Are The Hours A Life Scout Performs On His Eagle Project Counted As Service Project Hours?

[lepzid]

Hello,

 

A Life Scout has performed 88 hours of work on his own Eagle Project.

 

I am aware that the hours get listed in his workbook.

 

Do those hours also count as Service Project hours in other record keeping, such as Troopmaster, so that when the Life Scout goes to his Eagle BOR, it also shows those hours?

 

Looking for policy determination not opinions!

 

Thanks.

[Torchwood]

There is no service hour requirement for Eagle, so there is no need to keep a log anywhere other than in the Eagle Workbook.

[NJCubScouter]

If you are talking about the total number of service hours a Scout has done, from joining to Eagle, I am not sure why the EBOR would want to know that. It is not directly relevant to any requirement for Eagle or any other rank, though of course the specific number of hours required for the lower ranks must be done.

 

On the other hand, I have heard references at ECOH's and elsewhere to total number of service hours. And I know Troopmaster keeps track of it. In my opinion it is counting for the sake of counting. But I guess if you are going to count for the sake of counting, you might as well count everything.

Edited August 4, 2015 by NJCubScouter

[perdidochas]

Hello,

 

A Life Scout has performed 88 hours of work on his own Eagle Project.

 

I am aware that the hours get listed in his workbook.

 

Do those hours also count as Service Project hours in other record keeping, such as Troopmaster, so that when the Life Scout goes to his Eagle BOR, it also shows those hours?

 

Looking for policy determination not opinions!

 

Thanks.

We put it in.  That said, it's not needed for the EBOR.  There are no minimum hours for an Eagle Project. However, here in FL, students who want to get certain state sponsored scholarships need certain numbers of volunteer hours.  We keep track of them, to make it easier to consolidate those hours. 

Edited August 4, 2015 by perdidochas

[Gone]

If you are talking about the total number of service hours a Scout has done, from joining to Eagle, I am not sure why the EBOR would want to know that. It is not directly relevant to any requirement for Eagle or any other rank, though of course the specific number of hours required for the lower ranks must be done.

 

From the current Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, page 4.While not a requirement for Eagle (Requirement #5), it seems to be a suggested part of the project results for the Eagle candidate to track the hours worked as well as the number of people who helped.This has always been one of my arguments in BSA's lack of clarity around what is/isn't "required" as part of the project. If BSA wants the data, put it in the deliverables (the Final Report) for the project.

 

Collecting Service Project Data

 

The BSA collects information on hours worked on Eagle Scout projects because it points to achievement of our citizenship aim. Please assist with data collection by keeping a list of people who help and the number of hours they work. When you prepare your project report you will need to include this data on page B of the report. Providing accurate information will also help your unit leadership enter your project into the BSA’s Journey to Excellence tracking system.

I have seen district folks interpret this passage as a required output from the Eagle Project report. We counsel all of our candidates to include FTE data and hour in their final report.

 

@@lepzid we track and input ALL service hours for each Scout, including Eagle Project hours. If an Eagle candidate spent 200 hours working his project he should get credit for them.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Bad Wolf

[NJCubScouter]

BadWolf, the question was not about what goes in the workbook, and that is not what I was answering. The question is whether the Eagle Project hours "count" in the Scout's "career service hours," which is an unofficial statistic unrelated to advancement. We seem to agree that if that statistic is tracked, the Eagle Project hours should count.

[Eagle94-A1]

Yes it is service hours and should be recorded. Any scout sho needs service hours for a lower rank and help sout should get credit as well.

 

One thing I've found that gets overlooked, but is part of the process and should be included when calculating hours that teh Life Scout has done towards the project is the entire planning process, i.e. talking to folks about the project, writing up the proposal, getting the necessary approvals, etc.  Also the follow up, i.e. making the project book, tank you notes, etc should also be considered as part of the project.

 

But as others have mentioned, there is no time requirement. Only the ability to plan, organize, supervise, and execute a project. 

