Troop Election Cycles

[John-in-KC]

For those elect PORs on a six month cycle, when do you pick the election month and why?

 

Ours were March and September: Spring election in March got us to and through summer camp with a leadership team. Fall election in September allowed the youth to have fun with service projects and Klondike (we traditionally went to an area charity, "Bikes and Trikes for Tykes" each fall and helped refurbish old bicycles.

[Gunny2862]

Every six months, although there is nothing to prevent a repeat performance of a SPL except his turning it down.

 

I don''t know why we do it this way yet or our reasoning on the time line but we use November and May. I know that the November election requires our incoming SPL to deal with a major fundraiser in his first two months in addition to getting his training and our May election gives the new SPL at least a months worth of meetings before heading off to summer camp.

 

I would kind of like to see a year but also think that a bad leader can really kill you (and the Troop)unless you are really going to hold his feet to the fire about his performance. And in a year long cycle that means if you wind up removing him from the first tour you may hurt both his chances to recover with a repeat performance and impact someone else''s shot at the big POR.

Which I think shouldn't matter but we had a 15 and 1/2 year old Eagle candidate get grilled(wrongly IMHO) about why he hadn't had the SPL or ASPL position at his Eagle BoR.(This message has been edited by Gunny2862)

[eolesen]

We do October and April for all positions except SPL. October gives us some time to re-acclimate from the summer, and April is

 

Rather than elect the SPL separately, we promote the ASPL into the SPL position at the next election cycle, so the Scout gets a full year of leadership experience, and gets to learn from the current SPL. I will admit that I was skeptical about the ASPL automatically becoming SPL when we transferred into this troop, but after watching it for three election cycles now, I will admit it provides a degree of continuity I didn''t see with my previous unit. It also gives the Scout exposure to the full program. I''ve always felt that those elected to leadership positions which span the summer months have an easier time than those who have to do it over the winter, since programs and attendance do wind down a bit for the summer.

[John-in-KC]

My thought:

 

Offices, Warrant Offices, now PORs... they''ve always been a part of the Trail to Eagle. From First Class up, you were expected to do something beyond yourself. True in the 60s, true now.

 

The advantage of a 1 year commitment in patrol/Troop positions is stability and added mentorship. The downsides are:

- Decreased opportunity for getting that POR time needed.

- Risk of relocation in a mobile society (over time, perhaps a quarter of our FC, S, and L Scouts have moved away thanks to Dad or Mom''s job and a relocation).

 

The advantage of a six month commitment is opportunity, and after all, Leadership Development is a Method! The downsides are:

- Self-inflicted turnover/change/churn.

- Less training/mentoring.

- One major project per term.

 

In Gunny''s case, I might consider sliding the cyle back by 4 weeks (October/April). The two major events of the program year (winter fundraiser and camp) still are 1 to a customer, but the SPL has more time to get his legs on the ground.

[Philmont0406]

Our troop only changes leadership positions once a year. We do it in October. We found using the six month cycle we spent a lot of effort teaching the boys what was involved just in time for them to move to another position.

It''s like your own child, just when you get them to be useful around the house they move out.

[highcountry]

Before I took over it was once a year. What happened was some patrols depleted down to not being worth being called patrols, poor youth leaders stayed in spots and did the troop no good for a whole year and other issues.

 

We do a major election in MArch just after we get in all teh new Webelos cross overs. At teh end of Sept-Early October we re-acess things at a Greenbar as to what leaders are effective, which were not, who is showing promise, who wants to stay on in positions they are doing well at and or improving, should we have 3 patrols or 4 etc and align things for the balance of our year. This tries to keep the experience, motivated and effective people in where tehy are doing well and learning and gets rid of the dead wood replacing it with promising up and comers. It also keeps the patrols right sized and as friendships and skills change, it makes for more effective teams (patrols)

[awesome1_in_cc]

Twice a year, In January and June.

 

January is right after Winter Camp and one month before the area cross-overs which gives the new scouts a steady SPL / Troop Guide presence for the first 5 months.

 

June is right after Summer Camp and is 6 months from January.

 

 

[eisely]

We elect youth leaders twice a year, in September or early October, and then in January or February. This makes for unbalanced terms, but there is much less for the elected leadship to do in the summer.

[Eagledad]

>>This makes for unbalanced terms, but there is much less for the elected leadship to do in the summer.

