Advancement Reports

[SeattlePioneer]

I suspect that the main motivation is to insure that units have registered their Scouts. Secondarily, districts and councils want good advancement statistics and this is a way to encourage on line advancement.

[John-in-KC]

A couple comments:

 

- IMO, the Internet Advancement module of ScoutNet should be able to provide a purchase order to the Scout Shop: Barcode for quantity, barcode for unit, barcode for person who will pick up/pay for them. It's ridiculous to require a physical copy of an AR to go to the Scout Shop anymore.

 

- I get the point: Rank/MBs are program items of BSA, and should only be bought by folks who are members. That's part of protecting the brand name of BSA. Got it. Now, let's find the right middle ground between customer service and protecting the brand name, just as Beavah implied.

 

- Finally, again IMO: If you think about point 1 above, it's not that difficult to package the badge and a card and mail it directly to the unit. Land's End/Wisconsin Cheeseman/REI/Camp-Mor/Burgher's Smokehouse/Joseph A Bank and JR Cigars can all fulfill your order almost before the phone hits the cradle. Why can't BSA Supply Corporation?

[Beavah]

Yah, Zscout5, yeh know that a policy isn't justifiable when someone has to write up an entire page of apologetics on why the policy is justified.

 

As a scouter, yeh recognize of course that someone could write an entire page like that from the unit's perspective about why such a policy was a pain in the kiester and made the advancement program less effective for kids in their unit.

 

What it comes down to, though, is a question of mission. Our mission is not to verify signatures (who does that anyway?). It's not to file reports in da correct bin (ScoutNet records transfers don't work anyway). It's not to make sure there's not a gap in the lad's tenure records, nor to audit Eagle applications.

 

Our mission as council or national scouters is to provide the best program service we can to da organizations and volunteers who are workin' with America's kids. Service. Just service. Always service.

 

If folks workin' for councils or national really enjoy bein' fastidious about paperwork and such, I always suggest that they consider workin' for an accounting firm or for da government. There are places for fastidiousness in record-keeping, eh? Scoutin' just isn't one of 'em. We have to make helpin' the organizations and volunteers do a good job for kids our priority.

 

B