infoscouter

We offer both Fall and Spring semesters of the University of Scouting. 700-1000 leaders attend each semester. There are "colleges" for Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Venturing, Sea Scouting, General Studies, Doctoral Studies, District Operations and one semester, the College of Commissioner Science. The fall semester will offer more than 150 courses. http://training.nsbsa.org/uploadedFiles/file/UofS/Fall%202010%20final.pdf They tell us it is the largest one day training event held by any council in the country

Here's a relatively recent article from Scouting Magazine: http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0710/a-thrive.html It gives a good description of the award process.

I did a search for "Den Leader Installation Ceremonies". Here are some links: http://www.lenaperoundtable.com/files/Installation_and_Induction_Ceremonies.pdf http://my.dmci.net/~dmanchester/Ceremonies/Inductions/DEN_LEADER_PROMISE.htm http://my.dmci.net/~dmanchester/Ceremonies/Inductions/DEN_LEADER_INDUCTION_CEREMONY_N1.htm http://my.dmci.net/~dmanchester/Ceremonies/Inductions/STRING_OVER_THE_DEN_LEADERS_FIN.htm Now all of these talk about inducting new leaders, but can be adapted to recognize the commitment the leaders have made by taking training.

All of these: Scouting for Youth With Emotional Disabilities, No. 32998D Scouting for Youth With Physical Disabilities, No. 33057D Scouting for Youth With Mental Retardation, No. 33059C Scouting for Youth Who Are Deaf, No. 33061B Scouting for the Blind and Visually Impaired, No. 33063D Scouting for Youth With Learning Disabilities, No. 33065B have been superceded by the manual to which the link was given. It has sections on each of these topics.

I noticed in the newest Cub Scout Leader Training Syllabus, the Assistant Cubmaster is listed as being in charge of the Den Chiefs. Dont' know what they think the CA does if there are now Den Chief's . However, that's a role I've never thought of for the Assistant Cubmaster, and it makes sense.

I think SAS is a local abbreviation for Scoutmaster/Assistant Scoutmaster Position Specific Training.

The sleeping arrangements can be handled by using tarps or blankets to separate the adults from the kids and the genders from one another. (This is per the Guide to Safe Scouting). Its easier if you have two buildings and put females in one and males in the other. Even if you're not at capacity in the buildings, if you can afford it, its worth it for the ease of the arrangements.

It sounds like this is a unit planning and communications issue. Our council announces camp sessions for the following summer in November and December (or at the latest January). Your unit should be selecting camping dates and publicizing them at that time. If your council doesn't release camping info until later in the year, then you should be pushing the Council Camping Committee for more timely information. Most councils have the info by February, though because they publish camping info for Blue & Gold banquets. The other thing to remember is that not all families have to go together. If the award is a priority or interest for the Scouts, then they can attend another session of the resident camp or attend another district's day camp at a time more convenient for their families.

I vaguely resent the implication that being an Assistant Scoutmaster is more important than being a committee member (which I am). It shouldn't be the case that becoming an ASM is a "promotion" from Committee Member. They are just different functions in support of the youth program. As to the original question, no its not O.K. to use unregistered parents on Boards of Review. However, some units *do* require one adult from each family to register - for a variety of reasons. So these adults may be legitamate committee members.

JoeBob - check out your council's PowWow or University of Scouting - look for a course on Cub Scout Pizzazz. To jump up farther - Strictly for Cubmasters at Philmont is the way to go.

If you find that heat helps, I bring enough ThermaCare heat wraps for as many nights as I'll be spending on the pad. Put one on right before bed. They help keep the muscles loose.

Just as a point of information Lions Clubs are not allowed to own real estate, so they will not have a physical location to offer as a meeting place. However, we have several Lions Clubs as COs in our district and they are great - they typically have charitable gambling money and actually support the units they sponsor financially, in addition to coming to B&G banquets, Courts of Honor, approving leadership, etc.

It is the unit commitee's responsibility to check the references, not the council. From the instructions in the adult application: "Unit Scouters 1. Complete and sign the top copy. Keep the back copy (applicant copy) and give the remaining copies to the committee chairman with the proper fees. 2. After the application has been reviewed and, if necessary, references checked by the unit committee, secure the approvals. The process set forth in the publication Selecting Quality Leaders, No. 522-981, must be completed for all positions of Scoutmaster, assistant Scoutmaster, Varsity Coach, and assistant Varsity Coach. 3. The committee chairman keeps the unit copy, gives one copy to the chartered organization, and forwards the remaining copy to the local council service center for approval and processing." So, we check all references and run our own criminal background check with the state - its faster than the one the council runs.

