Show Pity on your Advancement Chairs!

[Twocubdad]

E61,

 

Your wife, or preferably the unit's COR needs to be in the Scout Executive's office asking why the council is not upholding their part of the charter agreement by providing insignia in a timely manner. National shop or local, that should get their attention.

 

If it is a national shop you have the added chain of command of asking to speak to the area manager and/or calling national supply in Charlotte and asking the same question.

 

Been there, done that, got the patch -- actually a whole bag full.

 

Scout insignia is cheap and rarely changes. There's no excuse for not keeping a substantial inventory.

[momof2cubs]

One troop I visited recently recognized the boys immediately after they have their paperwork signed off by the appropriate adult. At every troop meeting, at the end, they recognize the boys that advanced. They have I think 4 CoH a year for the formalities. Seems like a decent compromise.

[emb021]

"I have no doubt that instant recognition is a great motivator, most forms of "instant" anything are. Even "instant" death is preferable to a long drawn out affair...don't you agree?

 

I'm just saying it sets unrealistic expectations for the future of the boys ... in any case, our Troop doesn't follow it ... saving much wear and tear on my minivan."

 

Puhleeze.

 

Instant recognition does not set unrealistic expectations.

 

And again, its not the sole responsibility of the advancement coordinator to get the awards. ANY of the adults in the troop can do it.

 

Instant recognition works this way.

 

The meeting that the scout completes advancement (turns in their blue card for a merit badge, complete board of review for a rank, what have you), they are called up at the end of the meeting and its announced what their accomplishment is.

 

IF (and I say IF) your troop keeps a stock of rank patches (and its NOT hard to do this. I had no problem as an adult leader to walk into our local Scout Shops and purchase a set of the 2010 rank patches or the special centennial merit badges WITHOUT any advancement sheet), present the rank patch to the scout.

 

OTHERWISE, within the month (yes, it should be done atleast once a month), after the advancement report has been turned in and everything picked up, call up the boy at the end of the meeting and make another presentation where you give them the rank patch or merit badge(s) or what have you.

 

This way they can get it on their uniforms!!!

 

Later, at your troops 3-4 times a year Court of Honor, make the formal presentation of the boy's cards (and mother pins if you do that).

 

This is what was taught to me at Boy Scout Basic Training back in the 80s and is supposed to be taught today. AND this is also specified in the latest "Guide to Advancement" for 2011 (#33088). So it's NOT optional. It's policy.

 

Under 3.0.0.3 Unit Advancement Responsibilities:

 

"#4. Obtain necessary badges and certificates, etc., and arrange for timely presentation of ranks, Arrow Points, merit badges, awards, and other recognitions. It is best to obtain and present these as soon as possible after they are earned. They can then be re-presented in more formal settings."

 

If your unit isn't do it, they are doing it WRONG.

 

[JMHawkins]

For me, instant recognition is shaking the scout's hand and saying "Congratulations" when he earns the award. Followed by a short announcement at the closing of the meeting saying "Joe Scout has earned his Tenderfoot rank..."

 

The cloth comes the next time the AC can get it, and the scout get's a formal mini-ceremony to hand him the patch. Finally, at the next CoH he's recognized again for whatever he's achieved since the last CoH.

 

 

[CCbytrickery]

Our AC (new this year) has finally set down a policy with the leaders: everything gets entered into Packmaster by xx date (usually the week before our pack meeting). Once that date hits, they cannot enter anything else until after the pack meeting, and the ONLY things that get handed out are the items put in before the xx date.

 

Also, DLs have to email her the day of the report (which she does around 9pm, so they have plenty of time to enter in if they fail to do so earlier) by 9am, saying they did their job entering the information. IF not, she sends them an email. They have until 5pm to respond, either by text, email or phone, to let her know what's going on. At 5pm, if she hasn't had a response, a 2nd email goes out, to the CM and the DL both. They have until 8pm to get the info in. Otherwise, the boys don't get their awards that month, and any complaints or questions are referred back to the offending DL.

 

Our AC does not talk to any of our parents (except in the Tiger den, where she is a temporary ADL)--but she usually asks them to see me or the DL before coming to her anyways.

 

We do have a small stock of things (specifically items boys have qualified for but never returned to receive for whatever reason). And she does do one thing I really like--every month, starting over the summer, she starts gathering advancement patches. Our shop monitors the belt loops and pins pretty well, but they go "meh" over patches. She'll get Bobcats in July, Tiger in August, etc. That way, she only needs to get a few (if any) due to new boys later when other packs are scrambling. She did the same with our PWD stuff, picked it up as soon as it hit the shelves.

[Eagle92]

CC,

 

In regards to the rank and other restricted items, be advised that sometimes it is out of their hands. I know my boss use to estimate what we would need using some formula she came up with (it was based on sales the previous year and round up stats) and ordered it right after inventory in January. The problem is that sometimes the warehouse is out of stock.

 

 

[ScoutNut]

Having a Scout wait 1 month to receive an award is WAY different from having them wait 3-6 months or longer.

