InquisitiveScouter

Difficult to find any new policy stuff regarding adult camping on any official websites. Apparently, an email with this verbiage went out to Lodge leaders around mid-January: (Underline emphasis added.) ------------------------ As a lodge leader, you play a vital role in creating exciting and welcoming experiences that keep Scouts engaged in the OA. This year, we're introducing significant updates to our induction weekend and membership requirements, changes designed to ensure that new Arrowmen feel deeply connected to their fellow Scouts and leave their induction energized to return to your next lodge event. Induction Updates The Order of the Arrow has created transformative experiences for over a century. We're evolving our induction to ensure today's Scouts continue forging real connections, discovering what Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, and Service mean in their lives, and beginning journeys they'll carry forward for years. To align with that vision, we've redesigned the induction experience to create a welcoming environment to emphasize the connections new members build during the induction weekend and leave energized to participate in your next lodge event. The best way to understand the changes to the induction is to experience it yourself at an induction event put on by your section or lodge. What's Staying the Same? Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, and Service still guide everything we do. The induction weekend remains a serious, meaningful milestone in a Scout or Scouter's journey. Service is still a core component of the induction weekend. The Admonition, "To Love One Another," continues to anchor our purpose. What's Changing? We're strengthening how Scouts experience and understand the values the OA teaches. New members engage in guided reflection and meaningful discussions. Silence still has its place for reflection, but the weekend now prioritizes building the connections that make Scouts want to return. Several experiences have been added to create a shared understanding of what our values truly mean in action. The guide for each group, now called a Luminary, will take on an enhanced role in facilitating these transformative moments, helping new members discover their place in our brotherhood from the very beginning. What’s Happening Next? Watch the Campfire Chat: A recording of Sunday evening's Campfire Chat with our national leadership can be found on our YouTube channel. The Induction Experience: Existing Arrowmen have the opportunity to build a shared understanding by going through the new induction before the lodge offers it to new members. Your section will play a key role in offering an event in your area to attend and experience the new induction themselves. Dates for these events are being finalized and will be shared in early February. We encourage all Arrowmen to experience the new induction as a participant. Practice With Existing Members: Lodges will share the induction experience with existing members at least once before offering it to new members. Support: You'll have resources at your disposal: on demand videos and guides to supplement the Induction Handbook. In addition to webinars and concierge-style support from trained induction staff to help you succeed. More information about this support will be shared in late March 2026. Keep an eye on the OA Website for more details. We're counting on you to help bring this vision of the induction to life. Step one? Go experience it. We'll see you at your section or lodges induction experience. Membership Requirements Updates We are also updating our membership requirements to allow more opportunities for Scouts and Scouters to be elected into the Order of the Arrow and participate in our program. We're expanding election opportunities beyond traditional units to include council-recognized Scouting America groups like staff for summer camp and NYLT, council high adventure contingents, and jamboree troops. Nearly a third of units don't hold elections, and every eligible Scout deserves a pathway to membership regardless of unit circumstances. The camping requirement for adults has been removed. This change recognizes that many adults who would be valuable resources to the Order face professional or family responsibilities that make youth-oriented camping requirements challenging, and lodges need a broader pool of qualified adults to support youth leadership and meet safeguarding policies. These changes ensure that today's Scouts, and the adults who support them, have additional pathways to OA membership. We are working through how to best support lodges implementing the expansion of unit elections and will share more in the coming months. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyone receive this?

