Re: College Credit for Scouting
(no name) ((no email))
Wed, 19 Aug 1998 07:58:40 +0000
Wow!! Professor Beaver must have been looking into my email bin
over this Labor Day weekend!
I've received two questions about Boy Scout leader training and
Wood Badge and college:
"I'll be a student at a University this fall. I want to know if I
can apply any of my Scouting training to college classes"
Sure you can. Credit at most universities and colleges come in four
ways:
*direct credit by attending and participating in a college-level
class. This involves doing the classroom work, participating in
the discussion and any outside assignments or projects done
individually or as a group toward the topic of the class. Your
Scouting experiences and training can be of the best benefit in
these classes, and also it's a boom to the professor or instructor
teaching the class because you've become one of the "leaders" of
the class. Most of the merit badge topics can be used in part to
complete collegiate assignments, especially in "introduction" or
"survey" type classes.
*credit by examination. Universities and colleges will allow a
certain percentage of their undergraduate coursework to be
completed by merely taking an examination. These are either
standarized by an national organization (American College of
Education, DANTES (I don't know what it stands for, but their
testings are done through the military) ) or through the college or
university itself. The examination normally consists of several
multiple choice questions, along with written "mini papers"
responding to one or two questions chosen from several options.
Many Scouts have received credit in American History, American
Cultures, foriegn languages, personal and public health, civics,
general science and biology through what they knew both from high
school and from their Scouting experiences.
*credit through work. Students, even freshmen/first year students,
can receive credit toward graduation by their volunteer or for-pay
work with Scouting. I did, in a program called "cooperative
extension training". In "co-op", I worked under the supervision of
professionals in the BSA's "professional preview program". Every
local Council has such a program, and depending on the local
Council's funding source (in my case, it was under a federal grant
for innercity and rural recreational and vocational programs; in
some Councils, it's built-into the budget annually and in still
others, it's "project sold" by a Council partner), it could be a
paid or an "expense-paid" position. Summer camp, Philmont, even
the National or World Jamboree can be used for co-op credit during
college, as long as the application and enrollment fees are paid
before the period of service.
*credit through Scouting training. The American College of
Education has certified certain BSA and GSUSA national training
courses (in the BSA, it's Wood Badge, National Camping School, and
all three levels of Professional Educational Institute or its
precedessors) for awarding AT THE COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY's
DISCRETION, undergraduate and/or graduate credit. For instance,
Wood Badge is certified as a 3-hour graduate-level management or
organizational communications course. Everything helps out. In
order for Scouters to receive this credit, the Scouter must send
copies of his or her Wood Badge, National Camping School, and/or
PEI/NEI cards or certificates to the Volunteer Training Division,
Boy Scouts of America, at the national office address and request a
transcript. The transcript may be sent to you (preferred) or
directly to the college or university's records center for
evaluation and posting. Please note, however, that NOT ALL
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES HONOR THOSE TRANSCRIPS, and some will
honor them for LESS than the hours stated in the ACE Guide to
Education (a publication available from your high school guidance
counsellor's office, your education center on a military
installation, the public library, or through the college or
university you're going to attend. Most colleges or universities
WILL however, accept some if not all of the ACE Guide's
recommendations.
"What about the other training: You know, College of Commissioner
Science, Scout Leader Fundamentals, Showando, etc. I heard that
there's a couple of schools that accept them too for college
credit".
I was told about five or so years ago that the American Humanics
program which is present on eight to ten universities in the United
States, do accept toward degrees in Human Services *some* of the
BSA's (and GSUSA's) adult leader training courses and workshops.
The same goes for the Human Services program at Murray State
University here in Kentucky. If anyone else knows of a school that
does the same, please let me know!!
The problem with those courses, of course, is the fact that they
are localized for the most part, even though they follow a
standarized format or syallabus. Unlike the Wood Badge, NCS, and
professional training courses, those courses are not supervised or
looked over by professionals for the most part.
However, it doesn't hurt to bring copies of the diplomas and other
materials to the college counsellor or advisor's office when you
start school, because there may be a creative way that that
valuable training can be used as part of a program.
Those are all of the ways I know of that Scouting education can be
used to support and "move faster" that college diploma. I hope
that this all has helped someone to make that decision to
incorporate Scouting into their college life. If anyone knows of
things I've left out, let me and everyone here know please!
Settummanque!
>Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 21:10:19 -0400
>From: "Michael F. Bowman" <mfbowman@USSCOUTS.ORG>
>Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List <Scouts-L@tcu.edu>
>To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L
> <SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU>
>Subject: College Credit for Scouting
>
>Bill, Beth, Jeff,
>
>You may also want to check with a large university to see whether
> they
>offer recreational management courses. Frequently these courses
> are
>designed to facilitate experience outside the traditional
> classroom.
>Aside from Wood Badge, this may also be very helpful in recruiting
>senior summer camp staff. The prospect of earning a few hours of
> credit
>may help offset some of the low salaries that are offered.
>
>When I was a student at Purdue University, I earned six hours of
> college
>credit in recreational management during the summer while working
> as a
>Camp Program Director. The professor required a goal-setting
> meeting,
>assigned research and resources projects, required reporting, and
> at the
>end held an evaluation seminar for those who had participated.
> Actually
>learned a good deal because of the discipline that was required to
> make
>the weekly reports and observations and because of the evaluations
> we
>got in the mail.
>
>In reality this is not a lot different than some of the more
> traditional
>work-study courses offered at almost any large college or
> university and
>most small ones too. It all depends on the faculty and the
>institution's rules.
>
>Mike
>
>__________________________________________________
>Michael F. Bowman --- Professor Beaver NE-CS-41
>Speaking only for myself in the Scouting Spirit
>from Alexandria, Virginia - mfbowman@usscouts.org
>Webmaster: http://members.aol.com/netcommish
> http://usscouts.org/
> http://usscouts.org/profbvr
> http://members.tripod.com/~colonialdistrict
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Scouts-L Youth Group List [mailto:Scouts-L@tcu.edu]On Behalf
> Of
>Jeff Bogart
>Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 1998 5:59 PM
>To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L
>Subject: Re: Woodbadge Question
>
>
>Bill & Beth Reiller wrote:
>>
>> When I went through the Woodbadge Course several years ago
> it was
>> mentioned that we could receive college credit for the course.
> I was
>> wondering if this is still true and if it is how do you go about
> it?
>
>At this year's Course Director Conferences, we were told that this
> is no
>longer available. For college credit to do you any good, the
> college
>you are attending has to accept it anyway and they are often
> willing to
>negotiate "life experience" credit. I believe it's still up to
> your
>college and the degree you're going after whether the experience
> will be
>treated for credit or perhaps provide a waiver to some required
> course.
>It's always worth a try.
> ~ *******
>Jeff Bogart ~ **** **** o
>jeffbogart@lucent.com_ _ _!__ *** *** o
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(c) 1998 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") (502) 827-9201
(settummanque, the blackeagle) http://dynasty.net/users/blkeagle
241 Fairview Dr., Henderson, KY 42420-4339 blkeagle@dynasty.net
(note that these addresses will expire on 1 October 1998)
privately at kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@hq.21taacom.army.mil
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