 

Instant recognition is a good motivator for all levels in life.

 

When you do something good at work, don't you like to get a recognition of that from your boss? Doesn't a bit of recognition of your work make you work harder?

[Twocubdad]

" The problem is that sometimes the warehouse is out of stock."

 

Then someone up the food chain needs their butt chewed.

 

Cumm'on. This isn't that difficult. When was the last time BSA redesigned any rank badges? I have a boxes of badges from the '70s so I know they don't go bad. It's not like they're selling strawberries. So what if they have the same dozen Plant Science merit badges sitting on the shelf year after year? I'm guessing there is a strong correlation between the number of new Cub Scout applications processed in September with the number of Bobcat badges earned in October. Similar correlation between the signups for merit badges at summer camp and the number of merit badges purchased in August.

 

I know there are elements of council operations that are difficult -- keeping the United Way happy, balancing the budget, dealing with tough volunteers -- but keeping a sufficient supply of badges in stock isn't one of them.

 

OBTW, I belive it is against policy (maybe it's just a local policy) for units to stock pile rank badges. Of course that doesn't stop anyone. They don't want badges to be awarded without the advancement reports being turned in. Yeah, it's a silly, ham-fisted rule.

[JMHawkins]

OBTW, I belive it is against policy (maybe it's just a local policy) for units to stock pile rank badges. Of course that doesn't stop anyone. They don't want badges to be awarded without the advancement reports being turned in. Yeah, it's a silly, ham-fisted rule.

 

Occurs to me that if the leaders of a given unit can't be trusted with rank badges, there are bigger problems than rank badges in that unit.

[Mrw1]

Having been the AC for our troop (40-55 boys)for at least 10 years now, The original post would never fly for me.

 

I am at most meetings, so badges and ranks are recorded in Troopmaster at meetings. I get to the Scout Shop about once a month to buy whatever has been earned since the last time I was there. The biys get the patches at the next troop meeting after that. Generally I try to get to the shop the week after our monthly BOR night.

 

We do a COH about quarterly. There is not all that much actually handed out at the COH, but each boy that earned something the past period gets called up and recognized in front of the parents and families for his achievement.

 

BOR's are generally scheduled the one week a month after a campout when we have a PLC meeting and time for kids that need sign-offs or help to get some individual attention. We can generally get as many committee members there for boards as we need to accommodate all that want them. If a boy cannot make this, we try to get him squeezed in the next week. The cut-off for ranks and badges for the next COH is usually the monthly BOR evening. This is more for the ASM who wants to print programs listing all the badges than for me, as all my paperwork is done before I go home that evening.

 

As for parents, I generally explain to new parents one time why their boy needs to take responsibility for asking me for things or turning things in to me. If the parent brings it, I hand it back to them to have their son turn in. They seem to learn pretty quickly.

 

Never had a FOH.

[Eagle92]

2Cub,

 

TRUST ME I AGREE WITHA YA SOMEONE NEEDS A BUTT CHEWING! (emphasis not shouting) That's a challenge I see getting to high up the food chain, you forget WHY you are doign what you are doing: THE SCOUTS!

 

As to patch redesign, actually all the ranks were redesigned in 2010 for the centennial, and that caused MAJOR shortages. They are back to normal, and those councils that kept the older patches in stock in the back did OK, or so I've heard, when they converted back to the non-centennial design. I've heard that those that turned in the non-centennial designs did have some issues getting htem back.

 

Now I think the Eagle patch has a minor redesign for the 100th Anniversary of the first Eagle Scout.

 

To bad they didn't make Centennial Sea Scout insignia.

[momof2cubs]

I am lucky that we have the council shop very close to where we live and our pack meets. So it is not a huge hardship for me to buy. Because they know me, they will sell me just about any kind of restricted item, but they do not sell rank badges to anyone that just comes in. In February, I buy a few more badges than what packmaster says we need because I like to have inventory. I also keep a small supply of LNT badges, outdoor activity awards patches, conservation awards patches and some popular belt loops (i.e. baseball, swimming, soccer, flag football and the archery and BB shooting ones because everyone buys them right after fall and spring family camping)

 

This practice stemmed from the fact that for a while, our local shop just did not keep inventory. Every single month I went in there, they were out of something (belt loops, patches, whatever). I one point, I got irate and asked the manager, "Do you know what the meaning of STOCK is??" Fortunately, they changed their provider or manufacturer or whatever and now they keep stock on everything.

 

If I were the AC for a troop, for sure I would keep a small supply of rank badges and some of the more popular MBs.

[Eagle92]

Just curious, when did the sports and academics program start requiring paperwork to buy the stuff? I notice that Internet Advancement has a place for it, and so does PACKMASTER.

 

But it is not advancement.

 

Thanks

[momof2cubs]

My local shop does not require paper work for the belt loops or pins. We keep track on them in PM because the pack pays for all awards in our case. But anyone can buy them.

[Eagle92]

But why is it showing up on the advancement reports from internet advancement and PM?