Madness

Some new norm, some freak anomaly... 1. Still should be youth ( <21 y.o.) run election from Lodge... does not have to be your chapter. In fact, if you had youth in your Troop who were OA members, and were trained in running elections, your Troop could do its own election. Has to be "blessed" by your lodge... Adults (>= 21) should in no way be running the election. This happened with our election last year, as no youth were available the night of our Troop election. I thought we should reschedule, but SM and Lodge wanted it done... smh. 2. Camping nights are still required. Election team does not check this... this is done by SM, who must certify eligible from the unit. Criteria here, https://oa-scouting.org/about/membership That said, I have seen unit leaders certify camping nights when they should not have.... 3. Not sure what you mean here, "The only adult, 21+, was voted on and not nominated." Adults are nominated by the Troop committee... was this your process?? 4. Yes, everyone "eligible" can get elected now. All you need is 50% of those present to vote for you. Say your unit has 5 eligible and 20 Scouts present. Each ballot can list five names. If all five candidates receive a minimum of 10 votes, they are in. smh I take a slightly different tack that @skeptic, and this has been a heated topic in the past.... Here are my thoughts and beliefs, supported by mountains of literature on and from OA... many take a different thought-path, though... A. As @skeptic says, "It pretty much lost any real credibility, in my view, when it stopped putting limits on how many could be elected in a unit..." Agree. OA is no longer really an "honor society" within Scouting, if everyone can get in. That said, we did have a Scout who did not really do anything for the Troop and his fellow Scouts other than show up... his buddies did not select him for OA membership. But that is the only one I have seen in the time since the election rules changed. B. Order of the Arrow recognition is unit-level. There is no written guidance on what "approval of the Scoutmaster" means, other than the written requirements for membership linked above. For any unit leader to inject their personal observations into it makes the process capricious and one showing favoritism. However, if a Scout, who is First Class or above, is not living up to the Scout Oath and Law, the the unit leader should tell the Scout specifically before the OA election, give corrective behavior and goals, and sign off a Scoutmaster Conference for the next rank. (If Scout continues poor behavior, then should be brought up with Troop Committee and let the Scout know he will not be signed off on STAR (or LIFE) requirement #2 "...demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law." ) If the Scoutmaster deems a Scout is eligible, his name should be on the ballot, WHETHER THE SCOUT INTENDS TO COMPLETE THE ORDEAL OR NOT. Simply being elected to the Order of the Arrow is the honor the unit gets to bestow upon their fellow Scouts. It is not about future service to the Lodge... that is what the Brotherhood recognition is for... "An Arrowman's first duty is to his unit." https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/24-413.pdf https://oa-scouting.org/article/thoughts-arrowmans-primary-duty C. When I talk with Scouts about potential OA membership, I tell them there is NO OBLIGATION to serve the Lodge after undertaking the Ordeal. There is an obligation to continue serving the unit. "...the ones who chose you need you." There are TWO different "statuses"... one is membership in the Order of the Arrow (for which you wear your sash); the second is membership in the Lodge (for which you wear your flap. Once you pass the Ordeal (without flinching ) you are ALWAYS A MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF THE ARROW. However, once you pass the Ordeal, you must pay your annual dues to be a member of the local lodge. In the WImachtendienk, Amangiechsin

Different experience here... 1. The new registration regime actually caused more work to ensure that Scouts remained registered, and could, therefore, enjoy the benefits of "membership". (I'll elaborate on that in a bit.) Because the transaction now goes directly from family to BSA, the burden of action was shifted to the family. Most families are not fully on top of all the minutiae they have to manage in their lives, and the required action of reading the emails from National (which probably went to spam) and figuring out what to do to register their Scout (admittedly a very low priority), especially around the holiday period, meant that about one third of our Scouts did not have a current paid registration going into recharter. 2. Once the recharter process started, our Troop became "locked" somehow, and no adults or Scouts who delayed could register in the unit until the recharter was complete. Those who attempted got some sort of "Unit Not Valid" message, and the system would not process their registration or payment. Now you have doubled or tripled the amount of work a family / Troop has to do to get on top of this, as they have to monitor the recharter, then notify parents to try again, and then do the payment process again. 3. Even though there is a "grace" period for individual registrations, until the unit recharter went through, adults in our unit/district/council could not manipulate calendars or input advancements (we'd get a message for a Scout that said they did not have a valid membership.) After a huge outcry to District Commissioners/District Staffs/Registrar/Council Staff (folks at our January Roundtable were quite testy), the council office pulled folks from other duties to assist Registrar in tasks needed to complete the effort. Still not done for all units due to adult application issues (for position changes to make sure a unit has the required leadership to recharter), but the majority in our District are now done. Finally, consider the amount of money being wasted on this process... every family has to pay something like a 3% convenience fee to do this online with a credit card. For those who went to the Scout office and paid in person, because this was an option presented to avoid the card fee, their registrations were held up until staff went through that paperwork in office. (Of course, the checks were cashed right away, but renewals were delayed... optics on that not so good either.) I'm with @Tron... these two actions should be de-coupled by some significant space in the calendar. My take: Units should be prompted to renew FIRST. Once a unit renewal is complete for the next year, the demand signal for individuals to renew their memberships in that unit should go out... There are a lot more moving parts to this, I'm sure...

