have any advice on a tactful way to suggest to our Troop's Advancement Committee that a particular-scout-who-happens-to-be-related-to-me really wants his rank advancement now, not in 3 months!)

 

Thanks Again,

New ASM & Troublemaker

[frankj]

My suggestion is review the advancement procedures manual, and with then talk to the sm and advancement chair, and if necessary SHOW THEM the text in the manual which says "When the BOR has certified a boy's advancement (except for Eagle) he DESERVES TO RECEIVE RECOGNITION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THIS SHOULD BE DONE AT A CEREMONY AT THE NEXT TROOP MEETING. The certificate for his rank may be presented later at a formal court of honor."

 

In my procedures manual, this is in the section "Advancement in the Unit" under the topic:Boy Scout Advancement -- Four steps of Advancement.

 

The only reason I can think of for why you unit does it the way you describe is that it saves time on running to the Scout offices to acquire the rank badges or merit badges -- but that is not good enough reason! Be prepared ... to offer your services to the Adv Chair in a tactful way to break the logjam on this. And awheck is right, it is the BOR date that is the date of advancement -- if your Adv Chair is not posting this date on the records, he or she is screwing things up.

[TheScout]

It might work better if the young man just asked the Advancement Chairman about it himself.

[Trevorum]

Hottik,

 

Welcome to the forum! And thanks for asking this question on behalf of ALL the scouts in your unit! As the previous fellows have noted, this is a clear case - no wiggle room.

 

There are TWO problems here which need to be FIXED. Both the SM and the advancements person need to get together and resolve this situation.

 

The FIRST problem is the lack of immediate recognition, as has been noted. A scout should never have to wait 2-3 months to be recognized for his achierement. If this means weekly (or bi-weekly) trips to the scout shop to turn in advancement reports and get the badges, well then someone in the unit needs to assume this responsibility.

 

The SECOND problem, related to the first, is the erroneous setting of the "clock" for the next rank advancement at the CoH instead of the BoR. As has been noted, the clock for the next rank starts as soon as the scout passes his BoR, not several months later at the next CoH. This practice is wrong, not BSA policy, and is unfair to the scouts.

 

If I was a new ASM in this unit, I would first ask the SM why it is done this way. If he says," because it's always been done that way", or "I'm not sure - ask the advancements chair", or some other non-answer, I would print out the appropriate sections from the Handbook and Manual (as noted by FScouter) and bring this up at the next committee meeting. I'd be prepared (!) for considerable resistance, because I'll bet (along with Frankj) that it just isn't convenient for someone. Someone needs to be willing to make the trips to the Scout shop...

 

Good luck with this situation!

[Hunt]

I confess that we are not always prompt with recognition, and sometimes a boy doesn't get an earned badge until the next Court of Honor. However, that still has nothing to do with the date of rank advancement, which, as others have pointed out, is the date of the Board of Review.

[EagleInKY]

If your council scout shop allows you to stock badges, you can even have a small supply on hand. Whenever possible, we present them with their patch the night of the BOR.

 

I agree with the others, your troop has a problem that needs to be fixed.

[CA_Scouter]

If the issue is the scout shop, our scout shop takes phone orders and ships them out the same day. Maybe yours does too?

 

 

[hottik]

I do suspect that the current procedure in our Troop relates to adult leader convenience. The very large Troop (65) is run by a few very dedicated adults. (So my next thread will be about how to get more parent volunteers to take on ongoing responsibilities!) Yes our Scout shop also takes Fax orders for badges & insignias!

 

Thanks again for all the info & insights.

[EagleInKY]

You're welcome, you're welcome and you're welcome.

[NWScouter]

I do believe in recognition right away --- But our Troop it seemed that the 'deadline' of the up-coming Court of Honor would create slew of BOR just with a enough time to get the badges.

[EagleInKY]

NWS - Not sure what your point is??? COHs do create a sort of "deadline" which guys will try to make. We have a COH next Friday, so guess what? We've got three BORs scheduled for Monday night. No surprise, the deadline pushes boys (or maybe parents) to beat the deadline.