When can a Life scout get his Eagle Project Approved and begin work on project?

[qwazse]

Moz, sounds like the problem is with your district advancement chair. Complain loudly at round table that you need a little more backing from higher up when it comes to the planning process.

 

But also, explain to your boys that they should be able to come back to their project 10 years from now, maybe with a wife and kids, and say "Wouldja look at that? The guy who set this up musta been some kind of awesome!"

 

An Eagle candidate must have said "I will do my best ..." sometime during the program. About the only person who knows really what constitutes a boy's best is the boy and his SM. Never let all of this paper pushing get in the way of that.

[Twocubdad]

Well, I was trying to by coy, but yes, that's exactly how we handle it. I ask my guys to complete as much of the final plan as possible. For nuts and bolts projects this includes "before" photos, plans or drawings, a materials list, a budget and a schedule (not calendar dates, but day 1, day 2...)

 

No I can't require the Scout to do that. But then, no one can require me to sign the thing.

 

I look at it this way (and OBTW, I'm told this is how the district looks at it as well) -- I want to make sure the Scouts have a reasonable chance at success. Not guaranteeing success, but a reasonable opportunity. That's important for two reasons -- 1) I simply want my Scouts to be successful, and 2) say what you will about the Scout's being responsible, if they screw up an EP and tick of their beneficiary, it's going to come back on the troop and/or council. If step one of a project is to rip out all the existing landscaping around the front door of the elementary school and there ends up being no step two, how many more EPs will the school (or probably school system) allow?

 

How I judge "reasonable chance for success" is by seeing the Scout has a reasonable understanding of what they are getting into. If they've created drawing, developed a materials list, totaled the cost and thought through a work plan, they can intelligently answer when I ask, "is this something you can do on your own?"

 

Since the new workbook was released, we've had 12-14 boys go through the process described above. All breezed through the approval process and successfully completed their projects. Currently we have 6 or 8 guys in some stage of their EP. Back in the winter we had them all meet and went through the planning and paperwork as a group. Several of the previous Eagles helped with the presentation. To a man, they all said our approach made sense, that the additional work we asked for with the proposal is all stuff you need to do sooner or later and that doing it up-front made the process much easier.

[Gone]

Hmm, can't the CC and SM simply refuse to sign the draft until it is written up to at least minimal expectations? I know my oldest had to do at least two or three drafts of his draft proposal before he could get sign offs from the troop and the project beneficiary.

Yup...and that is what we do now. But that leaves the detailed final plan still undone...or done at the last moment or after the project. And rarely does the final plan match the draft plan. So I was trying to find a way to coach the candidates better without 1) adding a requirement, and 2) adding/subtracting from the process. What I am hearing here is a validation of my thought around compelling the candidates to finish their final plan and present that with their draft proposal for sign off (of the proposal, not the final plan).

 

Moz' date=' sounds like the problem is with your district advancement chair. Complain loudly at round table that you need a little more backing from higher up when it comes to the planning process.[/quote']

Well, yes. But there is too much politics being played at that level. They have problems keeping volunteers and paid staff, so I figured I could fight the battle within the unit rather than there. To be honest, I won't get much push back from the scouts or parents, only those who want the easy way out.

 

But also, explain to your boys that they should be able to come back to their project 10 years from now, maybe with a wife and kids, and say "Wouldja look at that? The guy who set this up musta been some kind of awesome!" An Eagle candidate must have said "I will do my best ..." sometime during the program. About the only person who knows really what constitutes a boy's best is the boy and his SM. Never let all of this paper pushing get in the way of that.

Exactly. The off things is some of these guys spend hours (we are talking 80+ hours) on school and science projects that would make an engineer blush, so why do they "mail it in" sometimes when it comes to Scouts. We have documented our process, mapped it directly to the requirements and the BSA published Eagle process and are outlining what is expected at each step. I even have a feedback sheet that mirrors the draft proposal for comments to be made. After review of the draft proposal (and the final plan) we will sign the draft proposal. I think this keeps us within all guidelines and the boys get better advice. Consequently the projects are better.