What kind of Committee do you have?

[Beavah]

 

SR540 in da parent thread commented:

 

I would think that the unit committee that chooses to be closed to non-committee members is the unit that will find it difficult to get adult support for driving, fund-raisers, etc. Except for very special circumstances, it would be like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

This seemed like a good topic to spin off, eh?

 

In the official BSA troop committee model, doin' things like "getting adult support for driving" or "working fundraisers" is NOT part of the role or responsibility of the committee. (Yah, you bookish types can go look it up, Troop Committee Handbook, p. 13 ).

 

In the BSA system, the troop committee is a small group of individuals who are recruited and selected for their expertise. They act like a board of directors. They don't get involved in micromanagin' the nitty-gritty of troop operations like driving or fundraisers. That's the SM's job, eh? Or more properly, da PLC's .

 

BSA-style troop committees only handle director-like functions. They select the SM. They advise on CO and BSA policy. They oversee finances and troop property. And they provide special resources and expertise when a SM is dealin' with serious behavior problems and other challenges. They're the board of directors of a private organization.

 

Lots of units, though, operate on an "open committee" model, usin' whatever parents show up. Cub packs are the most common here, where the adult committee essentially is the group of workers who plans events and trips. Yah, but plenty of troops hang on to this adult-run-worker committee like they were still in cub scouts, eh? The committee spends its time on things like drivin' and whether the kids should be allowed to set up tents in the dark.

 

Both can work, eh? Especially in small troops of like-minded families, bein' open is just fine and friendly. I think there's a reason why the BSA promotes the board-of-directors committee for troops, though. It helps keep parents from micro-managin' and adult-running things. And it helps avoid "adult wars" at the committee level, like we read about in da forums all the time.

 

So, what kind of Committee does your troop have? And if they're not doin' it da BSA way, how do yeh find it better?

 

Beavah

 

[Oak Tree]

Oddly enough we had just the opposite of what you describe as more typical...our pack had a small committee that planned things, and the troop had a "parents/committee meeting". When the troop was small, this did serve as a reasonable way to keep parents in the loop. But as it grew, it was unwieldy to do committee business - the "board of directors" type stuff - at a parents meeting. So much of the committee work would get done behind the scenes. We've switched to the more formal model and run it pretty much as described in the literature.

 

The only real differences that we have are that we use ASMs for some of the committee functions that are described in the literature. I don't really care if the equipment coordinator is an ASM or a MC. Same for the activities coordinator, or the advancement coordinator. Those roles are all somewhat boy-facing.

 

Oak Tree

[OldGreyEagle]

I am not so sure the Committee should be charged with selecting the unit leader. I am in an Eatery at McCarran airport right now on the second of three legs to get home, so I cant quote a resource. The selection of the Scoutmaster is something the COR and IH should be doing. Now, I know some of you may think, sure thats a good idea, and it may even be the way its written, but the IH and COR wont/arent/have no clue to do it so the COmmittee does. The problem then becomes if the COmmittee selects the unit leader, they may get the idea they should be able to "control" the unit leader and that is not the COmmittees function. They do not hire, nor can they fire the unit leader, thats the IH and COR's job.

 

The Troop committee I serve is very collaborative. We dont vote, we discuss and make decisions by consensus.

[Beavah]

Yah, that's a good point, OGE. My bad, as the kids say.

 

There is a whole chapter in the Troop Committee Handbook describin' how the committee is to go about selecting and recruiting adult leaders. It's even described as "the single most important responsibility of the troop committee."

 

But when yeh read closer, the actual text describes the committee function as "assisting in the selection". So you're quite right. The clarity of the writin', though, leaves a bit to be desired. The overall chapter does leave a new committee member with the wrong impression.

 

Beavah

 

[EagleInKY]

I guess our troop is kind of a hybrid. We have a committee, they have a chairman, secretary, treasurer, advancement coordinator, a few other positions and a few at large members (troop of about 30). They handle Boards of Review as well as the troop finances & such. They don't typically meet as an individual group, but just coordinate things informally when they need to do so.

 

The monthly meetings are committee/parent meetings and everyone, including SM/ASMs are invited. We review what is coming up, budget issues, advancement topics, etc. They also line up adult help for special projects as necessary. The SPL often comes in to give an update. If a Life Scout has his Eagle project plan together, he'll present it to the group (after he's already reviewed it with the SM & Adv Chair). These meetings sometimes spin out of control, and I have to reign them in and remind them of their role.

 

Like Oak Tree, I don't care about whether certain responsibilities are covered by ASMs or committee members. For example, we need a coordinator for the annual Scouting for Food can drive. This is the person that goes to the district to map out our territory, gets the fliers, gets a trailer and boxes for hauling, etc. He/She works with the PLC to make sure it's on the calendar and announced. We usually use committee members for these types of roles, as they are very much behind the scenes and are little value-add to the boys. The SM/ASMs are involved to help make sure the activity goes off as planned. Does that make sense?

