Question on Committee Responsibilities

[CA_Scouter]

I cannot locate a resource that spells out what exactly the responsibilities of the Troop Committee (I am away from home this week and don't have access to the printed material at home). I've found descriptions of the responsibilities of the various Committee positions but not an overall description for the entire Committee.

 

What is prompting this question is I had a committee member come up to us last week and ask for more information on a specific backpack trip we had planned 'so the Committee can approve the activity'.

 

We've never had the Committee 'approve the activity' in the past, but perhaps they did and I just wasn't aware.

 

 

 

 

[emb021]

The book you need is the Troop Committee Guide book.

 

Overall, the committee is a support groups, NOT a decision making or approving group. Troops are youth run. the youth make the decision as to what they do, the SM informs the committee, and they make sure the support is there.

 

So there should be no 'approving' of the activities of the troop by the committee.

 

There IS training for the Troop Committee. It can be taken on-line. Sounds like maybe you have committee members who need to be trained.

[infoscouter]

While the committee doesn't 'approve' outings it is their responsibility to see that the outing is conducted safely. So, they should review the leadership of the event. Is there enough? Do they have right skills/training ? What can be done to train for this activity? Does the troop need to use outside resources (outfitter, climbing instructor), etc.

 

Transportation - how is the group traveling and are they doing so safely.

Equipment - should the troop buy particular items to support this activity, or can it be borrowed/rented?

 

So the question should be - what does the committee need to do to make the outing possible?

[eisely]

It is not quite correct to say that the committee has no role in "approving" activities. The old paper tour permit required a signature from somebody on the troop committee. I don't think that the new online system will require that.

 

Troop committees should not be attempting to micro manage the program, but I can see a role for the committee in approving the annual program the scouts have planned. This relates to compliance with G2SS that the scouts may not be aware of, and also the feasibility of the program. The troop committee should always seek to facilitate the program the scouts want to pursue, but I don't think that extends to automatically endorsing the program without question.

[Beavah]

Yah, hmmm....

 

Again, the way committees are set up varies quite a bit between different troops and chartered organizations, eh? So there aren't any real hard-and-fast answers to these questions. If yeh read the Troop Committee guidebook, the sense that yeh get is that the Troop Committee is somewhere between a Board of Directors to the Scoutmaster's CEO, or an advisory board to the Chartered Partner, or a group of worker-bee volunteers to help out with administrative tasks.

 

In none of those different (and sometimes conflicting) views of a committee is there a notion of approving individual activities. That would be micromanaging for a board of directors, outside the purview of an advisory board unless asked for advice, and not in keeping with the proper position of a group of volunteer helpers.

 

So, loosely speakin', in terms of best practice, no, the committee shouldn't be approving individual outings.

 

Now, there are some places in the BSA literature that suggest the committee should approve the annual calendar of events when the boys propose it, as well as the supporting budget for those events. That is in keeping with the board of directors role of strategic oversight.

 

Probably what gets confusin' is the Tour Plans, eh? Those things encourage poor practice. The Committee Chair is supposed to sign on them, and of course a committee chair shouldn't sign anything without at least the implied approval of the committee. So some units do take the Tour Plan form to mean that the committee is supposed to review and approve outing plans, at least in terms of the stuff on the Tour Plan. It helps a bit to know that this is just a planning document now and not a "permit", but folks still think of 'em as more of a "tour permit", and some of National's language in terms of "requiring" the thing hasn't helped.

 

All of that is just a longwinded way of sayin' that in the end, this is up to your committee and the CO it represents, but that generally speakin' committees approving individual events is not best practice.

 

Beavah

 

[Oak Tree]

What Beavah said.

 

In the ideal BSA world, the committee would have approved the outing on the annual plan, and would be verifying that all the adults had the right training and insurance, and would have a representative sign off on the tour plan (if required) as a matter of routine.

 

If new trips are coming up, my opinion is that they (the committee) should leave it to the Scoutmaster(s) and Scouts and would only step in if the program was going far afield. They should provide general direction to the Scoutmaster on what types of trips are ok, but should not need to approve individual trips.

 

However, your committee can set its own rules.

 

I would take the signature on the tour plan as indicating agreement to be bound by the BSA policies, and not committee involvement in the program to the extent of micro-managing the process.

 

Still, in spirit, in our troop, I'd have no issue telling the committee about new trips that are being added to the schedule. It's good to have more people in the loop.

 

The only reasons I'd expect a committee to not approve a trip would be We are asking for use of troop funds beyond what is normalWe want to do more fundraising than the committee thinks would be wiseWe are proposing something that is out of keeping with official BSA or CO guidelinesWe are proposing something that, while technically not against the rules, would be very out of character for the BSA or the CO (going to an R-rated movie, for example)they identify some other major concern that was overlooked (schedules won't accommodate the trip, or equipment won't be available, or something)Otherwise, if the trip is a standard trip with common Scouting activities, using typical troop resources within the budget, I wouldn't expect the committee to provide input.

 

If the committee does have a concern about trips in general, it would be better to provide general direction to the Scoutmaster rather than try to decide details on individual trips.

