Advancement Records, What do you use, TroopMaster etc.? Or do you just keep a paper record?

[Gunny2862]

Time to examine re-inventing the wheel or adopting the same plan as someone else. What do you use? Why do you think it works? What is bad about it? What would you use if it was painless to change?

[Eagle69]

Prior to acquiring Troop Master we had one of the forms from National that listed all the ranks and Merit Badges, etc. with places to put dates and whenever we turned in a green sheet we updated this, after Troop Master was purchased we keep it updated. I love it. It allows me to see anything regarding advancement, special awards, outing attendance , etc. all with a click of the mouse. If I have a parent that wants to see Johnny's records I can generate a report and print it, email to them or whatever. It conforms to the standards of the National Scout Net so you can upload advancement/recharter information from TM to SN if your council allows it. Of course I support my scouting habit by being a computer programmer so I'm a big fan of computerized record keeping.

[John-in-KC]

Most of what Eagle69 said.

 

Of course, any database management software, be it digits or paper, is only as good as the folks doing regular and correct data entry and later data mining

 

A great toy, sitting in a box, gathers dust.

 

A great toy, in use, is a great toy!

[acco40]

Troopmaster.

[packsaddle]

We're not organized enough for troopmaster. Just a basic spreadsheet works for us. We keep all the paper, though, as well. There's something very reassuring about having that hard copy. Paper has substance, electrons don't. I guess that makes me a Luddite.

[insanescouter]

I have been using Troopmaster for years, but am currently considering changing to a internet bases system that would be easier to allow a small group of us to keep the records up to date. We do use .net but it has proven a pain for the less tech savvy leaders we have.

 

Scott Robertson

www.InsaneScouter.org

[Gunny2862]

Pack,

I don't think you are a Luddite for keeping paper. Is there a template of your Spreadsheet I could see? No real data please!

 

What ever we go with I believe that paper will be filed as well. I have personally dealt with two incidents(outside of Scouting) where the maintenance of paper files saved a whole, large, big, excessively problematic, load of trouble from coming to fruition when the electron storage device failed. 1st problem with both of those scenarios, no electron backup file.

[John-in-KC]

Paper does a lot of things:

 

- It enables the Scribe to have a responsibility to update a wall chart (which the advancement coordinator can take home instead of Scout books).

 

- It's a source document (blue cards, Scout handbooks... remember 1 fold of the blue card is for the Scout, 1 for the Troop, and one for the Counselor).

 

- Again with the wall chart, it's a visible demonstration of progress between peers.

 

Advantages of databases:

 

- More comprehensive... integrating all MBs, bio data, medicalert data, training, ad infinitum!

 

- Interfacable with ScoutNet.

 

To me, you need both. At the adult level, I use electrons!

[AvidSM]

Troopmaster. I works great as long as you keep the data current and your advancement chair knows how to use the program. I like is especially for OA eligibility reports.

[kenk]

In addition to being an ASM I am also the troop's advancement coordinator. Before I came on board the troop was using Troopmaster, but they struggled to keep it up-to-date.

 

Previously, as a Den Leader & Cubmaster, our pack had used ScoutTrack (scouttrack.com) to maintain records, keep a pack calendar, send automated e-mail reminders for activities, and send e-mails. The committee and den leadership liked this on-line system a lot.

 

When I took over the advancement at the troop, the incoming families who were used to using ScoutTrack paid for a one-year license to introduce it to the troop. Since then I've been keeping advancement records on both Troopmaster and ScoutTrack - just in case the troop decided not to continue using ScoutTrack.

 

Now about 17 months later, the troop did renew ScoutTrack's annual license and I continue to keep both systems up-to-date. I personally like having the on-line calendar and the automated reminders, BUT to be quite honest, none of the other leaders or parents access the system on-line (I can see when they've last logged on).

 

ScoutTrack may be better suited for a Cub Scout pack, where den leaders and parents can enter advancement records and there is more parental involvement.

 

So, from that perspective, I'm thinking about returning to just using Troopmaster, which provides more detailed record keeping for non-advancement things such as leadership positions held, OA records, and merit badge partials. It also provides some really nice reports.

 

About the only thing I don't like about Troopmaster is the calendar generation/entry tool. It seems kind of archaic.

 

By the way, ScoutTrack is setup to import Troopmaster records fairly easily. I don't know of a way to move records from ScoutTrack to Troopmaster. That is why I've been maintaining records on both.

[Eagle69]

As I said above I love Troopmaster, but I 100% agree on the paper trail as well. We have a binder of all the reports filed with the Scout Office and I have done the Advancement Chart as well.

[Mrw1]

We are using Troopmaster.net. As Advancement chair, I am working on getting it up to date and then keeping it that way. I am very happy with being able to input the advancements as they occur and about monthly then uploading it to ScoutNet electronically and without the input errors I was often seeing when we turned paper into Council.

 

I don't know that anyone other than our treasurer is also using the Troopmaster data at this point. The value of being able to check what each scout needs or what a group needs in seconds is wonderful when they are planning activities to help advancement.

 

I also keep paper records of the advancement reports that are turned into Council and papaer records of the badges each boy earns since there is a specific checklist form our Council uses for Eagle applicants to make their record checking easier. If I fill these in for each kid as we go along, it makes my life easier.

 

I use the posters for the boys, sine they like to compare each others' progress.

[eisely]

We are fortunate in that we have funding through employer support programs and we have a dedicated laptop on which we have been running TroopMaster. There are competing products available that are probably superior, but we decided that it was too much work to do the manual conversions required. As others have noted, GIGO. Like any system it requires a committed volunteer just to maintain the data.

 

I also tell parents to latch onto all the cards their boys get, including their copies of blue cards, and put them into a binder, using the plastic sheets that baseball card collectors use. We have found the council records to often be incomplete when a boy comes up for Eagle, so the more back up you have, the better. I even have a binder for my own cards.

[Oak Tree]

We are using Troopmaster.net. We use it for pretty much everything - tracking advancement, having the official calendar, listing registered merit badge counselors, tracking attendance at events. All the leadership has immediate access to the data. We've been very happy with it.

[Gunny2862]

Thanks for the input!!!

 

We are going to do a "system reset" on paper - aimed at being 99% or better current on all data and then go to Troopmaster after our annual Fundraiser.

It looks like TM is the Handsdown choice, unless someone out there is holding back their wonderful experience with something else!