SPL requirements

[msnowman]

Are there a specific set of National requirements to be an SPL or are things like that left to the individual Troops to make policy? For example does National say that to be an SPL you need to be Star or above? Or can Troop 123 say you must be Star or above while Troop 456 says its 1st class and above?

 

Nephew wants to nominate a boy in his troop who is only 1st class (but very capable) because the only Star boy is.....well, not ready to be a leader (in Nephew's opinion). My suggestion was to nominate 1st class if he wants to, and then let the SM reject the nomination or not. Nephew wants to know the requirements before he nominates/suggests anybody.

 

YiS

Michelle

[Trevorum]

Michelle, I believe that eligibility for SPL and other PORs is set by each troop.

[EagleInKY]

Yes, the SM handbook essentially says that a troop can set its own standards for SPL. If you search the history of this forum, you'll find several threads where this is debated.

[eagle90]

Michelle -

 

Have your nephew go for it. Two of the best Senior Patrol Leaders I have ever had were only first class scouts, but were the best examples of leadership imagineable. Unfortunately rank doesn't always equate to leadership

[msnowman]

Thanks for the help. We were talking about it last nite (elections are next month) and he wanted to get his facts in order before he says anything. He knows that if it is simply Troop policy, than that can be changed (new SM in 25 years), but if it was a National policy there wasn't much he could do about it.

 

And Amen to the comment about rank not equaling leadership. The boy who is Star really wants to be SPL but he hasn't learned the difference between being a leader and being a boss....and there is a big difference there. A little more time and some maturity would do him wonders before he is an SPL....but that is my opinion....one Nephew has echoed often as he and Star are friends.

 

Thanks again

YiS

Michelle

[Eamonn]

The only "Real" SPL requirements are to get more votes than the other candidates.

But sadly many Troops don't seem happy to go with this.

Eamonn

[gwd-scouter]

I'm am always learning on this forum.

 

I've always been under the assumption that there were rules about the age and rank of the scout leadership positions within a troop.

 

I have found, all over the Internet, written job descriptions for SPL on down, from differerent troops across the United States. They were virtually the same!

 

Since I couldn't find anything in actual National BSA publications, I figured that what I found consistently on so many different sites on the Internet must be the way it is.

 

So, each Troop decides the requirements for leadership positions?

 

Is this because they have had a poor experience with, say, a 1st class Scout as SPL?

 

I am in no way trying to be snotty about the policies of a particular troop in selecting or allowing the election of SPLs and other Jr. troop leadership. But, if it is supposed to be done by the Scouts, then why set arbitrary requirements on the Scouts?

 

 

[EagleInKY]

GWD -

 

From the SM Handbook, Chapter 3, Page 13

 

Senior Patrol Leader

"... He is elected by all members of the troop. Each troop sets its own requirements and schedule of elections..."

 

There are various reasons given. Weak ones include prior bad experience or the SM not trusting the boy's opinion. Better ones include setting a bar for guys to attain, or making sure the SPL is reasonably active in the troop. Term limits are also discussed. The up side of them is that they force rotation around the troop. The down side is that when you only have one good candidate, term limits may force you to have a less qualified SPL.

[TheScout]

gwd, It does not have to be arbitrary requirements imposed on the boys. In my troop when I was a youth the PLC wrote a sort of troop constitution which governed the elections.

[Vigil-Hiker]

My troop(a few years or so[almost 20!! where did the time go?])usually preferred Star scouts for SPL. We had term limits of one year for any position unless someone was unable to continue then another election was held for that position. You could be re-elected, or you could refuse the nomination if you did not want a second year at it.

 

We had a SPL who decided not to accept a nomination for a second year. He mentored the new SPL for the first couple of months and became a JASM.

 

We usually had the second closest in votes be the ASPL.

[Mike F]

Vigil-Hiker,

The rules have changed some in the last 20 years. ASPL now is selected by SPL with a sanity check from SM to make sure SPL is not just selecting his buddy. Same holds for almost all troop-level positions of responsibility. This is spelled out in the SPL and SM handbooks. The only positions determined by election in any way are SPL and PL.

 

msnowman,

The SM Handbook specifically mentions age and rank as a couple of things that can be considered if a troop decides to set requirements for positions. This really should be done by the PLC if things are working right. But the SM can recommend something. I don't have SM Handbook in front of me, but believe there is something in there about SM approving list of candidates for SPL, too. This makes sense since the SM and SPL are a team. I know of one case where SM would not allow a popular scout on the ballot because his scout spirit was seriously lacking and he had not regularly been attending meetings or campouts. He had a SM conference to talk to the wannabe candidate. Result: Major course correction in the scout's attitude and attendance - he was elected in the next turnover and did great.

 

The reason there are different qualifications for different troops reflect things like troop's size, age, rank structure, etc. For a very young troop, it wouldn't make sense to require SPL candidate to be Star/Life or age 16. I know of some troops that use these requirements as a way of nudging the older guys to stay in the game and step up to the plate. I know of another local troop that forces older guys to run for SPL by requiring Eagle candidates to have served as SPL. This is NOT ALLOWED in BSA! Any of the PORs listed in Scout Handbook Eagle requirements will suffice. I wish I had more time to roll in to correct this, but have my hands full with the other troops I serve.

 

If you only have one potential candidate that meets your current requirement, it is time to open up the requirements to reflect current age and rank demographics.

 

Cheers!

 

-mike

[Mike F]

Vigil-Hiker,

I forgot to mention - I liked your comment about outgoing SPL sticking around to help mentor the new SPL. We made that a requirement for the job a couple of years ago - official part of the SPL job is helping the new SPL for a couple of months to smooth the transition. It has been working great. Not only do the former SPLs not disappear overnight, they have all been sticking around, helping with troop leader training, and even visiting when they're home from college.

I strongly encourage everyone to consider pushing this expectation. Let the former SPLs know they are valued leaders and keep them in the game.

-mike