[NJCubScouter]

Beavah, I am wondering how, in practical terms, the committee approving the annual calendar of events is different from the committee approving individual trips. After all, the calendar is simply a list of individual trips and other activities. This assumes, of course, that in each case the power to "approve" carries with it the power to disapprove.

 

I know a troop where the committee does approve the annual calendar, and they are looking for a "balance" of trips that are "close" vs. out-of-state (especially when gasoline costs what it does now), different kinds of camping, some backpacking, a few trips that may have a significant cost per boy (e.g. Scout Weekend at the Naval Academy including cost of ticket to football game) but not too many of those; and all those sorts of issues. In my troop it is a little less formal than that; the activities coordinator and troop committee review the calendar, and there is occasionally a discussion with other committee members prior to reservations being made. In both these cases that I am aware of, it is very rare to have an outright "disapproval" of an activity -- and I am sure that part of the reason is that youth leaders who choose the activities are generally aware of what the adult leaders are looking for. Some might view that as a good thing, some might not. I personally think it's not a bad idea that the boys are aware that if they create a list that consists entirely of trips that are four hours away from "home", and all cost $50 (or whatever) per boy for a football ticket or a kayak outfitter or whatever, it's probably going to be sent back to them for revision.

[qwazse]

Our crew's annual plan goes something like:

 

This year we are going to ski a couple of times, camp at least a half-dozen nights, share a couple of activities with our troop, gear up for some wilderness backpacking, participate in our VOA, climb a little, and fit in a service project or two. We'll let you know how things went on Scout Sunday.

 

Thanks in advance for your approval.

[SeattlePioneer]

I've been rebuilding a pack that was down to a single Cub Scout 3.5 years ago. We actually have developed some pretty good quality adult leadership, and we have quite a good pack committee.

 

In that 3.5 years, we have mostly had monthly committee meetings, and every one has had good parent participation.

 

While BSA recommends spending several hours of committee time putting together an annual plan, my assessment is that our committee isn't interested in spending time on that much detail.

 

So I draw up a list of proposed den and pack meetings dates, pack committee meeting dates and pack activities. This proposal is e-mailed out to parents and we devote our July Committee meeting to deciding what changes we would like to make in that proposal.

 

I welcome any proposed changes, and I regret I don't get more than I do. I revise the plan to reflect the suggested changes and it's considered again at our August committee meeting --- usually without much in additional changes.

 

I save the plan as a notepad file and include the annual plan as an e-mail attachment whenever parents are reminded of meetings and activities.

 

That has worked out pretty well as a method of giving families input into our activities and keeping them reminded and informed of what will be happening in the next year.

 

 

 

 

[NJCubScouter]

I think the original poster was specifically asking about a Boy Scout troop, and about how the Troop Committee interacts with the calendar (or list) of activities created ("proposed"?) by the PLC (which, we should remember, has the SM advising it, so there should be adult input even if there is no Troop Committee involvement.) In a Cub Scout pack, there is no problem with the Pack Committee either doing all the planning itself, or approving a plan drafted by the Cubmaster or other leaders, because Cub Scouting is not a boy-led program. A Venturing crew, on the other hand, would (as I understand it) have less adult involvement in the planning process than a Boy Scout troop, but exactly how much I am not sure, since I have never been involved with Venturing.

[Deaf Scouter]

Linkage for the Troop Committee Guidebook: http://www.bacarrowhead.org/training/TroopCommitteeGuidebook.pdf

 

At the late in the year, I have to wonder what sparked the committee to even use the word 'approve the activity' that has you as a SM concerned, CA Scouter. Maybe because it was an addition to the already laid out yearly calendar that they simply need more details and reassurance of the worthiness of the additional activity. I would instead ask straight out what seems to be the problem with this backpack trip. Maybe you have newbie parents that just crossed over wondering what supplies thus additional 'unexpected' expenses they need to buy and how soon they can fit it into their budget. Maybe sons have been planning this trip but are not informing parents of the details.

 

Routine doesn't change but an unexpected pieces can pop up that changes the whole dynamics thing within a committee: cross over parents, adding a back pack trip, and etc. I would think more about that then the committee 'approval' thing. Backpack trips, to many are scary things that involve a lot of special equipment & expenses plus in the 'dangerous' outback where cells are not. As newbie backpacker, it actually is the BEST scouting experience but not before doing it.. *winka Take a little more time on the before planning and reassurances...*smiles

[frankpalazzi]

Oak Tree: Couldn't have said it better!

[CA_Scouter]

I wanted a general answer so I could speak intelligently at our next Committee meeting. We have a Committee member who has been involved in scouting for many years and tries to present herself as the all-knowing authority, to the point where it rubs people the wrong way. She often speaks before she checks her facts and I just want to politely inform her that her statement is incorrect.

 

We have done many many backpacking trips over the years so this is nothing new, there was just a change in plans due to a scheduling problem with adult leadership so we had to change the date and location of this particular trip.

 

This is great information and much more than I expected. Thanks very much.

 

 

 

[qwazse]

Anything to help fend off micromanaging demagogues.