[qwazse]

Officially: it's optional.

Frankly, there is no need to count any service hours at all.

Scout tells PL he served, when, and how. PL remembers seeing him doing at least as many as was required. Signs off.

 

@@lepzid, you don't want opinions, but how 'bout a story?

 

National Honor Society loves collecting all of the service hours every candidate put out while in high school. Yeah, whatever. Son #2 fills out the paperwork turns it in. Well our school's chapter holds a big old banquet (which, we learned from Son #1 after the fact, it is bad form for parents not to attend) and current members are assigned a candidate or two and asked to write an bio-sketch introducing them. So, we have 'bout 40 speeches with mind-numbing statistics (___ is a wonderful student in X clubs with Y awards and Z service hours) and the country club coffee really has something to be desired.

 

The boy who introduced son #2, ignored all of that, and testified to how, no matter how miserable the day was, son #2 would show up at their after school club, committed to spending long hours, always with something cheerful to say ... and how he was a great person to have by your side. Not a mention of grades, varsity letters, class rank, or hours of this or that.

 

Well, guess which boy, by virtue of having his priorities straight, was declared a member of our family?

 

Go ye and do likewise.

[skeptic]

Eagle project hours are entered into the National register you put other service in in My Scouting.  In our council, the office person that enters Eagle info puts it in as part of the process.  So, the answer is yes.

[qwazse]

Eagle project hours are entered into the National register you put other service in in My Scouting.  In our council, the office person that enters Eagle info puts it in as part of the process.  So, the answer is yes.

Although those are both nice things to do, what relevance is it to the EBoR?

[skeptic]

Although those are both nice things to do, what relevance is it to the EBoR?

 

The OP does not ask about the BOR, simply the hours.  Has nothing to do with the BOR though.

[qwazse]

@@skeptic, sorry, I must have read it wrong ...

.... so that when the Life Scout goes to his Eagle BOR, it also shows those hours?....

The grand total (likely an undercount if the kid is a first class scout) is a neat stat, maybe for a COH, maybe for BSA to brag about the good it does in the world. But if it's split between Eagle and other, it's still a neat number.

[acco40]

Requirement or not, the question was framed by lepzid and the correct answer is yes, hours spent working on an Eagle Project may be considered as service hours.

 

I know some folks mistake EBOR with ECOH sometimes.  I've been guilty of that slip myself.   Many times at an Eagle Court of Honor, the mention of total service hours is publicized and time spent working on their project should be considered as part of that total - as well as any work they may have done on other Scouts Eagle Projects.

[qwazse]

@@acco40, "may be" is not a policy determination, your word choice implies that there are different ways of doing things.

 

I have done just a few EBoR's and since then many more ESMC's (for younger candidates especially we have several ASMs sit in to get them comfortable addressing a table full of old farts). And from talking about this with lots of others, total career service hours is just not something that comes up.

 

We like to understand the project break-down of the boy's hours vs. the time contributed by others. That helps us ask effective questions about what the boy learned about leadership.

 

I suppose the number of hours of service outside of his own Eagle project might tell me something about one boy vs. another. So, sure, that would be a nifty figure to hear about.

 

I guess I'm a multivariate kind of guy and would prefer to see the figures for the two kinds of service separated. But, that's just me.

 

Until someone digs up an official quote on the matter, choose the method that works for your district advancement committee. If they don't care, choose the one that works for your troop committee. If they don't care, ask the PLC and maybe some troop alumni how they would like it recorded.

[Gone]

 

Until someone digs up an official quote on the matter, choose the method that works for your district advancement committee. If they don't care, choose the one that works for your troop committee. If they don't care, ask the PLC and maybe some troop alumni how they would like it recorded.

 

This is good advice. Our district does ask for total career service hours as well as total Eagle project hours. I know other districts that don't. Best to find out what your district wants to conform.