Role of Troop Committee

[Vigil522]

What exactly does (should) the Troop Committee and its individual members do for the troop?

[KL Wisconsin]

Our troop committee just had a special troop committee training session, a new program I understand. It was very informative and I highly recommend it if available in your council.

 

The primary purpose of the troop committee is to free up the Scoutmaster for direct intervention with the scouts. In other words, the troop committee exists to handle and support all the infastruture that is needed to maintain a good program. The troop treasurer obviously maintains the books, outdoors committeeperson does coordinating of campouts, etc, vehicles and equipment needed; the advancement chair maintains records on the scouts rank and merit badges and arranges for getting the patches at the appropriate time, etc.

 

One thing that was emphasized at the training is that the Scoutmaster does not work for the committee. Some committees, I guess, try to direct the program and the SM, ASM, etc. The troop committee and the troop adult leaders are two parallel functions, one is not "superior" to the other or have any authority over the other. Just that the role of the Scoutmaster is working directly with the youth, the role of the troop committee is dividing up all the administrative work that needs to be handled so the Scoutmaster is free to devote his time to the youth. Both the troop committee and the Scoutmasters are accountable to the Charter organization representative.

[scoutmom]

We have been having some issues with our Pack Committee. Can anyone offer a similar response regarding the Pack Committe Structure/functions?

[eisely]

There is a pamphlet on unit committees, and unit committees are mentioned in all the training materials. I don't really know what the current spin is, but my personal view is that the committee is primarily responsible for several things: recruiting adult volunteers, seeing to it that adult leaders are trained and are aware of and comply with scout policies (particularly as regards safety issues), maintaining relations with the chartered unit sponsor, dealing with fund raising issues, establishing broad policies on matters such as unit size where policies are needed, among other things. The committee should not get over involved in unit operations or issues involving individual youth members unless there is a substantial controversy. The committee cannot work at cross purposes with the unit leadership, otherwise the program fails.

[OldGreyEagle]

One of the more important responsiblities of a troop committee is to conduct Board of Reviews, and give the final stamp of approval to a scouts advancement. During the Boards of Review the scout has a chance to express what he likes and dislikes about the program and adjusts may be made if the same comment comes up enough. Our commitee has a Popcorn Chair, Transportation Chair, Advancement Chair (as in keeping track of), Treasurer, SHopping Chair (she doesntr do it, but she takes the kids with her, brave woman)Quatermaster Chair (we have scout quartermasters but he decides what can be fixed and what needs to be pitched) and then we plan the program. We go into the year with a schedule and as dates come up a trip leader is tapped and they get the tour permits, directions and work with transportation chair. We have 80 kids in the troop and if not for our 39 adults our scoutmaster would be in the looney bin;

[jmcquillan]

The answer to your question is both involved and simple. The simple answer is that the Troop Committee does all the behind the scenes work to support the Scoutmaster, the Troop, and the program. Basically that means that the committee does all the work necessary, behind the scenes, and not working directly with the boys, to maintain the troop and its program.

 

The involved answer can be found in a publication called "The Troop Committee Guidebook", which can be purchased at your local Scout Shop or Service Center.

 

The best place to get the answer, of course, is Troop Committee training provided by your Council.

[eisely]

As one reads the other posts, it is obvious that units run their committees in different ways. I did not go into the details of the various committee positions. Essentially there is no limit to these positions, depending upon the ability of the committee chair to supervise subdivided labor. For example, we have finally created a transportation chair. This person makes sure that the troop has current information for tour permit purposes, and assists trek leaders in arranging transportation to and from events.

 

OGE,

 

I was not aware that boards of review were specifically a committee responsibility. Maybe I am minsinterpreting your comment. Certainly boards are not a scoutmaster responsibility.

 

The most effective board system I ever saw was run by an advancement chair. At her insistence we scheduled boards on specific dates prior to scheduled courts of honor. Boards were not run at troop meetings but at separate times on different evenings. While the unit committee chair sat on some boards as a member of a board, the unit committee chair did not handle all the details of the process. If one thinks of the advancement function as merely an extension of the unit committee, then there is no real distinction here.

[OldGreyEagle]

Well, I was always told by my Commitee chair that a Board of Review was to have at least 3 Troop (unit) committee members on it and that the scoutmaster and asst scoutmasters could not attend. I resigned as a Asst Scoutmaster and became a Commitee member because I wanted to be "in on" the advancement process.

 

This link http://www.meritbadge.com/bsa/info/policy4.htm

 

is from meritbadge.com and it titled "National BSA Policies Related To Boards Of Review"

 

FRom this site

 

"This board of review is made up of at least three and not more than six members of the troop committee. One member serves as chairman, usually the committee member responsible for advancement. Unit leaders, assistant unit leaders, relatives, or guardians may not serve as members of a Scout's board of review."

 

I guess you could have more people at the board of review than just Committee members, but the way this is written I would say the Troop COmmitee is vested in approving advancement.

 

Certainly wihout 3 members of the committes involvement, a scout cannot advance.

