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Advancement (Needless) Paperwork


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maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the store was right around the corner for everyone.... at least you wouldn't have to add the major road trip to the equation.

 

I'm only at around 40-50 minutes.  I feel bad for the folks that are well more than an hour away.

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I am advancement chair for our troop. When I go to the scout shop, every rank badge has two pieces of paper - the advancement report signed at the BOR and the advancement report generated when I enter the advancement into the internet advancement system. I don't want to put the scout in the online system before he has his BOR, what if he doesn't show? But the committee chair plus two needs to sign off after the BOR and there is no online report at that point in the process. So two pieces of paper to do one job. Then to buy the little pieces of cloth, I have to sign two ledgers - once for the scout account at the council and once for free rank advancement (for getting gold JTE). The clerk has to write in both ledgers and a third to track tax exempt status. It's crazy.

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You'll love this.

 

Rechartered in February. Submitted paperwork 100% complete. Had a scout turning 18 in March and had just finished his Eagle SMC. Was working on his EBOR during March but district was too slow in scheduling the EBOR and it bled in to April. We get a call from council. They tell us they cannot process the young man's annual application because he's no longer a youth and is now an adult, thus stopping all work at district on his EBOR because BSA does not technically consider him a member. All this despite us putting this scout's application on top and noting for council that this scout turned 18 in 40 days.

 

So this young man is being delayed in his quest for Eagle because of council's ineptitude despite our unit notifying them ahead of time and requesting a faster processing of his annual application. BSA needs to overhaul the annual membership processing. Returning members should not be required to resubmit EVERY year!

Edited by Mozartbrau
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You'll love this.

 

Rechartered in February. Submitted paperwork 100% complete. Had a scout turning 18 in March and had just finished his Eagle SMC. Was working on his EBOR during March but district was too slow in scheduling the EBOR and it bled in to April. We get a call from council. They tell us they cannot process the young man's annual application because he's no longer a youth and is now an adult, thus stopping all work at district on his EBOR because BSA does not technically consider him a member. All this despite us putting this scout's application on top and noting for council that this scout turned 18 in 40 days.

 

So this young man is being delayed in his quest for Eagle because of council's ineptitude despite our unit notifying them ahead of time and requesting a faster processing of his annual application. BSA needs to overhaul the annual membership processing. Returning members should not be required to resubmit EVERY year!

 In a similar situation, we had to register an almost Eagle scout as an adult because of how his birthday fell with recharter and scheduling his EBOR. The scout good-naturedly completed Youth Protection and This is Scouting so his adult app would be accepted. In this case, though, the membership chair for the troop recognized the issue and was proactive in handling it.

 

I agree, the annual membership processing does need an overhaul! Our council averages 4 months for our unit from recharter to receiving acknowledgement of the annual charter. Add it to the list!

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 In a similar situation, we had to register an almost Eagle scout as an adult because of how his birthday fell with recharter and scheduling his EBOR. The scout good-naturedly completed Youth Protection and This is Scouting so his adult app would be accepted. In this case, though, the membership chair for the troop recognized the issue and was proactive in handling it.

 

I agree, the annual membership processing does need an overhaul! Our council averages 4 months for our unit from recharter to receiving acknowledgement of the annual charter. Add it to the list!

 

We were proactive. It is just that council promised something they didn't deliver. We are the only membership organization I know that annually treats its members as brand new members. Think of the money that could be saved and spent elsewhere if they got out of 1958 and caught up to the rest of the world.

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