Training Records and ScoutNet

[FScouter]

Heres how training works in our district. The training team:

- Sets a date for a training event.

- Publicizes the date and makes announcements at Roundtable meetings.

- Publicizes the training through the commissioners, and other outlets such as the district website and district newsletter.

- Publishes and distributes a flyer for the event.

- Wait for adult leaders to sign up.

- Conduct the training.

- Turn in the training attendance roster to the council.

 

This seems to be an inefficient method for getting unit leaders trained. There are those leaders that actively seek out training, but many others need some encouragement to get trained. As the district training chairman, I want to actively go out and personally invite untrained leaders to attend the training events that they need. To do that, I need to know which leaders have completed which trainings.

 

The training guidebook says its important to complete an accurate Inventory of Training. Unfortunately, our district has no training records with which to develop the Inventory, unless training records have been recorded electronically in the ScoutNet system.

 

I'm looking for some help in understanding what the ScoutNet database system is all about. Does the system include fields for the various trainings that adult leaders have completed? Is there a query mechanism to enable a user to retrieve for example a list of all Scoutmasters that have not completed Scoutmaster Specific training? Or to pull a list of new leaders that have registered in the last 90 days? Do any volunteers out there have any experiences with using the ScoutNet system? Mr. Steele, could you provide any insight from the professional point of view on how a volunteer can get information out of the database?

 

 

[dsteele]

You aren't the first volunteer or professional to attack this issue with Scoutnet.

 

The Scoutnet system does have fields for almost any training you can think of. The reports that can be generated from that information are a part of the problem -- the ones that are in there aren't very good and they're only as good as the data.

 

Scoutnet came to be in 1999. Membership and registration records from before the council went on-line were imported, but most councils did not have training records in their old Xenix system -- they were recorded by the district training chairman, or whoever put on the training, and only sometimes filed at the office.

 

Odds are that anyone trained prior to 2000 does not have up-to-date training information in Scoutnet unless someone plugged it in manually based on old records.

 

If you really want to know who is trained in your district and who is not, call them and ask. Or dig out as many training attendance reports you can dig up and tabulate them. I can tell you that training attendance reports often don't make it to the council service center, or they are given to the DE who may or may not (probably not) know what to do with them. I have to admit that I've found them in my file (well before Scoutnet) and said, "What do I do with these?" to my boss and he didn't know either.

 

Phone calls work well. I think most people are honest enough to admit whether they're trained or not. Many save their trained cards. Those that don't want to admit they haven't been to training will usually reveal it by their lack of knowledge.

 

I don't envy your task. Tracking training is a big weakness of most councils and I think it should be a bigger priority. If we could get to 100% trained the program would be so much better.

 

Sorry I don't have a magic bullet for this one. Magic bullets are few and far between.

 

DS

[Eamonn]

I did an inventory of trained leaders as a ticket item for the old Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge.

I tried asking everyone.

However as is well known I'm a little bit lazy.

I found that the easy way to get the job done was to include a Training Sheet in the Rechartering Pack.

There are codes for all Training taken in the Training Handbook.

In order ro keep the records up to date we now send a copy of the attendance report to the resistrar who enters it into scoutnet.

We also keep copies at both the District and Council level.

Eamonn

[scoutldr]

This is one of my hot buttons. Seems when the council converted to ScoutNet, training records were not converted. Only those who have completed the NEW version of training (each training course has a code), are entered. I attended BS Leader Basic Training in 1990, therefore I was listed as "untrained". As Dist Training Chair, I am given a report every month of untrained leaders so I can talk to them and encourage them to attend. Some of the names on the list are 35 year veterans with 7 rows of square knots and WB Beads around their necks and were experienced leaders when I was a Tenderfoot. It's ridiculous.

[Twocubdad]

Just got our recharter kit at Roundtable last week, so I'm looking at our roster. According to this, we have one trained leader -- and it ain't me. I understand that the records aren't going to be perfect, but this isn't close.

 

What I find especially irritating is that last winter our commissioners decided that "they" were going to conduct a training inventory and get the records updated. I put "they" in quotations because it was really the unit leaders who did the inventories, collecting the data, making copies of course completion cards, etc. As best I can tell, none of the records were corrected. I don't mind if you want to waste your own time by starting a project you never finish, but don't ask me to jump through your hoops for nothing.

 

It bothers me that no one seems

[Overtrained]

FScouter,

 

I have spent a lot of time on this topic, to include discussion during Training Management Seminar at Philmont.

 

First, the unit roster is out of the membership system of Scoutnet and does not relate to the Training Database of Scoutnet.

 

We have been able to get current lists of trained, untrained and training by course and district out of Scoutnet. Along with paper copies at council, and at district we developed a ACCESS based datebase for our district. We downloaded the membership records form Scoutnet and starting typing it in.

 

Since then, every district training registrar (volunteer) in the council has the program. The district maintains the record and updates the council.

 

The short of it is that the units get a copy twice a year - Two months before charter and a couple of months after charter.

 

As to getting to adult scouters for training - we use this database to send emails to the untrained leaders about upcoming training. We have a markerter on the training team who calls the untrained scouters up, signs them up or finds a training in another district that suites them better. He can also update the record if they say they are trained.

 

If you want more info or samples, send me a private email with your email as the details can get quite verboss.