Committee Members for BORs

[FaithfulScouter]

My understanding is that the Unit has a responsibility to implement training at a meeting, in addition to individual and family work on it.  If the Unit has not, should the individual Scout be held responsible, or have his advancement postponed?

[Eagledad]

To answer your question, the CC is responsible for the BOR. Ideally they delegate the responsibility to another adult. 

You are in a tough spot because you are going to have to bring this up to the CC and/or committee. At the moment don't worry about passing around the responsibility. Your committee (and SM) need to get trained to how the advancement system works. If I were you, I would get all the documentation I could to learn exactly how the advancement process works and where the adults fit in. When you confront the CC and committee, you need to present facts back by the BSA. I say confront, but that sounds a bit harsh for how you discuss this subject. You don't want to get them defensive. You want to help inform the team so that they can be more efficient and not create some confussion down the road when a scout is getting ready for his EBOR. 

Barry

Edited April 13, 2018 by Eagledad

[NJCubScouter]

2 hours ago, qwazse said:

Star Rank, Req 6

Cyber Chip is part of requirement 4 for Scout rank as well.  Both were included in the 2016 revisions to the requirements.

[NJCubScouter]

FaithfulScouter, a (non-Eagle) BOR is supposed to be composed of between three and six troop committee members, so it's not just a matter of the same three responding to the emails first.  If anybody else is volunteering, up to a total of six, they should be participating as well.  (Personally I think six is too many, certainly at the lower ranks, but I don't make the rules.)

In my troop the Advancement Coordinator (currently me) chairs all BOR's unless he cannot be there, and the AC others to serve.  I do rotate the BOR spots around among the committee members who have expressed interest in doing BOR's.  (Some did not know they were interested until I recruited them to be interested.)

[CalicoPenn]

4 hours ago, qwazse said:

Star Rank, Req 6

So, Luddites get a pass. Anyone reading this, not so much.

Thanks for the correction Qwazse.

[qwazse]

@NJCubScouter, do you invite new parents who aren't on the committee to sit in on the BoR (of someone other than their son)? It seems that that is a great way to get them involved.

[Eagledad]

7 minutes ago, qwazse said:

@NJCubScouter, do you invite new parents who aren't on the committee to sit in on the BoR (of someone other than their son)? It seems that that is a great way to get them involved.

That is exactly what we do. During my stint as SM, we had two or three BOR leaders who recruited parents standing around, including new parents. The scouts have to request a BOR by signing up on a BOR request sheet. We always try to do the review the same day they sign up, which requires building a board with those standing around at that moment. The leaders give the volunteers a list of basic questions to help them get involved. Typically the leader starts with a few questions to set a tone for the BOR and to keep the question appropriate. As you said, it is a great way for parents to get involved.

Barry

[NJCubScouter]

On 4/13/2018 at 2:59 PM, qwazse said:

@NJCubScouter, do you invite new parents who aren't on the committee to sit in on the BoR (of someone other than their son)? It seems that that is a great way to get them involved.

Yes, if I think the person is suited for the role.  We have gotten several new committee members that way.

[andysmom]

When we have a scout ready for a BOR I (AC) send an email to the entire committee.  In the past we just haven't had committee members come to the meetings so it was usually just 3 of us doing all Boards (myself, treasurer and cc)as the 3 of us were generally at all the meetings.  We have had some new parents join with our recent group of crossovers so I hope that will change now and we will have more MC available for boards as it isn't always convenient for the treasurer especially to sit on them.  In a pinch we have asked parents of some older scouts to help with them even if they weren't on the committee (for scouts other than their own, of course)

[perdidochas]

On 4/12/2018 at 10:03 PM, FaithfulScouter said:

Our Troop Committee has approximately 20 members, not all active.  Our Advancement Coordinator has been in the role for at least a year.  When it is time for a BOR, it is always the Advancement Coordinator, the CC, and one other member who do them.  I had expressed concern because I thought we should rotate Committee members for training purposes, and to enrich the experience for all.  However, when the emails are sent to request Committee participants the very same people always respond first.  Hmmmm... 

