Dropped Merit Badges & Eagle Project Hours
Chris Haggerty, Sierra Vista, Arizona (CHAGGERTY@ARIZBPA.BITNET)
Sat, 29 Jul 1995 09:51:00 MST
RE: Dropped Merit Badges September 1995
Agribusiness, Beekeeping, Botany, Consumer Buying,
General Science, Machinery, Masonry, Metals Engineering.
Scouts may continue to work on these until merit badge patch supplies are
exhausted of if they do not want the patch, until, well.... (imagine a
national Advancement Committee member shrugging his shoulders - That's
the answer we got at the Philmont Training Center this Summer).
New MBs by 1997: Crime Prevention, Archeology, Climbing
RE: Hours required for an Eagle Scout Service Project
(Sorry, I lost track of the person sending this original post.)
...
>>Our local guidelines are 150 to 200 man hours to be acceptable. Does anyone
>>know if there is a national standard? Any efforts to standardize Eagle
>>projects nationally?
>>
From: Rodger Morris <rodger@FISHNET.NET>
Subject: Re: Eagle Projects
>The 1995 edition the 1994 printing of the BSA's "Advancement Policies
>and Procedures Committee Guide", No. 33088, contains no guidelines in re
>a minimum number of hours required for the Eagle Scout service project.
>For more detailed information concerning Eagle Scout projects, I refer
>you to the "Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook", No. 18-927.
Roger, you must have missed my earlier post. The 1995 edition of the 1994
printing of BSA's "Advancement Policies and Procedures Committee Guide",
No. 33088 (as well as earlier editions) CONTAINS VERY SPECIFIC GUIDELINES
FOR THE NUMBER OF HOURS REQUIRED FOR THE EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT. This is
on page 15, paragraph 5.
"Routine labor ... There is no minimum number of hours that must be spent on
carrying out the project. The amount of time spent must be sufficient enough
for the Scout to clearly demonstrate leadership skills."
What National is saying (As I interprete them), Demonstrating leadership is
important, the number of hours it takes you to do this is not important (they
do not care!).
What this means for the person who sent the original post is the following:
Say you have a scout that does an Eagle project and the total hours is only 80.
At the board of review, his application is rejected because he did not meet
the 150 to 200 hour guideline established locally. The Scout appeals and
is able to show that he "CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED LEADERSHIP SKILLS" during the
80 man hours spent on the project. If the local council does not give him
his Eagle, National will. Requiring a set number of hours (any number 10
hours or 500 hours) is the same as adding a requirement for Eagle WHICH IS
NOT THERE. It is my understanding and experience that National will not
support anything which is not in the Requirements or Policies!
If your local council only recommends 150 to 200 hours be spent on the
project and then ignores the issue in favor of leadership at the board
of review that is fine. You can recommend anything within reason. You
can only require, however, what is spelled out in the requirements.
I cannot stress enough what Roger and others (including myself) have
stated over the years on this list. GET A COPY OF THE "ADVANCEMENT
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE GUIDE". 99% of the problems that
happen with Advancement (Eagle Scouts) can be resolved with an
UNDERSTANDING of this booklet. (Which means you have to do more than
just read it!)
Chris Haggerty, District Advancement Chairman,
Cochise District, Catalina Council, Sierra Vista, Arizona
Bitnet: CHAGGERTY@ARIZBPA.BITNET (TCP/IP is Internet)
TCP/IP: CHAGGERTY@BPA.ARIZONA.EDU or CHAGGERTY%UABPA@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU
The requirements for Eagle are mostly trivial, any scout is capable. Doing
them is what is significant, because most people never finish what they start.
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