[SR540Beaver]

Beavah said, "In the official BSA troop committee model, doin' things like "getting adult support for driving" or "working fundraisers" is NOT part of the role or responsibility of the committee."

 

I didn't mean for it to sound like I was saying it was the responsibility of the committee. The point is this, if the program side of the house and/or the committee side of the house act in an exclusive manner, they will be hard pressed to find volunteers when they need them. You catch more flys with honey than vinegar.

[SR540Beaver]

OGE,

 

http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/18-626/index.html

 

"Critical to the success of your Scouting program is the selection of quality leaders who represent the values of the Boy Scouts of America and the chartered organization. The selection process begins with a meeting of your chartered organization representative, the troop committee chair, and the unit commissioner to define the characteristics they would like to have in a new Scoutmaster or Coach. Also at this meeting, they should select a steering committee from the troop committee."

[OldGreyEagle]

Hey, I could be wrong, but if the Scoutmaster is chosen by the Committee, then do they have the ability to remove him/her? And if not, why not?

[Hunt]

I would say that the Committee's role is to identify and propose a leader to the CO, who then hires him or her. Thus, the Committee could also propose to the CO that the leader be de-hired.

 

But I think all this discussion of firing SMs, and of carefully selecting them with review by the CO, etc., is probably not the reality for most of us. Getting somebody to serve (and to continue serving) more often involves begging, pleading, etc.

[Scoutmaster Ron]

What kind do I have?

 

One that is un-trained, adds addl attendence requirements, tells scouts that they will be failed in BOR's if they cant perform knot tying in front of them. These are the items that contribute to failing troops

[EagleInKY]

Ouch! Ron, I feel for you. I hope you can get them trained.

[ASM59]

Former Troop:

Constant complaining and infighting among the Committee Members; especially between the Committee Chair and Treasurer - each have controlling personalities and who seemed to think that there is some power to be had as adult members of the committee (self-serving rather than serving the Scouts). In the end, this in-fighting had driven off most of the other Committee Members and ASM's. All this power struggle resulted in closed meetings, sometimes not even all the Committee members were invited.

 

Present Troop:

Committee will do just about anything to support the program that the boys want and the SM has approved - up to and including helping to provide transportation. Most (perhaps all of them - I don't know everyone very well yet) are very willing to serve when it comes to Troop operation. Meetings are open to all parents and SM and ASM's. Most don't bother to come, unless they are on the Committee, as they trust the Committee to do an upstanding job.

 

ASM59

[gwd-scouter]

In the past three years of reorganizing our small troop, our Committee has been basically thrown together with whatever adults were willing to step in. A paper committee. Our CO is not interested (and never has been) in selecting and approving leaders for the Troop, so filling the positions of the Committee has been the function of the Scoutmaster, not just for the past three years since I've been SM, but since the Troop's inception.

 

My main focus for the past three years has been the boys and getting the Troop to a place where the guys are making the plans and carrying them out. Recruiting has also been on the top of the list of things to do and we've had very limited success in this area, but the future is brighter for the upcoming year.

 

Now that the boys are on their way, I've been working toward getting a Committee together that will actually do something and take the burden of me. So far, we've recruited a Committee Chair, Treasurer, and Advancement Coordinator. With our small troop these are really the only three positions we need at this point. Still working on the COR, but with no help from the CO, this continues to be something of a problem.

 

We are having a meeting in a couple of weeks with the new Committee to talk about their responsibilities to the Troop. Already our new Committee Chair is excited about the job. She has been (sort of) doing our Advancements, but that's not really her bag. She has expressed interest in organization behind the scenes like organizing recruiting, fundraisers, etc. and I think she truly is better suited to that. One of our new Scout's Mom is taking over advancement. She had said she would like to know more about what goes on in the Troop and wanted to know what she could do to help. Ditto for new Treasurer.

 

So....this is the first time we actually had folks WILLING to work on the Committee and asking what they could do to help our Troop. The future looks promising.

 

Edited to add: I forgot to mention, over the years we've had two men whose sons are now in college continue to serve on our Committee in the capacity of doing BORs. This has been enormously helpful to us since in the past history of our Troop, the ASMs did the BORs (thrown together at the last minute with whoever happened to be at the Scout meeting that night).(This message has been edited by gwd-scouter)

[Joni4TA]

Our Committee consists of a usual 3 folks - the CC, Treasurer and the Advancements chair. We also just recruited a new MC, so that (hopefully) will make 4 steady folks. Makes it hard for BOR's and other important committee functions when you work with a skelton crew. We have 20 Scouts in our Troop, too - so it's not like we're that small.

 

In a way, I don't mind that we have a little committee; it makes decision-making quick and painless. On the other hand, it bites us in the butt when we NEED people. We keep begging, but we can't force volunteers to join up with us. Hopefully we'll be more effective as we plan to do some recruiting soon - new parents = fresh volunteers. LOL

 

However, because we are a small committee, we have a SM and about 5 ASM's as well. We require a LOT of input from them in order to conduct committee business. And we encourage parents to attend our monthly meetings as well.

 

I guess that makes us an OPEN committee.