LDJohnson

I have been a user of Packmaster for many years and I think it's great. But... like any software package or documentation you need to have someone committed to keeping it up for it to be useful. I also have Troopmaster and both packages have lots of features to help with your pack or troop management of scouts, adults, activities and advancement.

There are demos for you to look at before buying.

I have TroopMaster and PackMaster and have used both for several years. Both are very comprehensive and work great.

YIS,

Laurel

I am the Troop Advancement Chair and here how it works in our troop.

First, Parent may sign-off on advancement except for their own boy because that would be a conflict of interest. I do work with and encourage parents to become involved and assist with rank advancement as well as becoming merit badge counselors. They can be great resources with lots of great skills to share.

This also helps with their understanding of the program. We have over 50 boys and even with the 8 or 9 leaders we just can't keep up on advancement without the parents help.

For PLC or other boys only on special situations which have been cleared by the Scoutmaster. As adults, we need to make sure the boy understand what he is signing off on and the importance of knowing that skill which he's signing off on. Your Eagle Scouts are great for assisting with this task.

I encourage you to do a troop survey and get more of your parents involved. Advancement is very important for retention of the boys in your troop.

First of all, do you know who your Unit Commissioner is? He/she is the individual who should be able to assist you with your frustrations. A unit commissioners job is to work with the committee and individuals to assist with questions/ concerns and issues. They don't know it all but have the resources to pull from to assist you.

Communication is always an issue in any Pack whether its a great pack or one struggling. I've seen both and even in my own we struggle too. But it's a two way street and the committee needs to understand your frustrations and hopefully want to work with you to make things right. Leaders and boys and retention are always very important in every pack.

If organization is the issue and you can't commit more time to help, then do you have any other parents in your den, which may be willing to assist? More organized hands make the job easier.

Maybe suggest to the committee to break up the jobs into smaller task and get more involved.

Hope this helps.