Our AC is not very knowledgeable, and our CC is very new and inexperienced.  Our CC has relayed incorrect information during a BOR, threatening to add requirements.  At a recent Committee Meeting the AC made sure to mention that the boys coming up for review had to have their Cyber Chip, but she had no idea how they were to do it, or that she was responsible for the renewals.  

How do your Troops usually handle choosing or requesting Committee Members for BORs?

In my sons' (and my) former troop, we grabbed any parent we could. Yes, the Advancement coordinator was often involved, sometimes the CC, but we had a variety of committee members and/or parents who did this. This way we almost always had someone who had done it before.  It wasn't intentional, but since we often had more than one BOR scheduled for a meeting, we would often have two going at once. If we just had the same three committee members doing it, we'd be out of luck. 

[perdidochas]

On 4/13/2018 at 9:00 AM, CalicoPenn said:

Did anyone else notice that while the CC is said to have been threatening to add to the requirements, it appears that the Troop has already added to the requirements which the Advancement Chair is trying to enforce? 

Cyber Chip is an optional tool - it is not a requirement for any rank and should not be a requirement to schedule a BOR. 

Instead of worrying about how many of the 20 committee members make themselves available as a first step, I would suggest figuring out who the core group of BOR volunteers are and getting them trained on how advancement works and how to run a BOR - then once that core group is cooking with gas, figure out how to bring more people to the table.

Actually, the Cyber Chip is a requirement for the Scout rank.  You are right that it's not a BOR requirement. There is no BOR for the Scout Rank.

file:///C:/Users/charles.harden/Downloads/524-012_bs_requirements_web.pdf

[perdidochas]

On 4/13/2018 at 8:22 AM, David CO said:

Our committee is chosen by the COR. The committee doesn't choose itself.

We try to keep the number of registered adults as small as possible, as we don't like to pay any unnecessary registration fees. The committee usually has 4 or 5 members. We also have a lot of parent volunteers who are not registered leaders.

I don't actually know how they put together a BOR. I would imagine that the committee chooses and schedules them at their committee meetings.

 

So Scouts can only have BORs after requesting one at a committee meeting? Do your committees meet more than once a month? If not, they are doing a disservice to the Scouts, if arranged as described. 

[gblotter]

On 4/13/2018 at 6:22 AM, David CO said:

Our committee is chosen by the COR. The committee doesn't choose itself.

We try to keep the number of registered adults as small as possible, as we don't like to pay any unnecessary registration fees. The committee usually has 4 or 5 members. We also have a lot of parent volunteers who are not registered leaders.

Committee works the same for our LDS troop. Few formal committee members, more parent volunteers who are not registered leaders.

For our troop, BORs are scheduled by the Committee Chair in consultation with the Scoutmaster and the Advancement Chair. We have a list of "usual suspects" (both committee members and other volunteers), but we will take almost anyone who is willing to participate and learn the process along the way.

For efficiency, we try to batch up our rank advancements and hold a BOR once every three months or so for any Scout who is ready, but of course we will do it more frequently if there is a pressing need.

Edited May 24, 2018 by gblotter

[David CO]

39 minutes ago, perdidochas said:

So Scouts can only have BORs after requesting one at a committee meeting? Do your committees meet more than once a month? If not, they are doing a disservice to the Scouts, if arranged as described. 

There is 1 formal meeting each month. When we are busy and there is a lot of work to do, they will often get together for an unscheduled lunch meeting. I didn't get invited to the lunch meetings. They want to enjoy their lunch.

I think the boys enjoy doing BOR's at the lunch meetings during the summer. A burger and fries can do wonders to improve their mood and disposition. 

 

Edited May 24, 2018 by David CO

[Thunderbird]

1 hour ago, perdidochas said:

Actually, the Cyber Chip is a requirement for the Scout rank.  You are right that it's not a BOR requirement. There is no BOR for the Scout Rank.

file:///C:/Users/charles.harden/Downloads/524-012_bs_requirements_web.pdf

The Cyber Chip is also required for Star rank (part of requirement #6).  It was added as part of the 2016 rank requirement changes.

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/Star_rank_2016.pdf