Basementdweller Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Just got a call from my DE stating that the JTE is now mandatory. Anyone shed some light on it????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMT224 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Hmmmm.... was Quality Unit mandatory? What if you didn't do it? We always did it, so no idea... And now, what does "mandatory" mean? That the unit will not be re-chartered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle90 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 What's the big deal? I just completed the JTE form with our re-charter and it took less than ten minutes to complete. We made the gold standard with little trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papadaddy Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 My standard reply to stuff like this is "or else what?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 The big deal is the DE making up random rules. There is much more to that story and we are a gold level pack because I did fill it out more out of curiosity sake than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDPT00 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 If it was just out of curiosity, I hope you didn't turn it in. Wouldn't want that greedy DE of yours to gain some sort of credit for having a gold unit in his district. And just think ... it will have an effect on your council, area, region and national, too. Now you've done it! BDPT00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basementdweller Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 The history, Last year the De filled it out on his own and got the CC to sign it. So I am not going to turn it in. My curiosity stemmed from the bragging in a previous thread by some folks on here......so I was curious where we stood. Again I ask what is the benefit to the unit, district or council for that matter. I am guessing that someone gets more money. Fill me in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocubdad Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Ask for a written copy of that policy. Since I dropped from the district committee I don't know the current rules, but previously achieving Quality District was a big goal for DE and greatly impacted his/her annual evaluation. One of the criteria for QD was a certain percentage of Quality Units. I'd be surprised if JTE doesn't include something similar. That could explain your DE's anxiety. I, also, could have filled out the form in about 10 minutes, and probably should have done so. For one, I know how to BS through these things and two, I don't really care. But the troop committee has taken it on and I now have about four committee folks wearing me out over it. I've probably spent several hours meeting with them and answeriing emails. In order to get our advancement numbers up (before knowing what our advancement numbers were) one mom wanted me to schedule special meetings over the holidays to get all the boys who are a requirement or two from a rank through their SM conference and BOR. (Nope, didn't get around to that one.) They're sweating service projects now. I sent them a list of about 15 service projects the troop participated last year, so now they're trying to figure out the hours of each -- we're talking thousands. Of course JTE doesn't require hours, but it does require service projects be register with Service to America, which requires hours. Not sure how any of this improves the quality of our program. Seems like it's taking resources which could devoted elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle732 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 JTE is a PIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlFansome Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Basement- Here is the District Scorecard for JTE. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/2011_JTE_District_Requirements.pdf Council Scorecard is at http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/2011_JTE_Council_Requirements.pdf One of your DE's goals (I'm sure) is to make Quality District. Notice measurement #1 for District...how many of your units made Bronze in JTE. This is where his push is coming from for better or worse. Twocubdad- With all the higher math required for JTE, you really almost have to have really good records in TroopMaster to figure all this out with any certainty. Our troop tracks all participation, serivce hours and rank advancement in TM, so for us, it was easy to just check the records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoutfish Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 The fact that you earned it anyways is awesome. or normal. But the fact that it is now mandatory is a crock of s***! I'd call your SE and ask him to mail you the documantation stating it's m,andatory> I'd also tell him that you need written verification from National. Then I'd go to a teacher supply store and buy a pack of smiley face stickers - and the next time you see your DE, start sticking a bunch on his shirt , since that is all he is looking for anyways..... and a big patt on the back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavah Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Yep, it's now required that every unit be excellent. On paper. This is why these top-down things are such nonsense. They distract districts and councils from doin' their real job of supporting units and unit programming, and consume unit resources (includin' emotional effort) with as much likelihood of harming program as helping. Even da best-intentioned programs like this go off da rails when they hit the street. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle732 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 It was announced with great glee tonight by our DE that District qualified for BRONZE! Nothing like striving for mediocracy. JMO JTE is a PIA. YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twocubdad Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Eh, garbage in, garbage out, huh, Al? You don't need to figure it out with "any certainty." Just SWAG it. It's not like you're going to get audited. Everybody up the food chain looks better the better your unit does, so everyone's happy. For the rank advancement, on TroopMaster go to Reports >> Advancement >> Advancement Summary. You enter the date range and it gives you a list of all the ranks awarded in the time frame. We're in the throes of trying to match up our training records with what's in Scoutnet, so we've been working that already and have a good handle on that. Unfortunately, we have one or two guys who volunteered in Sept. and haven't been to training yet, so we're at zero. Retention and recruitment is the only hard part. You just have to sit down with last year's charter and this year's and reconcile the two. Actually, your DE can pull a number off Scoutnet (NO ONE can explain how the number is calculated) and if you like his number, go with it. He can give you the advancement numbers too. Its still a PIA and doesn't benefit your program in the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeattlePioneer Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 My Cub Scout Roundtable program Thursday is going to have a segment on "Using the Journey To Excellence as a Pack Management Tool." The basic idea is to review your performance on last years JTE or to decide how your pack or unit would have scored. Use that as a guide to setting your goals for the current year, particularly any areas that need improvement. The unit leaders should probably be the ones making this assessment, which can be shared with the unit committee if desired. During the course of the year the goals can be reviewed from time to time to see how the unit is doing, especially on weak areas or areas where the unit desires to improve. By the end of the year, this ought to allow the unit to show improvement by concentrating on areas that are important to having a well led unit and quality program. So while the JTE can be ballparked or merely a slap dash effort, I think it can also be a good management tool, and learning to use it is a good management skill to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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