Transfer Advancement from Other Youth Organizations

[Stosh]

So this whole issue begs the question:  If a GS/USA Gold Awardee were to join BSA4G, would see qualify for the eagle?

[RememberSchiff]

We ran into this with a Civil Air Patrol transfer. With his Rank/Grade where should he start with advancement in BSA? What transfer credit should he given? He certainly had more wilderness survival training than most scouts.

 

[HelpfulTracks]

I am not a fan of giving too much credit. Certainly not to the level I have seen people expect. 

We do not count completion of requirements in Scouting to count in Venturing or vice versa (unless the youth was in both units at the time.) 

I am much more comfortable giving credit for very specific requirements and then only with some level of validation.

 

[ItsBrian]

I personally would say it would be equilevant to somewhere around Star. The gold award is not the easiest to earn either, and you take somewhat the same steps for Eagle. You must choose a service project, demonstrate leadership, etc. I’ve seen some that are even better than many Eagle Scout projects.

I don’t believe GS’s do wilderness survival, knots, detailed first aid, etc. 

[RememberSchiff]

13 minutes ago, HelpfulTracks said:

I am not a fan of giving too much credit. Certainly not to the level I have seen people expect. 

We do not count completion of requirements in Scouting to count in Venturing or vice versa (unless the youth was in both units at the time.) 

I am much more comfortable giving credit for very specific requirements and then only with some level of validation.

 

Yes, the BSA allows double even triple dipping of requirement credit but only within one Scouting organization.

[RememberSchiff]

I think a Girl Scout transferring in Boy Scouts would be stunned to be told she could not use power tools for her Eagle project that she had used for her Gold.

[ItsBrian]

7 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

I think a Girl Scout transferring in Boy Scouts would be stunned to be told she could not use power tools for her Eagle project that she had used for her Gold.

Really? GS can use power tools for their project and BS can’t? 

[RememberSchiff]

1 minute ago, ItsBrian said:

Really? GS can use power tools for their project and BS can’t? 

With training yes.

[HelpfulTracks]

1 hour ago, RememberSchiff said:

I think a Girl Scout transferring in Boy Scouts would be stunned to be told she could not use power tools for her Eagle project that she had used for her Gold.

Don't get me started there. There are so many things wrong with G2SS in that regard. But that is a topic for a different thread.

[RememberSchiff]

True enough.

I know Trail Life  has advancement transfer guidelines for those scouts coming from BSA. I have not found the same for BSA.

Edited January 15, 2018 by RememberSchiff

[EmberMike]

1 hour ago, HelpfulTracks said:

...I am much more comfortable giving credit for very specific requirements and then only with some level of validation.

 

As I understand the policy, that seems to be how it's supposed to work. It is certainly how I think it should work. 

In theory, take the handbook for the other organization and put it next to the BSA handbook, and match up requirements. If they seem to be the same requirements, check them off one by one. 

Of course that ultimately will be open to some interpretation, which I think the council review part of the process should be able to sort out. 

[blw2]

interesting question.... I never knew there was such a policy.  I would have guessed that they would come in at ground zero.....and breeze through the stuff they already know.

[qwazse]

Simple answer: over the years BSA has crafted its advancement requirements so that much of their completion is contingent on homage to the BSA. (E.g., Boy Scout camping nights.) So, no, transferring "credit" would be an exersize in futility.

More complex answer (via rhetorical question): why  would any Gold Award recipient want Eagle?

Also, the Gold Award project may be for its own organization. (E.g., one of my Venturers organized and directed a GS camporee.)

Edited January 15, 2018 by qwazse

[EmberMike]

25 minutes ago, qwazse said:

Simple answer: over the years BSA has crafted its advancement requirements so that much of their completion is contingent on homage to the BSA. (E.g., Boy Scout camping nights.) So, no, transferring "credit" would be an exersize in futility...

 

A lot of the requirements (especially in the early ranks) are skills-based, and could certainly match up well with similar learning in other programs. A good chunk of the First Class reqs are very easily applicable to any scout in any organization. Even if you rule out the "Since joining Boy Scouts..." type of requirements, the bulk of the rest of them cover things like cooking, knots, nature, map & compass, swimming, and first aid, all of which are sort of universal scout skills learned in many other programs. 

I'm not a council rep so I can't speak to what they would do when presented with this kind of thing. But at a glance, I suspect a lot of requirements could be checked off for someone coming to the US from another similar scouting program. 

Edited January 15, 2018 by EmberMike

[Stosh]

1 hour ago, qwazse said:

Simple answer: over the years BSA has crafted its advancement requirements so that much of their completion is contingent on homage to the BSA. (E.g., Boy Scout camping nights.) So, no, transferring "credit" would be an exersize in futility.

More complex answer (via rhetorical question): why  would any Gold Award recipient want Eagle?

Also, the Gold Award project may be for its own organization. (E.g., one of my Venturers organized and directed a GS camporee.)

So the college resume has both Eagle and Gold listed on it.... that's why.