Comitees

[92_SPL]

I have heard of Comitees such as an advancement comitee. Can someone tell be the different comitees and what they do so that i can get them started in my troop.

 

TY

[jbroganjr]

re you mad? Haven't you heard that a committe is made up as a body with lots of legs and no head?

All kidding aside. There is an advancement committee of at least 3 people for balance and fairness to the scouts. Then there is the troop committee and the size of this is proportional to the size of the troop. In the troop committee guidelines (not sure if that is the correct name of the book) there is a list of jobs and details of the jobs.

On that committee there has to be a committee chair (so at least this committee has a head), an advancement chair (also in charge of the advancement committee) and one other member at a minimum ( i might be wrong on that numbers here). After that, a committee can have a Treasurer, a secretary (helps CC with charter, registrations). You could also have a person in charge of tour permits, a person who heads up the fundraising. etc.

The danger here, and a battle in my troop, is that sometimes the committee forgets who is in charge of the troop, the PLC and that the committee is there to help add to the structure of scouting, not lead programming.

I see you are listed as SPL, so the real question is, what do you need to get your job done and provide the program you envision? Those are the committee people and leaders that you need!

I always suggest to the PLC that Hawaii would be a nice trip, still waiting with my lei though...

[OneHour]

You are an SPL. Where are all of the adult leaders in your Troop? Committee is a major function of the adult leadership. They are there to set up the troop and make sure that all other adult leaders work for you guys, the scouts. I would suggest to get your adult leaders to get the Committee Challenge training. It explains clearly the function of the Committee in relation to the Patrol Method and a boy-lead troop.

 

But out of curiosity, through a couple other threads that you posted, are you pulling this troop together by yourself?

[Bob White]

(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[92_SPL]

Hi,

To the question are u pulling this troop by yourself? The answer is for the most part I think so. We have 5 scouts registered (only about 3 that are active) that are under 18. About 3 scouts (1 mabye 2 active) that are over 18. And about 11 adults ( Only about 5 that ever show up or do anything, as a matter of fact most of the I didn't even know were on the troop till I got a copy of the troop roster that was sent to the district.)

Well, when I joined there were 2 scouts (LOL!!) and they are over 18 now and only one of them is still on the roster. Everything was unorganized. Scince then I have read books and talked to people and found out about different things. After finding out about things (like the PLC meeting for example) I talk to my scoutmaster about things like what it is and why we doen't do it and then we start it (if it is something we think we should do) (an example again is the PLC meeting, we recently had our first one.)

So any info on helping get my troop running how it is supposed to be is greatly appreciated. And if anyone wants to contact me to find out more details about my troop so they can help give me advice you can post here or e-mail me @ dmlyum@aol.com

 

 

TY

[Bob White]

I applaud you for what you are trying to do SPL. But building a troop is not a one person job regardless of the age or motivation of the person.

 

As the Spl the best thing I can recommend to you is don't worry about how many scouts show up (and by the way if yo have 5 scouts under 18 then you have 5 scouts. At 18 a scout ages out of the youth program and to be a member must register as an Assistant Scoutmaster.) focus on the activities that you have planned for them to do. Plan an outdoor activity every month whether it's an overnight campout, a day hike, an afternoon fishing, biking to the local pool together, whatever. But get out and DO STUFF.

 

next start inviting friends. Don't invite them to join scouting, invite them to go camping, or canoeing, or fishing, or hiking or whatever. Let them discover that you do these thing as scouts, but first let them experience the things you do and the people you are.

 

Let your scoutmaster and Troop Committee know that you want to do stuff and need their support, let them know what you want to learn, where you want to go, and that you want to see the troop grow and for that you need their participation.

 

Get everyone trained, from you on down to the last committee member. Scouting is a game with a pupose. You all need to learn what the purpose is and the specific methods used by scouting to achieve that purpose. If you don't have one yet ask your SM to buy you the Senior patrol Leaders Handbook. It will tell you what your job responsibilities are and how to achieve them.

 

Happy Scouting,

Bob White

 

 

 

 

[92_SPL]

We do activities every month and about talking to our troop comitee well thats why i posted in the first place. We have comitee members but they are just the parents who are signed up. They aren't organized into groups such as advancement comitee (thats why i am trying to find out more about them.)

[OneHour]

David,

 

I commend you on your effort as well. We have full sets of adults in our troop but our program needs lots of work to get to the boy-lead effort.

 

Here is a good list of the duties of Advancement Committee (http://abc-cc.com/tomahawk/troop38/org/advancement.htm)... quoting directly from Troop 38:

 

- Have a working knowledge of the Boy Scout advancement plans.

