Eagle BOR

[scoutldr]

As a District Committee person, I have been asked by the Adv Chairman to serve as the District rep on an Eagle BOR next week. Any tips for a first-timer? I am an Eagle, but don't remember much from my BOR in 1970.

[dsteele]

What I'm about to tell you is an opinion -- I'm speaking as someone with a lot of experience with the BSA and not, at the moment, as a professoinal.

 

My theory on why a district representative is required to sit on Eagle Scout Boards of Review is that you are there to make sure the process is followed correctly. This is not to say that you can't ask questions like any other member of the board of review, but I think you should remove yourself a bit and watch the types of questions being asked and the Scout's answered. If I were in your position, I would hope to make it through the entire BOR without having to say anything other than to congratulate the candidate when it's over. But that's just me. In the rare instance that you might feel that the rest of the BOR is breaching a rule or doing something wrong, ask the candidate to leave the room and point the rest of the folks in the right direction.

 

DS

[mk9750]

I can only offer help from my perspective in my little corner of the world, but...

 

The District Advancement Chairman is at every one of our Eagle BORS. He represents the District, and I assume, the Council. If you are beng asked to fulfill that role, here is what I have seen him do, and would recomend it highly.

 

First, he is the moderator of the Review. He takes responsiblity for the introductions, if someone else isn't more appropriate to do so. He then excuses the candidate and goes over the purpose for the BOR and the philopsophy. He explains that we are there not to retest but to verify completion. He compares it to an ISO quality audit, in that we are looking for evidence of satisfactory completetion, not evidence of failure. I've always taken this to mean, for example, that one instance of UN- Scoutlike behavior doesn't negate seven years worth of Scoutlike behavior.

 

He brings the Scout back into the room, and, depending on the comfort level and experience of the others who are on the Board, he asks very few questions, or almost all of the questions. Usually, he askes the first few, and then those who are new get the feel and start jumping in on their own.

 

Once he gets the sense that all of the members are finished, he excuses the candidtate again, explains to the members the rules about the vote being unanamous, and the Scout's appeals options if the bord voted no, and then conducts the vote. If yes, he calls the Scout back in. He has begun allowing another member of the Board, usually someone with a Troop connection, to be the first to congratulate the new Eagle Scout.

 

He usually has a list of about 20 - 25 canned questions, but if the rest of the people on the Board start asking questions actively, most of his questions get asked eventually.

 

Congratulations on being asked to serve in this capacity. I think you will get a really lift out of process.

 

Mark

[scoutldr]

Thanks for the responses. I did find another thread which listed LOTS of Eagle BOR questions, so I printed those out as well.

 

Still not sure what's expected of me in this case, so I will "Be Prepared". The answer could run the gamut from "sit in the corner and sign the paper when we're done" to "run the show and tell us what to do" (I hope not, since this is an experienced, well run Troop).

 

My biggest concern is that it is a memorable and meaningful experience for the Scout, so that he can go back and tell his Troop-mates that it was fair, but not a rubber stamp.

[eisely]

As an aside in all this, the fellow who was kicked out of scouting for declaring his atheism (name escapes me, but he lived somewhere in the Seattle area) apparently had his eagle board at the unit level. I do not know from the public record as reported in the newspapers if there was any district representation at that particular board, or if there was, how effective it may have been. This fellow and his parents claimed he had been an atheist for some time, even before he got his eagle. Apparently his mom chaired the BOR. Hmmm....

 

All the eagle boards I have ever seen have been conducted by the district. This is not always feasible and units can do their own eagle boards, but the district should clearly be represented.