Who is Who in District and Council?

[Mafaking]

 

I hear district chairman, executive, commissioner and other titles. Who reports to who and which ones are that paid ones? Got an organizational chart?

 

 

 

 

[scoutldr]

The ones with "Executive" or "Director" in their titles are usually the paid pros. The rest are mere volunteers. The Scout Executive (SE)is the head fred (CEO) of the Council and all the other paid employees report to him, directly or indirectly. The SE reports to the Council Executive Board...a group of volunteers who are usually hand picked by the SE. District Executives (DE) work for the SE and work with the District Chairman, a volunteer who chairs the District Committee. Commissioners are all vols, as are unit leaders. The "key 3" of the Council or District consist of the Chairman, Commissioner and Executive. I think there's an org chart in the leaders books. That's it in a nutshell.

[baden]

The District Chairman, Commissioner, and Executive make up what is known as the Key 3. This is the senior leadership group in a District.

 

The District Chairman is a volunteer position. The Chairman is primarily responsible for filling the positions on the District Commitee such as Camping Chair, FOS Chair, Training Chair,etc.etc. He also should Chair the monthly District Committee meeting. Expected to give leadership to the District FOS campaign. This person frequently does not have an extensive Scouting background, but is well regarded and connected to the community, especially the business community. Reports to the Council Chairman, or President.

 

The District Commissioner is a volunteer position. The DC is responsible to recruit and train Unit Commissioners and Roundtable Commissioners. This person should be an experienced Scouter. Reports to the Council Commissioner.

 

The District Executive is a paid position. Responsible for the 3 M's. Membership, manpower, and money. This is not a program job. It is at its base a sales job. Constantly working manpower and membership. And works like a mule during the FOS campaign. This person probably reports to a Senior DE or a Director of Field Services. In a small Council to the Scout Executive.

 

The Key 3 meet monthly outside of the District Committee meeting to set the agenda for the District and address concerns.

[AvidSM]

The District Executive or Director is a paid professional. He or she reports to the Scout Executive and represents the intrests of the BSA.

 

The District Chairman is a volunteer. He or she is a member of the Council Executive Board and I believe reports to that body. The DC runs the district committee.

 

The District Commissioner is also a volunteer. He or she reports to the Council Commissioner and runs the district's commissiner staff.

 

These people make up the district Key Three. They coordinate with each other as partners to run the district. They work with, but don't report to each other.

 

I am sure if you Google these job titles, you can get more information about their specific roles and responsibilities.

[ScoutNut]

Why not just look on your council's web site?

 

Most councils have an employee, or contact, list on their site.

 

You can also look on the BSA National site for more info.

[emb021]

"Why not just look on your council's web site? "

 

"Most councils have an employee, or contact, list on their site."

 

That's fine if you are looking for the council employees, however, if you are trying to understand who are the volunteers in the different district/council roles, that may be difficult.

 

Further, if you don't understand the overall structure (professional staff, commissioner service, district/council committees), that won't help, either.

 

 

[BadenP]

scoutldr

 

a slight correction to your first post, The SE is selected by the council exec committee from a list of candidates supplied by National, and the SE technically is an employee of National and ultimately reports to them, and he works with the exec. committee to keep everything running smooth in the council. If an executive board wants to fire an SE they must go through the National office,who will then quickly assess the situation and decide if it is warranted. If it is then they remove the SE, usually transferring him to another council, and then supply the board with a new list of candidates. In the end National is still in control of the process. The SE works with the board as a rep of National, not for the board.

[ScoutNut]

"That's fine if you are looking for the council employees"

 

Actually, that is exactly what he was asking for -

 

"Who reports to who and which ones are that paid ones? Got an organizational chart?"

 

Many council web sites HAVE an organizational chart on their site. Or, they at least have a staff list laid out in order from Scout Executive (SE) down to Secretary.

 

This would tell Mafaking who the "PAID ONES" were in HIS council.

 

Often a council web site will also list some volunteer contacts (with title names) under the separate Districts or under their training area.

 

I believe this is also covered, in part at least, in New Leader Essentials Training.

 

Mafaking, have you taken NLE Training?

