Centennial Quality Unit Award -- what now?

[NealOnWheels]

Remember we have a centenial uniform.

 

It will not be going away next year.

 

Or will it? Hmmmm

[BartHumphries]

Well, the uniform will probably remain in the stores for another year or two (with no new centennial uniforms being made) so that the surplus ones can be sold off without having to dump the prices, while gradually phasing back in the regular uniforms to replace sold stock.

 

I do want to know the new (?) requirements for the Quality Unit patch (or whatever it will be called next) as, again, my unit has been around for many years but hasn't ever bothered with filling out the paperwork for it. I'd really like to change that this next year. We are a small troop, though (right now we only have 8 boys), so hopefully the requirements will be variable enough to be challenging (yet doable) for both small and large units.(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

[BrotherhoodWWW]

Centennial is one hundred years not every hundred years. 200 years is bicentennial.......

Quality unit (pack, troop, team, post, crew, district, council, region, lodge, section, etc.) has in the past been based on metrics that if met signify that the "unit" is doing what it takes to provide a quality program. I suspect that the new requirements will still fit this mold. I also suspect that they will be achievable for most units. Units that have not looked at this before might consider doing so as just another tool to see if they are doing all they can to ensure a good program for their youth.

[UCEagle72]

I have managed to obtain a copy of the District program. Still working on getting a copy of the unit level program.

 

http://www.box.net/shared/c8pnuvy1c1

 

[BartHumphries]

That was interesting, thanks. Two questions -- how does a Boy Scout who's an Eagle advance in rank, and the program starts for units with the normal October rechartering. Does that mean Oct 2010 or Oct 2011?

[UCEagle72]

Down here, we will hand out the re-charter packets in two weeks -- October 2010.

 

An Eagle Scout "advances in rank" by earning Palms, one for each additional 5 merit badges (above the 21 needed for Eagle) and three months of service to the Unit. (Bronze-5, Gold-10, Silver-15, Silver & Bronze-20, Silver & Gold-25, Two Silver-30, etc.)

 

[BartHumphries]

Our unit recharters in March. Can any of the units that recharter(ed) in October share with us the new quality unit requirements?

[NJCubScouter]

Bart, they are linked to in the thread "New 2011 Performance Recognition Program" (see the third post in that thread), though there has been some question in that thread about whether that document is the final version. I'm hoping it is, because it's on a council's web site, which means that if one council is posting a non-final version, other councils may be handing out the same non-final version and telling their units to follow it. However, it's probably safe to assume that what is posted is, at least, very close to what your unit will "officially" receive. (Well, it's never really safe to assume anything -- especially since there have been at least two major instances in the past year of BSA documents being posted somewhere and then withdrawn -- but on a relative scale, in this case it's probably fairly safe.)(This message has been edited by njcubscouter)

[BartHumphries]

That thread linked to the district requirements, which had already been linked to in this thread. That thread also linked to a site which offered a webinar at a future date which would explain the new requirements, but which did not then show the requirements. However, I found this with a new Google search:

http://www.scoutingnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Journey-to-Excellence-Troop.pdf

 

That troop pdf document was linked from this page (if anyone wanted the pack/crew/district/council requirements): http://www.scoutingnews.org/2010/10/10/bsa-journey-to-excellence/

[Mister T]

"Short-term camping: The troop conducts short-term or weekend campouts throughout the year."

"Conduct four short-term overnight campouts(bronze)."

"Conduct 10 short-term overnight campouts(gold)."

 

If a unit camps out 2 nights in a row (one campout, overnite friday, overnight saturaday), does that count as one short-term campout or 2?

 

[SeattlePioneer]

Personally I'd count that as one trip.

 

[qwazse]

Yep, 2 consecutive nites = 1 trip.

 

But, as long as we're trying to push boundaries ...

 

Say a troop has three patrols. Is it 3 trips or 1 or none if they each go on ...

a separate overnight in the same weekend

separate overnights on different weekends in the same month

separate overnights on different weekends throughout the year.

 

 

What if one gung-ho patrol pulls off 3 independent overnights while the other two only do day hikes?

 

And please, no tour plan/GSS rants! There's a thread for that. Let's just assume that the troop has enough adults nutty enough to set up camp 100 yards from each patrol on the weekends they camp out.

[Mister T]

It is not pushing the boundaries, it is looking at the requirements and wondering how to count it, because they are not clear on this.

 

Incidentally, if I have a quality unit I don't really care if I get a patch that says so and if I don't have a quality unit I don't want a patch that says I have one. That said, if there is an award why not wear it? So I'll count 2 nights as one trip, and let chips fall. I'm asking because I like 2 night trips better than one night trips. They are better, so a quality unit should take 2 night trips more than one night trips.

 

Mister Tim

[qwazse]

I get what you're saying. As long as we give the boys 10 camping nights of opportunities, why can't we be called a QU? The point is that the gold category is doing nearly monthly outings. If your troop has the adult leadership available to make many of those Friday+Saturday night, that's awesome!

 

I agree that many boys are not impressed with the QU patch. But I think it does register something with parents who are selecting a troop. When Weblos visit you could pull the parents aside and simply tell them your troop is a "Quality Unit" and even hand them a copy of your tally sheet. Or, you could do just as well handing them the troop calendar.

 

The jury's still out with my Crew and the Venturing standards. I think the officers would like to meet them, which means the standards are better than the previous ones. I don't think they would know what to do with the designation if they earned it.

[BartHumphries]

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Awards/JourneyToExcellence.aspx

Well, supposedly those troops who do the "quality unit" requirements (or Journey to Excellence now) have better retention, better advancement, the boys like it more and basically everyone learns/grows/benefits more. Since they got rid of the old quality unit Boys Life requirement/counting, I really think that sentiment is true -- troops who honestly try to meet all the Journey to Excellence requirements will really tend to have a better program than those that don't meet the requirements.