what is the hardest adult position to fill?

[Jeffrey H]

At the Cub Level, at least for my Pack, is the Treasurer position. Our CC is currently taking care of this since no one wants it. We don't have trouble finding volunteers for other committee positions, but folks will do anything else but mess with the money. It's also complicated by the fact that the Treasurer position should not really be given to anyone who is "willing." They must be organized, reliable, and trustworthy.

 

Cubmaster. If they are doing the job well, they are spending countless hours of preparation that does not include meetings, outings, and events. Even if they delegate well, it's still a position that one must be prepared to make a significant time commitment.

 

Committee Chair. Same reasons as Cubmaster assuming that your Pack's CC is an active position and really doing the job. If a Pack's CC position is more "ceremonial", then there will not be any trouble filling the position even though it's being done wrong.

[Tampa Turtle]

I think for our Troop it is, in order:

 

(1) SM - Time commitment, boy issues.

(2) Advancement Chair -COH's are a bear.

(3) Treasurer- I know ours and she puts in a lot of extra time.

(4) Committee Chair - A lot of moving parts to keep track of.

[IM_Kathy]

we've never had a real chaplin, but with other postions seeming to be more imporatant a few of the adults just step up and fill that position as needed.

 

our hardest other than SM would be outdoor cordinator - reserves location, files tour permit, handles sign up sheet. our previous one was great at this, but has moved up to CC. our new outdoor cordinator is not always at all meetings so sign up sheets aren't always there and we don't always hear from them if they have location reserved. previous one would also print out maps for drivers, now we all just remember to bring our own maps.

[mdlscouting]

Popcorn Kernel

Committee Chair - Never seen one except on paper in the pack. (Troop has one, the pack's former CM, when her sons moved up)

Treasurer

 

I'd give my right arm to have one of those three filled in our pack right now. My wife is doing Treasurer, and I'm effectively doing CC, CM and COR.

 

I have no idea who will do Popcorn Kernel, but I'm at the point where I will soon say "Ok parents, get out your checkbooks and write us a check for dues, we aren't selling Popcorn next year"

[acco40]

Early on in my Scoutmaster "career" I took the family to Philmont as I took the Strictly for Scoutmasters course at the Philmont Training Center. One of the things that surprised me was that out of a class of 52 Scoutmasters from across the country, only about 15% felt it was the Scoutmasters responsibility to go on every outing, attend every troop meeting, etc. I'm not say they had to go but that in about 85% of the troops, the outing "Scoutmaster" was rotated around the various Assistant Scoutmasters and the Scoutmaster himself.

 

Personally, I think it is important that a singular adult (the Scoutmaster) be the overwhelming "go to guy" for the Scouts on outings if at all possible, but hey, do what works for your unit.(This message has been edited by acco40)

[qwazse]

a40,

 

Gotta agree with the other 85% in your training class. Not the SM's responsibility to be on every outing. It is his responsibility to review the boys' tour plan and make sure they've identified trustworthy adult tour leaders. (With proper training, etc ...). Getting ASM's comfortable with being the "go-to guy" is a step along the way to grooming future SM's and Advisors.

 

That said, I know very few SM's who wont plan to be on every monthly campout with their boys. A troop with more frequent events than that, then delegation begins.

 

Which reminds me, maybe the hardest position to fill: Unit Leader's Spouse.

 

 

[Tampa Turtle]

Now THAT is the truth! While I might consider being the SM I am not sure I would have the SM's spouse when it is all over with.

[acco40]

A troop should do what works for them but I feel strongly that the Scoutmaster should make every effort to attend all troop outings.

 

The primary purpose of the Scoutmaster is to train and guide the boy leaders as well as be the key "youth facing" adult in the troop. That's hard to do if one is not present on troop outings.

 

Yes, a good Scoutmaster delegates and also helps to train his successor (though it is not his job to choose his successor). (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Lisabob]

Thanks, all. I always appreciate hearing (reading) others' experiences. I'm involved in a number of other groups besides the BSA that rely on volunteer labor, and it is interesting (though I guess, not surprising) to me to see how similar the challenges are of placing volunteers into roles that suit them and that meet the group's needs. Often, this is complicated by the short vs. long term needs of the group, or the fact that the group, itself, may not really have a clear idea of what they need (or they have conflicting ideas).

 

A lot of what I do in other groups is basically volunteer placement, and I learned a lot about how NOT to do it from my experiences as a BSA volunteer. Ah, well.

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

While I was SM I attended pretty much all the meetings and activities. But that was probably a mistake.

 

Better would have been to delegate more responsibility to other adults, giving other adults the experience and privilege of being the adult leader and relieving the Scoutmaster of unreasonable expectations and burdens.

 

 

[Deaf Scouter]

Scoutmaster and Cubmaster are the hardest positions to fill especially if units are dysfunctional. Most are doing the work of more than one person especially theirs and the Committee Chair's.

[EagleScout02]

The hardest Adult position to fill is a PARENT. You can fill all the positions in scouting with adults but if you have an absent parent or parents then you will have a hard time with the youth involved. Its common knowledge that the more active a parent(s) role with the activities their children are in the more successful the child will be in the program. To many times I've seen youths in the program not do well because their parents were not involved. Most youths react to what they see that their parents take time to be involved with.

I can go on and on about this but my view is that the Parent is the hardest and most important position to fill in a youths life.