Scoutmaster assigning MB counselors

[Eagle732]

In another thread the practice of the Scoutmaster assigning MB counselors to a Scout was briefly discussed. Some said it's the SM's job to assign the MBC to the Scout. I felt that the Scouts are capable of choosing one from the approved district or council list. So how does your troop decide on which MBC a Scout will have, does the SM assign one or does the Scout choose from an approved list?

[BrentAllen]

The process is outlined in the SM Handbook, pg. 127.

 

"When a Scout has decided on a badge he would like to earn, he follows these steps:

 

1. The Scout obtains from his Scoutmaster a signed merit badge application and the name of a qualified counselor for that merit badge."

 

That is the process we follow.

[Buffalo Skipper]

We follow the same proceedures as BrentAllen and for the same reasons.

[eisely]

We follow the same basic procedure of leaving it up to the boy to select. In our neck of the woods, most MBCs are in the same unit as the scout. We have a unit list of MBCs and then there is the district list. Technically the district is supposed to be made aware of all of our registered MBCs but I doubt that happens.

[raisinemright]

Along with several of our scouts, I live about 20 miles from our SM and we're actually out of our district. He has this habit of assigning MBC's that are near him, not the scout. I finally got ahold of the list for thedistrict we live in. Now, when my son asks for his blue card, he goes in with the name of the counselor he'd like to meet with.

 

SM carries both lists with him now.

[BrentAllen]

eisley,

Are you saying the district just doesn't keep a list of the MB Counselors from your Troop, or is the district not involved in approving the counselors from your Troop?

[Eagle732]

All of the SMs I talked to around here let the Scouts choose from the district list. I called our council's advancement chair on this one to get clarification. The SM Handbook states "The Scout obtains from his Scoutmaster a signed merit badge application and the name of a qualified counselor for that merit badge." Council advises the either having the SM or the Scout select (with SM approval) the MBC is correct. When the SM refers the Scout to the approved list he is in effect giving him the name (or names if there is more than one counselor) of a qualified MBC. In my opinion the purpose of the language is to have the SM provide information to the Scout not to direct him to any particular MBC. I'll continue to let the Scouts choose from our district list and asking questions about the MBCs I don't personally know.

[ghermanno]

eisley,

 

You stated: "We follow the same basic procedure of leaving it up to the boy to select. In our neck of the woods, most MBCs are in the same unit as the scout. We have a unit list of MBCs and then there is the district list. Technically the district is supposed to be made aware of all of our registered MBCs but I doubt that happens. "

 

 

I hope that was in error. If "your MBC's" are not registered with and approved by the District/Council, then ALL the merit badges signed by them are null and void.

 

As stated on page 7, ACP&P: "The council advancement committee is responsible for approving merit badge counselors." They may pass this down to the DAC but the responsability is still theirs. Our Council has passed the signatory down to the office staff. I put a halt to that this year. Either CAC or DAC members for my District. And I publish each month except July.

 

Please ensure that ALL your MBC's are registered AND approved by the District/Council and get a copy of the approved MBC list to ensure that a boy does NOT lose the badge due to adults not following rules. As stated on page 26 of the same document; "A merit badg cannot be taken away once it has been earned, provided the counselor is a registered couselor for the merit badge." So it can be taken away if the MBC was not approved.

 

Just my $0.02.

 

YiS,

 

Rick

 

edited for typos (hope I caught them all)(This message has been edited by ghermanno)

[RememberSchiff]

Eagle 732, yes I agree. Scouts choice.

My $0.02,

 

(This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

[eisely]

All the MBCs registered with our troop are properly registered and in compliance with all requirements.

 

What I meant to convey is that most troops in this area are highly autonomous in maintaining their own cadres of qualified registered MBCs. I don't think that we as a unit assume any responsibility for informing the district of our MBCs but we do respond to inquiries.

 

It is a somewhat circular phenomenon. Units make sure they have MBCs on hand so their scouts have people to go to because the district lists are so out of date, inaccurate, and incomplete. While units focus on keeping their own advancement programs functioning, it probably has the unintended consequence of weakening the advancement program at the district somewhat because so few people rely on the district lists or bother to provide current information to the district. One would think that the council would have a role to play here, and perhaps I am mischaracterizing what is currently going on. All I know is what I have seen over the years.

[scoutldr]

We provide the scout with the name of a counselor. Along with the names of all the other counselors on the list. Sometimes they have to call 2 or 3 people to get a positive response, and more frequently than not, the response is "sorry, I don't do that any more". Saves time. IMHO, the MB program is broken. But that's another thread for another day.

[Twocubdad]

We've hashed this out recently, so you may want to look for the thread from a couple months ago.

 

One of the reasons for having the SM assign a counselor is that the SM maintains the ability to direct the Scouts away from problem counselors. Here, MBCs tend to serve exclusively for their own troop, so managing the quality of MBCs is handled by who we register as counselors.

Only once have I felt we had a counselor I needed to steer our guys away from. Later he was quietly taken off the list.

[John-in-KC]

I believe in pushing kids outside the unit. It's called teaching them to deal with strangers. Now, these folks are not strangers to Mr SM of the time EagleSon was a youth member, nor were they to me. They were though new to EagleSon.

 

Two of EagleSons first year references for employment on the staff came from out-of-Troop MB Counselors he'd gotten to know and became friends with.

 

Push the hatchlings out of the Troop Nest!!! Send them to other Counselors in the District. How does Mr SM do that? He (and other unit serving Scouters) get to know the other folk at events like ROUNDTABLE

[Venividi]

I am an advocate of the SM providing the name of a qualified counselor.

I am reminded of a story told by my neighbor, a school teacher who received a call from a scout that wanted to meet with him on citizenship in the world. He explained to the scout what he needed to do, and set up a time to meet. When they met, the scout hadn't done any research; but rather wanted the counselor to lead him through the requirements while they met. The counselor instead said they would need to set up another time, so that the scout could be prepared. He didnt get a call back, and was surprised when the scout received the merit badge at the next court of honor. The scout chose to go shopping for an easier counselor.

 

Another story: I received a call from a parent looking for a skiing MB counsellor that would sign off on skiing MB because his son had gone on a ski trip. I explained that the scout needed to call me, and that I would need to know that he had done all of the skills for the badge, not just ski for the week (there are some specific skills that need to be done, not just free skiing). Surprise - he found another counselor willing to sign off.

 

If the troop wants the MB's to be meaningful to the scout, the troop should be directing scouts to counselors they know will make it meaningful.

[IM_Kathy]

my son's troop - the boy looks at the list for the badge he wants to work on and who are mb councilors for said badge, asks that councilor if they are available and willing to work with him, and then goes to the SM and asks if he wants to do said MB with said councilor and then SM oks it and gives them blue card, or if there is a reason for it to not be okayed then tells them why (although I don't think anyone has not been okayed)