troop committee

[RememberSchiff]

Our unit's committee meeting is open to all. Scouts will sometimes attend to present service project proposals, lobby for an activity, or seek troop sponsorship for Philmont or Jamboree. Our SPL has not attended nor is he required; he is busy enough with troop meetings and PLC.

 

A planned agenda is sent out a week in advance of troop committee meeting. Anyone can add a topic by contacting CC or attempt to address that topic at the end of meeting before time expires. We all want to get through the agenda in the alloted meeting time. And to no surprise, agenda topics mostly align with program activities and needs.

 

Like a town meeting, our committee meeting is sometimes poorly attended, political, long, imperfect, but always open. Meeting minutes are e-mailed the following week. My unit is lucky to have experienced adults with open minds who want to deliver a great scouting program.

 

If someone became a problem at this meeting or any other troop activity, then it would become a personnel issue. Personnel issues are handled separately by COR, CC, SM, and those involved. Call this the executive board if you like. Common personnel issues include discipline problems and lack of participation in fundraising.

 

Keep it simple.

[Eagledad]

>>That said, we allow all parents, as observers only, to attend our committee meetings. If some special circumstance exists, such as in Barry's example, we don't necessarily deal with it on a committee level but possibly on a subset of the committee and Scoutmaster.

[Eagledad]

I was just thinking that our PLC meetings were closed meetings. We have weekly meetings instead of monthly, but the SM and an ASM are the only two adults allowed in the meeting unless one got permission from the SPL prior to the meeting. I cant remember a scout who shouldnt be in the meeting ever wanting to be in a meeting, so I cant say we restricted it from them as well.

 

But reading Schiffs post, I was reminded how we taught our SPLs to run the meetings the same as the troop CC. Our SPL was required to have a final agenda ready the night before for the SM and Patrol leaders. I taught our SPL and participants at JLTC that the SPL should know every subject that was to be discussed and have it on his agenda. If any surprise subjects pop up during the meeting, they were to be given to someone who would deal with it during the week and report on it next week.

 

OK, I know this is off the topic, but I can say that 90 percent of the scouts who attended our JLTCs had terrible meeting skills. And almost none of them used agendas in their meetings even though examples are given in the SPL Handbooks. Our JLTC particpants had written at least 12 or more agendas before they left our four day course. I always wondered why the adults weren't teaching agendas when surely they were using them in their own meetings.

 

Barry

 

[Venividi]

post removed by author. Off topic for this thread.(This message has been edited by venividi)