Assistant District Commissioner
Cynthia D King (cdk7552@JUNO.COM)
Sun, 8 Dec 1996 15:48:22 EST
Jim,
Congratulations on becoming an Assistant District Commissioner !
Start with your District Commissioner (you do work for him/her). A phone
call or quiet meeting would be best--this allows both of you to pay
attention to the subject at hand.
Your Dcmr should be able to give you a set of job descriptions--both what
is available from National and any Dcmr-specific jobs for your district.
Be prepared--most Dcmr, in additional to being a wealth of information,
are a wealth of paper resources.
Training: Fast Start is available by video or by personal coaching. You
should receive this training within the next two weeks. It's short-less
than 30 minutes or so.
Commissioner Basic should be offered by your Council soon--you should
take this training within the next 90 days. This training will most
likely be an all day affair (about 6 1/2 hours of presentations) or may
be offered in two-to-three evening sessions. If your council doesn't
offer this training on convenient dates for you, ask about neighboring
councils. As with any Scouting opportunity, your life will be easier if
you take this training soon.
Roundtable Training--I know that you are not the Roundtable Commissioner,
but this is great cross training for an ADC. And it's fun !
Supplemental training: Your council will either have or support an annual
Commissioner training event. This may be either a Commissioner
Conference, or a form of it as a College of Commissioner Science. (Both
considered Continuing Education for Commissioners). I've been to both.
Both have their strong points and room for improvement. Go to as many of
these as you can find--and don't be afraid to ask questions or venture
into District Commissioner classes. It's not an exclusive group!
University of Scouting--many councils offer these. And most have
commissioner oriented classes. One of the best I've seen was listed under
"General Sessions" and was a class on time management for Scouters.
Philmont--Administration of Commissioner Service, The Unit Commissioner,
Key-3, Roundtable Planning (CS or BS) are all courses touching on your
job. The administration course really brought together the whole concept
of Commissioner Service for me.
Program training: If you will be working with Cub units, you should be
current on your Cub Basic Training. Boy Scout units, Scoutmastership
Fundamentals. And so on. If the units with which you work need a specific
training to fulfill their job, it's a good idea if you've had the same
training. If you haven't been to these recently, it wouldn't hurt to go
through again--you will listen with different "ears" this time.
Be on the lookout for occasional "extra" trainings. Our council has had
half-day seminars on Recruiting & Lifesaving. They even had an all day
session a few years ago on "Group Operations".
Youth Protection Training: As always, you should be current. And it
wouldn't hurt to become a presenter. If your units need (and they always
do) a presentation, you would be ready to help.
Wood Badge: Great opportunity for you Jim--you can make your committments
based on your ADC job--if you are comfortable with the job and its
demands by then. (Assuming BS Wood Badge).
National Books available: (most are a '95 printing--and there have been
changes since previous printings) Fieldbook for Unit Commissioners,
Administration of Commissioner Service, Continuing Education for
Commissioners (how to do a Commissioner Conference or College of
Commissioner Science). Also Roundtable Planning Guides (CS or BS).
Council Books available: ask around, find out who (volunteer) is
responsible for commissioner training in your council. They may have
access to local council books that are invaluable. Our council had a
notebook (8 1/2 x 11x 1) for Unit Commissioners (gray book), one for
Roundtable Commissioners & staff (red book) and one for District
Commissioners (black book). They were our working notebooks.
Commissioner Meetings; your District Commissioner will (or should) have a
monthly training feature at the commissioner meeting. It may involve
updates on recharting, quality units, case studies, any topic pertinent
to Commissioner Service. Our Council Registrar came out each fall and
bought us up to date on rechartering.
Finally, you are your units' best friend (next to their Unit
Commissioner). Get to know them well enough that they will feel
comfortable calling you if need be. If the unit has a UC, go with them
about once a quarter for "courtesy calls." You may need to visit more
often if the need arises. At roundtable, search out your units and let
them know that you're glad they came out. At council and district events,
search out your units---they will be glad to see a friendly face.
Good Scouting !
Cindy King
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