 

[scoutldr]

Interesting. Thanks, Baden.

[ScoutNut]

Sam Houston Area Council is larger, and has a rather nice, fairly explicit, staff organizational chart -

 

http://www.samhoustonbsa.org/Home/AboutSHAC/Council/StaffOrgChart/StaffOrgChart/StaffOrgChart.PDF

 

Maybe this will help.

 

 

[Beavah]

The SE works with the board as a rep of National, not for the board.

 

Yah, they might want yeh to think that, but that's not the way it really works. Council corporations are independent corporations, and the SE is listed as an employee on their 990. Council Exec Board can fire an SE even without National's permission. Been there, done that. National is of course free to peddle the guy to another council.

 

It's this kind of mixing up of the proper notion of agency that makes it difficult for an SE to behave ethically. A council SE is an agent of the council board, not of National, and his duty of care is to the council corporation, not to the BSA.

 

Beavah

 

[BadenP]

Beav

 

A exec board can fire an SE for just cause like alcoholism, theft(happened to one of my SE's), but National has the power to overide council boards, but if it is not for just cause National will limit who the future candidates are for that council, because that IS controlled by National. The council is incorporated true but it is under the umbrella of the parent corporation of National and is why National can be sued along with the council. However if you ask the executive who his real boss is and who evaluates his performance it is National Office plain and simple . And you are wrong when you state that "the SE is an agent of the board not of National." The SE is an administrator for a council representing the best interests of Nationals rules and regulations, making sure the board and other volunteers are properly administering the BSA programs and council funds. Believe me Beavah this stuff was drilled into us by National during district executive training to make sure we understood very clearly who we worked for, the chain of command, etc. I was involved firsthand in this process when one of my former SE's was investigated by Regional office for embezzling funds, removed from office and the selection process of a new SE.(This message has been edited by BadenP)

[Apache Bob]

Baden and AvidSM - I guess I had it wrong in my mind for the seven years I was District Commissioner.

I worked for the District Chairman and the units not the Council Commissioner. The District Chairman put me into the position and I was voted in by the District Committee.

I attended the Council Commissioner meeting but did not work for him or the Council. I worked with my Commissioners and unit leaders and the District Committee members.

Did I do it wrong?

 

 

[BadenP]

Apache Bob

 

As a District Commish you were part of the Key 3, the DE, Dist Chair, and yourself were partners so to speak to keep the district running smoothly in each of your particular areas, working together as a team, not for each other. As a former DE myself I can tell you that we choose who we want for Dist Chair, and Dist Commish when we are assigned to a district, fortunately for me my district had a strong Dist Commish who agreed to stay on. So I needed to recruit a strong Dist Chair and was lucky enough to recruit the mayor of the largest town in the district, who was very well connected in the area, and as a result we had the top district in the council for the five years I was there.

 

So its not really a matter of who works for who but can the Key 3 work together as a team.

[Beavah]

Believe me Beavah this stuff was drilled into us by National during district executive training to make sure we understood very clearly who we worked for...

 

Yah, I have no doubt. Which is why we have repeated messes like Chicago and Crater Lake and Greater Alabama and Greater Atlanta and on and on, eh? They keep puttin' execs in a completely untenable ethical position.

 

Legal reality is that the SE works for the council, is an agent of the council, and serves at the will of the council executive board. Legal reality is also that the BSA routinely files during pretrial motions to have itself excluded from suits involving the units and the council corporations, and that is routinely granted. Just take a look at the Utah forest fire case, eh? Da corporate insulation from liability is very much a part of our risk management strategy. So nope, National doesn't really get sued along with the council. That's particularly important in these days of enormous damage awards for serial molestation cases.

 

So while I have no doubt that's what you were told durin' your training, and I know from experience that many SE's conduct themselves in the manner you describe, in the hard reality of the real world it's flat out wrong and monstrously unethical. One of the central tenets of business ethics is that a man cannot serve two masters; an exec must understand and adhere strictly to the proper duty of agency and assiduously avoid conflicts of interest. For an SE, that means he must serve the best interests and will of the council corporation and its directors.

 

Beavah