Scope of Commissioners

[Beavah]

I also have reservations about UC's serving in all the sections.

 

I was thinkin' the same thing before Eamonn made his comment above.

 

I personally think Commissioners should be limited to the one program they are most familiar with (packs, troops, or crews). They're just way too different to keep up to date and helpful on if yer mixin' and matching, and it's not great for pulling in other ideas for new commissioners.

 

What do the rest of yeh think?

[MarkS]

WARNING: The amount of sarcasm in this message has been deemed dangerous to your health by the Surgeon General...

 

From my experience, you only see Unit Commissioners once or twice a year. For packs, once when they come for the free food at your B&G banquet and once when they hand you your recharter packet. For troops, only when they hand you your recharter packet. Since the differences are so vast, perhaps they should limit themselves to just one program.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[Eagledad]

I have a friend who over the past 40 years as been a Council Commissioner, District Commissioner and Unit Commissioner. He started each of his UC's with a successful unit and a not so successful unit so that the UC could learn from the differences between the two programs. He did not give them units in different sections for the reasons already being mentioned here.

 

However, my own district will give you what you are willing to take because they dont know how to recruit and dont have near enough UCs. If a new inexperienced UC wanted several units in different sections, they would get them.

 

Barry

 

[epalmer84]

I understand the issues with recruiting commissioners and assistants. Its not a glamorous job, and a lot of unit leaders don't understand their relationship with the commissioner service.

 

In a perfect world, the new UC should be paired as an assistant to an experienced UC so they can learn the ropes. In practice, this isn't going to happen in most districts. The DC should ensure the UC understands the programs he is overseeing. If the UC has a Cub Scouting background, then that is where he should start. Once the UC is comfortable, then the DC should start expanding the horizon. Add a troop or team, then a crew or ship.

 

Ed

[click23]

As a unit commissioner I have A mix of units, 2 troops, a pack and a crew. I like the set up that I have because one troop is chartered with the same CO as the pack and the other with the crew. But I could of taken 12 unit if I had wanted because when I joined there was no active unit commissioners. But on the other hand it has been a long time since I was involved with cub scout and sometimes wish that I had taken another troop(maybe one without so many problems:-)

 

Mark, I know you are being sarcastic, but if your district is anything like mine you wouldn't even get to count handing out the recharter pack, this was done by the DE. I try to call for a check up every month with my units, and call again to see if I can attend a meeting. I will also see the cubmaster or scoutmaster if they show up for roundtable.

 

 

[FScouter]

"From my experience, you only see Unit Commissioners once or twice a year."

 

With that kind of sarcasm, maybe he's afraid to visit your unit more often. Maybe your free food isn't very good?

[John-in-KC]

I know a UC who says "I won't do email." Too bad that he's missing out on 95% of the outside-of-meeting communication between youth and parents in our Troop and Crew. He might have a handle on PLC decisions and meeting sites if he'd just come into the 21st Century.

 

While a COR, I instructed my Pack: Commissioners paid for their B&G tickets

 

 

[moxieman]

My district, Kennebec Valley (West-Central Maine) is a large, rural, sparsely populated district (it's over a 2 hour drive north to south and over an hour east to west on back roads).

 

As such, our DC tries to assign UC's to units near their home town and that results in a UC handling all unit types in that area. Many times, they help facilitate communications between a pack and a troop or troop and a crew. As many of you know, there can be a lot of volunteer turnover at the unit level (especially the pack level) and this helps keep communication channels open.

 

The only exception to the above is that we have a unit commissioner from the LDS Church who handles all the LDS-sponsored units. Their program is a bit different, so it makes sense to have someone assigned to them who understands their program.

 

As to never seeing your unit commissioner, have you taken the following steps:

 

Communicate with them regularly and sending him/her your unit's newsletter

Invite them not just to your B&G banquets/courts of honors but also to your regular meetings (and tell them when/where they are)

Invite them on your outings. Provided many of the UC's up this way are also unit leaders, but they can also be a resource to you should you be short of leaders for an outing.

 

I am a roundtable commissioner not currently affiliated with a unit. Many a time in the past few years I have served as a 2nd trained leader for this unit or that who needed a 2nd leader to make an outing happen.

 

Some UC's don't show-up more often fearing the unit thinks they're a spy or trying to interfere with their program (adult turf wars and such). Show them this is not the case and that they (a resource to you) are welcome in your unit and they'll probably show-up more then once or twice a year.

 

[Eamonn]

American Cub Scouting is very different to Cub Scouting in the UK.

When I got involved in Cub Scouting over here, I needed some one who could help me with the program.

I didn't need someone who was more concerned about the CO than helping me deliver the program to the Cub Scouts.

Problems with CO are really best left to the Key 3 or members of the District Committee.

In our District we have a new District Commissioner, I don't know him that well. He seems to be a very nice fellow.

Talking with some of the Scoutmasters they feel he is just "Filling in" as his only experience in Scouting is having been a Den Leader. While he is a nice fellow, the feelings of the Scoutmasters is that he is about as much use to them and the Scouts they serve as pockets in their underwear.

The truth is that he is just filling the hole, the District needed someone and was having a hard time, so he was nabbed.

Being as we are the only Ship in the Council, there isn't anyone that can really do the UC job for us, thankfully when I filled out the Starting a new Ship block on the Sea Scout web site, the Region had a Sea Scouter with many years behind him contact me. We exchange E-mails and he answers my questions, a few weeks back when I was having a problem with a boat he drove the 80 miles to come and help me.

He knows nothing about what is going on in our Council, he lives and has done all of his Scouting in another state. But when it comes to meeting my needs and helping me do a better job of serving the Scouts, he is my main man.

Back when I was District Commissioner, I asked Her Who Must Be Obeyed to take on helping with ensuring that the Charters got to where they were supposed to be and got back in time. She likes the paper work and administrative side of things and is better than I am at it.

I asked that our UC's be "Warm and Cuddly".

While "I don't know!" is sometimes the best answer, if the person who the Unit Leaders are asking for help keeps saying it, the Unit Leaders will soon stop asking.

I suppose it depends on what you call the Unit?

I see it as where the rubber meets the road and the role of the UC is to be there for the people delivering the program. To do this effectively he or she has to know the program

Sure the plumber and the electrician both work in construction, but they do different jobs, use different tools. There is of course some who can do both, but most of the ones I know are far better doing one trade.

Eamonn.

 

[SWScouter]

Here in the district I'm a part of, there are a lot of LDS units. I think that perhaps 70% of the units are LDS. Anyway, each LDS ward has four units, a Pack, Troop, Team, and Crew. My understanding is that for each ward, the COR is also the UC for the four units chartered to it.

 

SWScouter

[MarkS]

"With that kind of sarcasm, maybe he's afraid to visit your unit more often. Maybe your free food isn't very good?"

 

Or maybe, just maybe, he didn't fulfill his role and responsibility as a UC. When I was with my Pack, I may not have been the CM, but I was pretty much a one-man show trying to keep the program going and other leaders involved. I called and emailed our UC very frequently (at least monthly, sometimes multiple times a month) for help and invited him to committee and pack meetings. Told him we needed help involving new leadership when I left. This went on for a year. He did nothing.

 

After joining the troop, I found out the SM had been trying to get him to help the pack a year before I started asking for help.

 

I doubt the pack will have enough leadership to recharter in February.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[Eamonn]

Having the COR act as the UC isn't the way the system is supposed to work.

With the greatest respect to the Commissioners who do a good job, I do feel that Commissioner Service is very rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

Eamonn.