What baffles me is why there is both Wolf and Bear den leader training. Always in the past we've had one course for "Cub Scout" den leaders, which includes leaders of Wolf den and Bear dens. Theoretically, a pack can still have a mixed den of second and third graders. Why the separate modules?

For more than 20 (or more) years, our district has held a community breakfast. There is a featured speaker who talks about the value of Scouting in the community. A youth presenter (Eagle Scout or Venturing Silver) gives 5 minutes on what Scouting has meant to them. Cute Cub Scouts present the flags. We used to have a silent auction with this as well, but the Scouters in attendance ended up buying the stuff. The whole thing works like any non-profit fundraiser. Table captains invite likely donors and organize each table to give. Are you in a hunting area? Council does a pheasant shoot (in addition to the golf tournaments). Someplace with a sporting clays shoot might make a good event. I'd like to bring a resource to your attention. Your library probably has a subscription to a database called ReferenceUSA. This nation-wide database of businesses can be searched by zip code, county, size of business, line of business, and a number of other criteria, to create a prospect list. For instance, you could create a list of all companies in your county with more than 50 employees. This list then becomes a prospect list for your campaign voluteers to solicit for donations. It can also be a mailing list for donations or the invitation list for an event. The names of the management team of each company can be cross checked against the council's Eagle and registration databases to identify possible table captains. (I'm not affialeted with the company, but as a librarian, I've seen many successful uses of the database for a variety of uses)

Is there a link to where you found it? I'd also be interested.

I don't think so, but am not sure. We have members on our committee who do not reside within the district boundaries. In fact, in our council we have four "non-geographic" districts which serve special populations council wide.

A couple posters have noted that training taken in other councils isn't showing up. That's because your member number changes when you change councils. The training you took stays with your old number and does not automatically follow you to your new council(s). You have to get a copy of your record from your old council, take it to the new council and have it manually entered. Others have mentioned missing courses, including Wood Badge. In several other discussions on other lists, it has come to light that Wood Badge course attendance rosters may not get turned it. You don't really 'complete' Wood Badge until your ticket is complete of course, so the 40-60 folks in a course all *finish* at different times. That info apparently sometimes doesn't make its way back to the registrar. Other frequently missed courses are Philmont training, and regional courses like Camp Schools. I don't believe Region or Philmont staffs can log in to each council's database to record those trainings. Finally date discrepancies are common. Completion dates of 1/1/1911 indicate either that the date was lost in a data conversion which occured several years ago, or that the registrar entered old training for which the completion date was not known.

The BSA already has a couple tools you might want to investigate. "How Do I Rate as an Effective Leader" http://www.scouting.org/filestore/CubScoutMeetingGuide/PDF/Appendix/511-805.pdf Boy Scout Leader Assesment Tool http://old.scouting.org/boyscouts/training/start.jsp

"There *was* specific training for Troop Committee members, it was replaced by the on-line "Troop Committee Challenge." Our district/council still conduct in person Troop Committee challenge courses. Granted, I don't think the syllabus is available for purchase any longer, but AFAIK it is still a valid course.

Songs, skits. Nerf target shooting (assuming enough space). Board games. Card games. Paper games (mazes, puzzles, etc). Cub Cooking - depending on the recipe. How big is the rainy day shelter?

At one time (until 1991) the World Crest had to be earned, which was why overseas Scouts & Scouters had it more often - they had chances to complete the requirements, which were similar to the current requirements for the International Activity Patch. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Scout_Emblem

One of the school districts in our Scouting district recently re-organized this way. Each school still has its own pack. The packs "partner" based on attendance areas to hold two joint Join Scouting events, one at each school. Families are encouraged to join the pack nearest to where they live. So far it has worked O.K.

"Troop Leader Training (TLT) and Cub Leader Training (CLT) developed for Unit Leadership " I believe CLT - is _Crew_ Leader Training - to replace VLSC. It will be similart to TLT - a course for the youth leaders of a crew as TLT is for the youth leaders of a troop.

Courses with an H prefix are Philmont Training Center courses. The syllabi for those are pretty closely held by the training folks at Philmont.