- Help plan and conduct induction and advancement recognition ceremonies.

- Train parents, guardians, and troop committee members in ways to stimulate Scout advancement.

- Arrange graduation ceremonies with the Scoutmaster.

- Promote the use of patrol advancement charts to record advancement in the patrol and as an incentive for advancement.

- Collect patrol advancement reports at troop PLC meetings for use when ordering badges and insignia from the local council service center.

- Work with the Troop Scribe to manage advancement tracking.

- Promote Boys' Life magazine as an aid to advancement.

- Help build or obtain advancement equipment for use in making advancement ceremonies more effective.

- Promote the wearing and proper use of uniform and insignia.

- Make a prompt report on the correct form to the council service center when a troop board of review is held. Secure badges and certificates.

- Have a working knowledge of the Adult Boy Scout advancement process and reporting.

- Help to insure that adults receive timely awards and recognition of achievements.

Report to the troop committee at each meeting.

 

For the complete "Troop Committee Guidelines" from Troop 400 in Irving, Texas, here is the URL: http://shockfamily.net/bsa/troop-committee-guidebook.htm

 

Here is a URL for the various job description of each Committee member:

http://abc-cc.com/tomahawk/troop38/org/committee.htm

 

As for Advancement Guideline, here is the URL from USSCOUTS.ORG: http://www.usscouts.org/advance/docs/guidelines.html

 

Here are some great resources that can get you and the adults in your troop started:

http://usscouts.org/usscouts/start.asp

http://www.scoutmaster.org

 

The best resources are the training that your Council and District provide. Here is a good site that details the various adult training opportunities: http://www.abc-cc.com/Tomahawk/train_flow.htm

 

Good Luck,

 

1Hour

 

(This message has been edited by OneHour)

[FScouter]

The Troop 38 web site cited by OneHour is well laid out and there is a lot of good information there. But . . .

 

Be aware that information posted on the internet by individual troops represents the practices of that particular troop, which may or may not follow official BSA policies. This particular troop has essentially reorganized and rewritten the official BSA publication #34505B Troop Committee Guidebook. They have added and deleted to suit the particular needs and desires of their troop.

 

In doing so, some incorrect information has crept in. For example, BALOO training is for Cub Scout Packs, not Boy Scout troops. The committee should not require that troop outing leaders have this training.

 

It is not the function of the troop committee to plan outings. Rather the committee should be there to provide support for the Patrol Leaders Council as they plan troop outings.

 

The Troop 38 site also re-prints the entire Guide to Safe Scouting. However, the version theyre using is five years old and out of date. G2SS has been revised at least twice since then.

 

[OneHour]

FScouter, the training flowchart is somewhat accurate for the Tomahawk District (SHAC) and this is from the Tomahawk District Web Site and not Troop 38. If it is incorrect then I will send Tomahawk folks an email about it, but it is fairly accurate since we, in the Brazos District, follow the same training outline. Blue color indicates Cub Scout. Red indicates Boy Scout (note that there are two paths, one for Committee and one for SM) and Green is indicative of Venture. Yellow indicates generic, where it is applicable to all levels. So BALOO is blue, which is solely for the CubScout's world.

 

The link to the G2SS book is as current as scouting.org keeps it (I guess); however, you are correct on the G2SS pdf file, it is somewhat dated (circa 1998), but then again, I do believe that BSA did not (or have not) released the latest G2SS in pdf format. Instead they chose to have two online versions instead http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/index.html . The 1999 pdf version is out there, but predominately, you will find the 1998 pdf is more circulated. Even USSCOUT.ORG still has the 1999 pdf version

 

As for Troop 400's "Committee Guide" is a good start place in case there isn't anything else to go on.

 

These are what I found back when I first wanting to know more about BSA world and was afraid to ask. After the training classes, they become clear; however, as for the real resource that I use on a regular basis ... the G2SS (hard copy version) and the Scoutmaster handbook (and the Committee Challenge Book)!

 

FScouter is correct, troops sometimes define the BSA ways according to their needs, but they are good starting spots if there is no where else to turn. Hence, back to my main suggestion: Get your adult leaders to your Council or District trainings!

 

 

1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

[Bob White]

But there is somewhere else to turn to, the BSA. it's a good idea to use and follow the current information available from the BSA and on hand at your local council service center. Following individual unit information is like an old familiy recipe where each generation changes it a little here and a little there. Before you know it it tastes nothing like the actual dish.

 

Always start with the original recipe. Use the Official BSA resources to learn the actual BSA program.

 

Bob White(This message has been edited by Bob White)