New Training feature at myscouting.org

[silasm]

Their database is bad, bad, bad. If I search by my login, I find all of my records-- both offline and online-- except for my Woodbadge.

 

If I do "advanced search" by my last name, town and state my WIFE'S records come up, but with my first and last names at the top. If I search by her full name, nothing comes up.

 

So either their search is broken, or their are two sets of records linked to my name and none to hers. This is the sort of things that is going to cause real grief when training is required for recharter. Heck, it may even be a problem this year if the database doesn't have her down for YPT.

 

[moosetracker]

That may be going on with one guy I looked up. I had his Member ID # and put it in. It pops up, multiple people on this number.. Say What???? I can see multiple people by last name/ town / state.. but Member ID is "suppose" to be unique!

 

I should see what happens with the one guy in our district that I found had multiple Membership numbers. Is all his training under one training number, or mixed between numbers? He could be totally trained when registering for troop, and not trained at all for Crew when he goes to register, even though he took everything. That will be because the info is resting in his Troop's number.

[BadenP]

I pulled up my record and got 3 pages of training classes, several with wrong dates, you just got to wonder about the councils inability to input correct information, lol. I used my venturing crew id #, I also tried inputing my name only but all my training prior to this council is gone?(This message has been edited by BadenP)

[infoscouter]

A couple posters have noted that training taken in other councils isn't showing up. That's because your member number changes when you change councils. The training you took stays with your old number and does not automatically follow you to your new council(s). You have to get a copy of your record from your old council, take it to the new council and have it manually entered.

 

Others have mentioned missing courses, including Wood Badge. In several other discussions on other lists, it has come to light that Wood Badge course attendance rosters may not get turned it. You don't really 'complete' Wood Badge until your ticket is complete of course, so the 40-60 folks in a course all *finish* at different times. That info apparently sometimes doesn't make its way back to the registrar.

 

Other frequently missed courses are Philmont training, and regional courses like Camp Schools. I don't believe Region or Philmont staffs can log in to each council's database to record those trainings.

 

Finally date discrepancies are common. Completion dates of 1/1/1911 indicate either that the date was lost in a data conversion which occured several years ago, or that the registrar entered old training for which the completion date was not known.

[BadenP]

info

 

I had my old number and input it, came back no record, of course that council has since been absorbed into another one.

[RememberSchiff]

"...That's because your member number changes when you change councils."

 

Incredible.

When a scouter registers anywhere he/she has to submit a SS# for a background check. From an IT perspective, that should become a hidden database secondary key from which one and only one member id primary key is generated for that scouter whether he signed up as Bob Jones, Robert Jones, R. Jones,... in whatever council. That member id is yours forever!

 

When you register for a course, you should be asked for your scouter id. If you forget, it would just be a matter of contacting Council with your name and SS# and retrieving it (akin to driver licenses).

 

When attempting to correct Council records, I get tired and insulted (ain't I trustworthy?) when Council asks me to produce proof that I took their courses taught by their instructors. Imagine a university that could not produce a transcript for their graduates. Maybe we should withhold payment until AFTER our transcript shows we completed that course!

 

Sorry for the rant.

 

My $0.01

 

 

 

[moosetracker]

Just remember BSA has been around before the ice age, let alone computers. And it is slow (and clunky) getting into the computer age. They are better building fires then clicking keyboards.

 

I know this Member ID info to be true, seems our district (probably the whole council) numbers are not all over the board.. they used only two groups of numbers. So it is like a council gets a block of numbers, when they are used up they go back to National for another block of numbers. Only one guy has a number outside these two blocks.. Maybe someone who insisted they use his number from a previous council?

 

Schiff - I know your feeling.. They should do better with these records.. And knowing that it is their records that are wrong 95% of the time, they should take your word for it.

 

Thank goodness they do better tracking the boys records! But I think they always had a better system for how the records get to the registrar, they just never got a good system for how to record the courses. Even so, we will pull the boys records for the unit each year to do an Audit. We usually find two or three things missing. Better to do this yearly, then to have issues as the boy is almost 18 and narrowly crossing the finish line for his Eagle.

 

Even this is set up better for the boys. Registrar can print all boys for the unit, in one report they never could do that for the Adult leaders. It was pulling it one person at a time.. So the person in question had to make the request. We couldn't go in and ask the registrar to do 20 seperate reports, one for each of our adult leaders every year.

 

 

[BadenP]

Schiff

Read my post I input both the old and current numbers, current number was fine, the old number where I did the two different WB's, SM, CM, and Webelos Leader training etc, all that training is gone. I still have my old record cards so I guess I can update my current council training record. That always having the same id may be the case currently but not 10-20 years ago, same thing for SSN.

Rant back at you, lol.

[sailingpj]

This is interesting, I have tried searching myself several ways. I can't find anything with just my name, or my name and city/state. When I search under my old Member ID I find only the online training I did in that council. When I search under my current Member ID I find everything, but when I add the city and state to the search it only shows what I did here in my current council.

 

Now, I have done everything online so that may account for everything being there and correct, but it seems that something is wrong with their search function. According to the name search I don't exist, but when I search with the member ID my name pops up correctly.

[skeptic]

Most appears to be there now, but I spent endless time at least 2 or 3 different periods resubmitting troop records for training, including my own. But none of the Philmont things show up, and I attended 5 courses over the years, starting in 1977. Have the certs someplace, so it really does not matter, other than accuracy.

 

It is now better than it was. Would make far better sense to have always had the same registration number, maybe even carrying over the youth number; though that might be questionable on some levels. Still, once a SS# is issued, it stays; so at least link it to whatever else BSA records cover.

 

I at least now know who to contact again about taking the on-line YP course. Suspect will lose another 3-5 older adults who have stayed on for personal reasons, or recently aged scouts. Cannot make them do it.

 

Guess I should go back to trying to sew Jambo things on shirts, as I leave next Wednesday. Appears I have been moved to TP-A; was in B. Hope the heat settles down a bit.

[moosetracker]

At least with our council as long as you stay in the council, they will not change your membership number when you move from a boy scout to an adult leader. Your number is your number for life (as long as you stay in the same council for life..(ha, ha))..

[John-in-KC]

Today's Dilbert moment on ScoutNet:

 

Talked to a staffer at my Council yesterday. She pulled me up on ScoutNet. Wood Badge and BSA Lifeguard are not going to show up as training: They are AWARDS.

 

Sigh.

[skeptic]

Perhaps she should review; my Woodbadge shows on my records. It is definitely training, and not an award. Granted, mine is under the older version; and my staffing the new course the first year out does not show up anywhere, even though it too was additional training. No matter.