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Re: merging packs, screams of despair
Anthony Mako (ajmako@NLS.NET)
Tue, 21 Jul 1998 10:22:52 -0400
<QUOTE>Just a thought, but when numbers become, are, remain more important
than the quality... doesn't everyone involved in the process tend to lose.
</QUOTE>
Kevin,
The important thing to remember is that Dave is talking about professionals,
not volunteers. The DE's paycheck (and potential future) is based on a
statistical analysis of the membership in his district. Most of the
statistics are based on the units. But it's not just how many units or how
many Scouts, there is some analysis of the quality. For instance, in a
district with 50 units the DE will win points if 25 of them earn Quality
Unit. Red flags would spring up if there were only 2 units who earned
Quality Unit.
Having said that, I can tell you that there was a time in my district when
the DE pushed for a lot of units. He had a map of the city with a pin
pointing to every school and the meeting location of every unit (blue for
Cubs, red for Scouts, green for Explorer). Wherever there was a "hole" he
would go out and look for an organization to sponsor a troop, get five boys
and four adults together from a nearby school, and form a unit. Most of
these units lasted only a month or two before the boys lost interest and the
adults became discouraged. The important thing for the DE was that his
numbers would reflect the new unit and its membership.
To be honest, the district staff could have saved more than a couple of
those units if they had known they were in trouble. The problem was the DE
rarely gave the new leaders much information on where to get help or
training (he figured that was the district staff's job). My memory may have
a few holes in it, but I can't seem to remember any time when I talked about
a problem to this particular DE where he suggested I speak to my UC.
Most of the professionals I know view the numbers as the evaluation of their
performance. They also view the quality of the district's units as the
evaluation of the volunteer leadership. Of course, most of the professionals
I work with now know that their job is to support the volunteers (and do
recruiting rallies in the schools). Our council's concentration these days
seems to be more on membership numbers.
YIS
AJ Mako, ajmako@nls.net, Scoutmaster Troop 381
http://members.aol.com/Scouts381/ "Home of the Unofficial Boy Scout Desktop
Theme"
Great Trail Council - Old Portage District - Akron, Ohio
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
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