Committee Members Role

[ASM59]

Hello,

 

I have a quick question and would like to get as much feedback as possible.

 

Do you have Committee Members who are regularly involved in your Troop Meetings and on Troop Outings?

 

Our CC has told the committee that they are not allowed to be involved in such areas and need to stay out as that is the responsibility of the SM and ASM's. I know that Committee Members can not sign-off for any advancements, but I should think (and have seen in the past) that they should be welcome wherever and however they are willing to help.

 

Thanks for your responses,

ASM59

[sst3rd]

You make correct points. Our Troop's committee always attends trips and all other activities in support of the Scouts. We have a couple of good ASM's, but the Scouts enjoy having the Committee along. They don't know the difference. Committee members can sign off requirements just like the SM's and ASM's can.

 

Your other thread; leave your current troop with no guilt. You and your son can find a Troop that would provide Scouting opportunities for you son, and for you to support.

 

sst3rd

[ASM59]

Thanks for the info. Is it really true that Committee Members are allowed to sign of on advancements? I thought I was told in SM specific training that they were not allowed to, but perhaps that is just an old rule that our Troop had in place.

 

Thanks also for the vote of confidence, this whole thing is sooooo difficult.

 

ASM59

[CubScoutJo]

The majority of our committee members also are quite involved in the "troop" aspects. They serve as chaperones, drivers, patrol mentors, and they sign off advancements on occasion.

 

I can't imagine a troop not wanting the committee to be involved with the boys, as long as they have proper training and know what they should and should not do as far as boy-led concerns. Adult association is one of the methods of Boy Scouts. I feel the more adults they are exposed to the better.

 

Plus, it makes them much more comfortable at BOR's.

 

Jo

[FScouter]

It takes several adults to cover all the adult responsibilities in a troop. The Scoutmaster's primary role is to train boy leaders. He and his assistant Scoutmasters work with the boys. If the SM starts doing tour permits, buying rank advancements, and taking over popcorn sales, he can't be doing his best work in working with the boys.

 

The committee primarily handles support functions and does not work with the boys except as defined for the particular job description. For example, the committee treasurer works with the troop scribe. If committee members are spending their one hour a week doing the jobs of the SM and assistants, are the support functions being adequately covered?

 

There is no prohibition about committee members attending campouts. My feeling though is that if they want to function as an assistant Scoutmaster, they ought to register that way and turn over the committee duties to someone else.

 

It is the responsibility of the SM to sign rank requirements. He may authorize his assistant Scoutmasters to sign, committee members too if that is his desire. He may also authorize specific boys to sign specific requirements. No person has any authority to sign unless authorized by the SM.

 

This stuff is all covered in the Scoutmaster Handbook and the Troop Committee Guidebook.

[Venividi]

F_scouter gives excellent advice. In many cases, you have to do what works. Though personally, I would not choose (as SM) to delegate sign-off of requirements to committee members. Think of it as the flip side of SM/ASM not being able to participate in BOR's. Its supposed to be a checks and balances kind of thing. If the scouts can't tell the difference between committee members and the ASM's, then the roles need better definition.

 

I have had committee members attend campouts. They were told that they were on a vacation, and while they participated in activities, they did not step in to work with boys unless there was mutual agreement with the SM for a specific function. Example: advancement chair who was an astronomy buff bringing a telescope and explaining planets and constellations. An ongoing exception would be that I would want the committee person responsible for equipment to serve as advisor to the quartermaster.

[ASM59]

OK, I think I'm seeing that the level of involvement by CM's depends on the need in the Troop and possibly Troop tradition / philosophy.

 

Please, keep the feedback coming.

 

Thanks,

ASM59

[eagle90]

In our troop we do not differentiate between committee members and SM/ASM's. Both attend Committee Meetings and both attend any campout or activity that they wish to. The more adults involved in your troop, the better. There will come a time when you will be crying for adult help. Telling a COmmittee Membver "You can work on the fundraisers and sit thru the boring meetings, but you can't do the fun things like camping" I have a hunch you will lose a lot of them. Plus it also helps the boys associate with a number of different adults with varying skills and personalities. Perhaps its not 100% by the book, but it has worked for us for over 50 years.

[EagleInKY]

Committee members and ASM/SMs are very different roles. Check out the SM Handbook and the Troop Committee Guidebook. The Troop Committee is responsible for the ways and means of the troop. They provide the resources (money, equipment, leaders) to make sure the program can be successful. They provide a level of oversight, mostly through managing the budget and the very important role of conducting Boards of Review.

 

The SMs are responsible for the program. They work directly with the scouts to make the program happen.

 

Now, with that said, that doesn't mean that the Commitee Members aren't welcome at meetings and events. In our case, they are certainly welcome to hang out at meetings, and many of them do. Sometimes this is good in case an unexpected BOR comes up. They can also help out if we need the extra hands, but that usually isn't the case. I discourage them from participating or even eavesdropping in on the actual meetings in progress. I think it's better for them to hang out near the meeting than to become part of it. I, myself, try to be as invisible as I can, while still doing my job. (I'm the SM).

 

As for activities and campouts, we certainly welcome their participation. If for no other reason, we need the extra drivers and "chaperones". They camp with the adult leaders to form our "adult patrol". If a Committee Member participates actively, we expect them to take Fast Start and Youth Protection Training.

[SSScout]

I doubt if our troop could operate as actively as it does if we strictly delineated the SM/ASM group function from the TC group functions. Boy Led? Certainly, as much as possible, but...

 

Our treasurer is a Patrol Dad. The Fund Raiser is an ASM.

The CC was a Troop Dad, but his son graduated out some years ago. We are very grateful for his experience and leadership. All are "trained". The Advancement Chair is not anything else, his son is a 2C. Another Cmem is the Pioneer MBC. I could go on. Any parent who wishes to attend a TCom meeting is more than welcome. The adult Troop officers come from the cadre of dads (and moms) who put themselves out for the boys. As an ASM, I attend the TCom and I doubt if anyone would not call me a member of the TCom, certainly not my SM.

Any parent (or Gparent!) who wishes to come along on a hike or campout or other activity certainly is welcome. Our boys enjoy the extra recognition(?), and yes, the adult camp serves as a training ground for the less experienced adults AND an example for the Scouts "over there". ("gee mr. J, how'd you do that?")

 

YiS

 

[Lisabob]

In our case about half of the committee members will probably never attend a campout, for a variety of reasons, and the other half attend more campouts than they miss. I think if we told them that they were either required, or not allowed, they'd be seriously offended, we'd probably lose some of them completely, and as a result our program would suffer.

 

We do make a clear distinction between committee and ASM positions and responsibilities. The SM does not authorize committee members to sign books for rank advancement, regardless of their expertise, in order to maintain a check and balance system when it comes to BORs. But that doesn't mean our committee members don't work with the boys in areas of their expertise - they just don't sign off on things.

 

I also agree that attending at least some functions makes it easier to conduct relevant BORs because you get to know the boys differently than you would just watching them at troop meetings. I know that attending even a few events really changed my perspective on BORs and helped me see what kinds of things I could/should be asking in order to help the boys learn from their experiences. Also as a committee member it helps to have that experience from the campouts when a problem arises and the SM comes to the committee seeking input (or, potentially, when the committee sees a problem and wants to address it w/ the SM - he can't very well say, "what do you know, you're never at these campouts" - not that I think our SM would say that, but hypothetically I'm sure this comes up on occasion.)

 

Lisa'bob