{"id":2258,"date":"2017-11-07T13:52:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T18:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2017-11-07T13:53:48","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T18:53:48","slug":"issue-549-november-7-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2017\/11\/issue-549-november-7-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 549 \u2013 November 7, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

________________________________________
\nHere\u2019s a conversation from November 7, 2007\u2014ten years ago\u2014with a fellow online columnist\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Hey Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I read your considerable archive of advice, I note that some of the most intractable situations brought to you involve leaders with some serious blind spots\u2014they seem to be caught in a cul-de-sac of their own importance and their own way of doing things, at the cost of their unit’s program. While everyone around them sees they\u2019re missing the point, they don\u2019t. Turns out, the BSA has a terrific self-assessment tool. Here\u2019s where to find it: www.scouting.org\/boyscouts\/training\/start.jsp<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the steps there can help adult volunteers get a read on their effectiveness. It even suggests training based on the assessment. (Clarke Green)<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I tried that link today I got a \u201c404 ERROR\u2014FILE NOT FOUND.\u201d Darned shame, because I did the assessment myself ten years ago and it was most enlightening. Here\u2019s what I said about it at that time (including some ideas we can still all use today)\u2026<\/p>\n

Thanks for alerting me about this site. I tried it myself, and I can tell you, I sure wasn’t “perfect”! Even the questions alone gave me hints as to stuff I didn’t know or was less than sure of. It’s fun to do, thought-provoking, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s open-minded about their “Scouting expertise.”<\/p>\n

Yup, often the problems I receive center on self-important volunteers who do things their own way, somehow thinking that they know better than the Scouting program. When this happens, it\u2019s most often in the arena of Boy Scout advancement and almost always has to do with putting stumbling blocks, hurdles, and other arbitrary barriers in front of enthusiastic boys.<\/p>\n

While we might think blind spots, like cancers (in more ways than one!) may not be curable, just as with biologic diseases, preventative measures can be taken if we volunteers really want to deliver the Scouting program as it’s intended. Some of the ways to prevent blind spots are to stay in touch with “the big picture” by going to Round Tables, so we can interact with others with both less and more experience than ourselves, by re-taking training courses\u2014even if just for the sake of charging our batteries\u2014or joining a training team for new Scouting volunteers to pick up on a subject we, ourselves could use some help with, and then training our own Assistant Scoutmasters. These are some of the things we all can do that help prevent blind spots!<\/p>\n

And now back to today\u2026<\/em>
\n==========
\nHi Andy \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our family just moved to New Jersey from Indiana, and my two sons just transferred from their troop back home to one in our \u201cnew\u201d home here. My older son transferred as an Eagle Scout; my younger as a Life Scout with everything except two merit badges and a conference done for his own step up to Eagle. Their troop is a good one and very active in the out-of-doors, so no problems there. The problem is with a form letter my younger son just received from the council office.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He completed his merit badges and his Scoutmaster conferenced with him, and the troop leaders said that he should take all paperwork\u2014his rank application, service project workbook, blue cards, and so forth\u2014to the council office for recording and date-checking. When he did this, everything seemed just fine, till he brought home a form letter from the council. In that letter, he was told that in order for a board of review to get scheduled he\u2019s supposed to personally ask his references to write letters on his behalf. His application\u2014which he turned in\u2014already lists his references and their contact information, and it was our understanding from the process my older son went through in Indiana, that actually contacting one\u2019s own references to ask for references letters isn\u2019t something the Scout does; this is supposed to be done by somebody else (for instance, my older son\u2019s troop advancement chair did this). So I guess my question is whether this is okay or not, and do councils actually have the right to make up different rules for things like this? Any insights you have would help set my mind at ease here. Thanks! (Concerned Scout Dad, Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, your concern is pretty accurate. Your Indiana council got it right; your new council\u2019s off the mark. It\u2019s even written up in the BSA\u2019s GUIDE TO ADVANCEMENT (check out Topic 9.0.1.7 in the 2017 edition\u2014page 67\u2014available online as a PDF file).<\/p>\n

The process of contacting a Scout\u2019s references to request recommendations is the responsibility of the council advancement committee or \u201cdesignated others\u201d\u2014but \u201cdesignated\u201d should never mean the Scout himself. It\u2019s made crystal clear: \u201cIt is up to the council\u2019s designated representatives to collect the responses.\u201d While \u201cthe council determines the methods of contact,\u201d the GTA is clear that this isn\u2019t the responsibility of the Scout himself.<\/p>\n

So, what to do\u2026 My suggestion would be to ask whoever authored that letter to check the GTA for accuracy of instructions. But don\u2019t do this yourself at this point. This should fall to your son\u2019s troop advancement chair, or Committee Chair, or possibly his Scoutmaster. Good luck!
\n==========
\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m now Scoutmaster of a new troop (a majority of us felt we could be more successful leaving the old one and its politics behind), so, after resigning, we started up an old, \u201cretired\u201d troop (it went \u201cinactive\u201d some five years ago), and started a brand new Venturing crew as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When we did this, we requested \u201c75\u201d as our troop number (same number as the moribund troop) and asked for \u201c751\u201d for the crew. We chose these numbers for two reasons: The 75 would honor a troop that had been successful \u201cback in the day\u201d and 751 would honor a Scouting friend who\u2019d recently passed. But our council says we can\u2019t use 75. According to the council registrar, \u201cBoth of your units will need to have the same unit number because they are issued to the same chartering organization. The chartering organization owns the number in the event they chose to start another unit, i.e. pack, troop, crew or post at any time in the future\u2026 Both units will have to go under \u201c751\u201d or another number if you chose\u2026 The number \u201c75\u201d is still owned by the (original chartering organization) and, as such, they own the rights to the number for a pack, troop, crew and post.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there any sort of solution or work-around in a situation like this? (Michael Thornton, SM)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sorry to hear about the hang-up on the “75” number usage, but there’s a solution… Unless that original chartered organization still sponsors any active Scouting units with that number, a brief letter from them to the council that relinquishes “75” should do the trick of making that number available to you! Check with that council registrar on this, and if there are no active \u201c75\u201d units, the registrar can simply request a release of the number. This will make you free and clear to proceed.<\/p>\n

As for a chartered organization \u201cusing\u201d only a single number for all units sponsored, I\u2019m not so sure that that\u2019s a BSA national policy, and it\u2019s worth some additional research. It seems to me that a \u201cTroop 75\u201d and a \u201cCrew 751\u201d (a) should be okay and (b) would certainly help reduce confusion between the two unit types.
\n==========
\nAnd finally\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Three sharp-eyed loyal readers and accomplished Scouters\u2014John Ruppe, Paul Wolf, and Chet Lapeza\u2014wrote to me about my being incorrect last week when I\u2019d said that 30 merit badges beyond the required Eagle 21 can be recognized by a bronze, a gold, and a silver palm.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re absolutely correct: Two silver palms do the job!<\/p>\n

(My decision to go with all three to show the relationship between bronze, gold, and silver wasn\u2019t the brightest idea I\u2019ve ever had, and I\u2019ll take twenty lashes with a wet lanyard if I\u2019ve misled anyone.)<\/p>\n

Happy Scouting!<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Andy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Just to me at: askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

[No. 549 \u2013 11\/07\/2017 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2017]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

________________________________________ Here\u2019s a conversation from November 7, 2007\u2014ten years ago\u2014with a fellow online columnist\u2026 Hey Andy, As I read your considerable archive of advice, I note that some of the most intractable situations brought to you involve leaders with some serious blind spots\u2014they seem to be caught in a cul-de-sac of their own importance and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2265,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions\/2265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}