[Chippewa29]

My troop does a six month cycle. A scout is always eligible to run for reelection. Our terms start Feb. 1 and August 1. We have Scouts in the troop that are involved in an activity that prevents them from being SPL/PL (such as marching band or football in the fall, musical or baseball in the spring). The PLC for the spring/summer term gets to do the detailed planning for the spring campouts and take charge at summer camp. The PLC for the fall/winter term get the fall campouts and is in charge when we do our annual planning conference (January, so they get final say on the campouts for the next year).

[insanescouter]

We are bit weird but with good reason...

 

The SPL / ASPL is elected for 1 year that way they have plenty of time to make a differences and so that each does one Summer camp ... this seems to work will for us

 

The PL''s etc are in 6 month rotations 12 months seem a bit much for them to handle ...

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

Helping leaders one resource at a time

[mk9750]

Barry -

 

Great comment about your guys efforts at summer camp!

 

A few years back, my youngest son was ASPL. It was his responsiblity to arrange for a meeting area for the PLC that was supposed to happen in July. He never got it done. The SM was all over him, telling him that if he and the SPL couldn''t follow through to make the normal PLC happen, then they would have to have the PLC at summer camp, which would have been a huge downer for these guys late in the day after spending hours on the lake kayaking, playing Capture the Flag, etc.

 

My son let a few of his buddies know that he had no intention of participating in a PLC at summer camp, and knew exactly how he was going to handle the SM if the idea came up. On Wednsday night, the SM asked the bugler to sound off, and his voice could be heard through the camp calling the PLC. All of the PLC assembled, except for my son. The SM kept calling his name, with no response. Finally, after about the fourth call, a teen age voice came from the area where the youth Leadership Corps. were tenting: "I''M ON VACATION!" Our SM often uses this line when camping and the Scouts seem to want to abandon their duties and have the SM (or other adult) to take over.

 

I guess no one in the camp knew what to do. Some laughed, others got deathly quiet, expecting hell to break loose. It became the catch phrase of the rest of the week, and for the balance of my son''s Scouting career. It was a major theme during his Eagle CoH, and even now, when he visits with the Troop, the SM asks him how his vacation is going.

 

As for our Troop, elctions are held in early March and early Sept. Our two major events are summer camp, which is in August, and a father - son / WEBELOs event in late Feb. Both events are followed very closely by one of our two CoHs for the year. Elections and training are held right after the two big events, and "installation" ceremonies are done at the CoH.

 

Philmont0406 mentioned one of the stresses that exist with electing new officers every six months, and he is right that it is a pain. We considered trying to get the guys to change to a year cyle, but then realized that the purpose of the leadership opportunity was not so much to have things run smoothly for as long as possible, but to give guys the chance to be challenged, have new experiences, get new opportunities to be successful, and / or learn from the less than perfect experiences. We lament the changing of the gaurd every 6 months - It''s really hard on the adults - but we also have seen way more times than not that guys are happy to have accomplished the goals they developed with the SM and their "boss" (the SPL for PLs, the ASPL for QM, Hist., etc.), and are happy to take on something new.

 

Good luck as you and your boys figure out what works best for you.

 

Mark

[Lisabob]

We do SPL elections once a year. Everything else is on a 6 month Oct/April schedule.

[acco40]

Elections in March and September as new youth leader ''terms'' start April 1 and October 1. Reason: We use the NSP method (I should really call it the BSA method) and let them rotate a patrol leader every thirty days. Most Webelos Scouts have crossed over by the end of March and most have had a chance to serve as a patrol leader by the end of September. By October 1 the NSP label is removed and a ''permanent'' PL is elected. No rules against second or third terms but I usually talk to the Scout when a fourth term approaches. We use six months because many boys may be unavailable for a few months (marching band, football, wrestling, etc.). With six month terms, they can still hold the office during their ''off season.''

 

I really don't like having APLs or ASPL automatically moving up to assume the PL or SPL role. #1, the ASPL position should not be an elected position. Sort of like a VP, he should be chosen by the SPL not assigned to the SPL. Also, the ASPL is in charge of the the QM, Scribe, Librarian, Historian. Quite different duties. The SPL has to be confident that the ASPL has a great working relationship with him. Also, for large troops, many have multiple ASPLs. So who would take the SPL position if it was rolled over?

 

A good friend of mine has a unique method. He has an indoor SPL and an outdoor SPL both serve for one year. The indoor SPL is in charge of meetings, COHs, etc. and the outdoor is in charge during the outings. He says it works great for him.(This message has been edited by acco40)