 

[scamp]

Scoutmom: The answer to your question regarding the roles of the Pack committee can be found in the Cub Scout Leader Book. There is a chapter that explains in detail the role of each member of the Pack leadership. Also, take part in CS training which will demonstrate the various roles of the pack leadership in an ideal situation. In reality, some packs have a very strong committee and some packs have a strong Cubmaster, who pretty much runs the show. As with a troop, an effective Pack committee takes care of the administrative and background stuff so the Cubmaster can focus on working with the den leadership to deliver an effective program.

 

eisely: Your first post implies that the troop committee is not part of the unit leadership -- meaning, I assume, the SM and ASMs. This is not true. Troop committee members are as much a part of the unit leadership as any other. Committee members can be trained for their positions and are welcome to wear uniforms. I have always worn a uniform in my committee membership roles.

[TexasEagle]

I'm new.

My 11 y.o. son has been in a troop since last Feb. My wife is a committee member, Chaplin, and I an ASM. Tonight at Troop Committee meeting we had a long and somewhat heated discussion about who votes at Committee Meetings. Our troop does not allow Scoutmaster OR ASMs to vote. What practice do other troops follow?

 

 

[sst3rd]

TexasEagle,

 

The youth Staff includes the SPL and any ASPL(s). The adult Staff is the SM and any ASM(s). The Committee membership is separate from the adult Staff. Each has specific responsibilities. The adult Staff advises the youth Staff. The Committee approves and supports the program planning done by the PLC, which includes the SPL, ASPL, PL, and APL positions. You can say that the adult Staff and Committee are adult leaders of the Troop, but to get to your main question, Committee members ONLY, vote at Committee meetings. Responsibilities of the Committee are background support issues, and support the programs of the PLC. An issue would have to be outragious for the Committee not to support the PLC. It's their program.

[jmcquillan]

TexasEagle,

 

"sst3rd" is correct on the "by the book" interpretation for voting in Troop Committee meetings. The SM and ASM's are not technically members of the committee. But, as a practical matter, in many troops, like ours, the SM and ASM's are treated as members, and their input and positions on issues are treated the same. They vote. We're fortunate enough to have 15-17 active committee members, so the votes of the SM and AMS's are not critical to the process, but our tradition has been to include them. This all pretty much grew out of the earlier times when the committee was 2 or 3 people, and having more input and participation was desireable, thus the SM and ASM's were included.

 

As I said, "by the book" the SM and ASM's have no vote, although they sould have input to help the committee make their decisions on an informed basis. Don't feel left out if you're not allowed to vote, it's the way the rules are written. If the committee ever comes to a "tie" vote on an issue, they might be well served to ask the SM and ASM's to participate, but they're not obliged to.

 

[Mike Long]

Yep, by the book SMs and ASMs don't vote in committe and don't participate in boards of review.

 

In practice it is not always that way. I have never been in a troop that the committee handles boards of review. At best we get the advancemant chair to be on them and hopefully another committe member but first class and down is handled by our PLC with an adult present. I have to work hard to get adults for star and up boards but everbody wants to sit on an Eagle board. Go figure.

 

We have such a lackluster response to our committe meetings (6 people at the last one including me and my wife who attends more to support me than the troop) that anyone who shows gets to vote. In our opinion if you care enought to be there then you should be allowed to vote.

 

Pathetic in a troop 40 that of the 6 the breakdown was a husband/wife couple, two moms and my wife and I and we don't even have children.

 

The shiney side is that despite poor adult participation we get the support we need when we need it. Things would run a lot smoother if we had better participation but we make do and the boys all seem satisfied with the program and thats what matters to me.

[TexasEagle]

Thanks guys,

Back in the dark ages, the Scoutmaster seemed to run the show. OK, I was a young scout and I am an old Dad. Thanks for your input. We need to have a parent meeting to define how the troop wants to handle the issue i.e. by the books or a modified 'how it really works' technique.

I'll be back with more questions...

[eisely]

Figured I might as well chime in one more time.

 

Concerning the distinction between the committee and unit leadership: It is clear to me that "the book" does make such a distinction, although, as is obvious from the previous posts, few units draw the distinction. One of the more effective policies I have seen used to make sure that the committee has at least an adequate number of adults on board, is require each family to register at least one adult in some capacity. "Committee member" was the usual default unless someone wanted to be an assistant scoutmaster. In that unit we recogized and enforced the policy that scoutmasters and assistant scoutmasters were not supposed to sit on boards of review. There were always enough committee members on the list to put together boards of review.

 

While every registered adult can be considered to be generically part of "unit leadership," some make the distinction between "uniformed volunteers," and all others. "Uniformed volunteers" are normally taken to be the scoutmaster and his/her assistants. However, there is nothing to prevent other adults from buying and wearing uniforms. Likewise, there is nothing to prevent any registered adult being identified on a tour permit as the responsible adult for an activity. To me that is where the rubber hits the road. If you are going to lead an outing, you need to be registered in some capacity. One does not need to be in any particular capacity to lead an outing, just registered.