If they do, in fact, roll this back, I will be impressed that National will have taken prudent steps after recognizing this blunder. Now let's see how long it takes to make the change.

Thanks That was the substance of the SM's reply.

Sometimes I think we are just not getting through... I am an ASM working with a Patrol of younger Scouts. Last night, an older Scout interrupted this Patrol's Meeting to try to take a younger Scout out to work on his Life requirement #6, using EDGE to teach a skill. The younger Scout is the planner for the Patrol's next camping trip, and he was working out plans with his Patrol mates. The younger Scout was obviously frustrated by this demand (from the look on his face) and turned to me for guidance. I dismissed the older Scout and told him this was time for the Patrol Meeting, and that the younger Scout was to stay and finish his planning with his Patrol Mates. This morning, the parent of the older Scout sends a scathing missive to the Scoutmaster, outlining how his son has been trying to complete this requirement for months now, and is not getting any support from the Troop. (This is factually incorrect, and the SM handled the email response to the parent perfectly.) The parent made brief mention of the Patrol Meeting scenario last night, and made a comment in reference to it that makes me believe we are just not getting through... "I understand the importance of patrol meetings, but don’t get why they would take precedence over completing rank requirements." This, followed by threats to leave the Troop if the Troop does not immediately make and implement a plan to help their Scout finish the requirement. Important to note also, this older Scout rarely comes to meetings, and has not been on a Troop outing since Oct 2024. He did not make arrangements with anyone to try to work on the requirement during this meeting... smh https://youtu.be/V2f-MZ2HRHQ?si=ljwnDk_wERNKzhz4

Recommend you choose tongue twisters that do not twist into profanity Example of a naughty: "I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop" Example of a nice: "Rubber baby buggy bumpers" --------------- Preview the jokes... make sure they are Scout appropriate. I know some ditties on dirty underwear that I learned in Scouts as a kid Not to be told in polite company...

There is a mechanism already in place... 1. Scout tells parents they would like a new Scoutmaster, and articulates GOOD reasons for it. Parents tell committee: committee evaluates and takes action, with advice and consent of COR. 2. Scout tells Boards of Review they think they'd like a new Scoutmaster, and articulates GOOD reasons for it. (BoR is made of Committee Members and parents.) Committee evaluates and takes action, with advice and consent of COR. Although I understand the sentiment, youth must not make the decision of who should be Scoutmaster. (Inmates running the asylum and all ) To implement this would mean an abdication of responsibility by COR and Troop Committee. Unfortunately, reality is often that the Scoutmaster is simply the person with a pulse who said they'd do the job. In 45+ years of Scouting, I've never seen a unit with a decent succession plan. Still looking for that unicorn. (Yes, I have failed to get this accomplished in many a unit. If I was allowed to be the benevolent dictator, things would have been different.)

Your council is "supposed" to have an Enterprise Risk Management Committee that should review this... Good Luck, https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/healthsafety/pdf/680-026.pdf

At the camp I grew up in (1980's, LOL!), our Camp Director got fed up with shenanigans, and went to a system where, when units arrived in the main parking lot, they loaded all their gear into a camp trailer, and Ranger or Asst Ranger drove it to their campsite, with staff members assisting on loading and unloading. The issues then were too many cars in camp, drivers far exceeding safe speeds on camp roads with campers running everywhere, and people not getting their vehicles out expeditiously. So, about my third year on staff, the Camp Director instituted that procedure, and it worked well for the next five years I was on that staff...

Go to a different camp Easy, peasy

For us, anyone driving camp (council) vehicles must be listed on the council's insurance policy. Units move and park their own trailers, and those vehicle operators assume liability risk on their own insurance policies per the G2SS, Transportation section: https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss11/ 13. All vehicles must be covered by automobile liability insurance with limits that meet or exceed the requirements of the state in which the vehicle is licensed. It is recommended, however, that coverage limits are at least $100,000 combined single limit. Any vehicle designed to carry ten or more passengers should have limit of $1,000,000. For insurance information refer to the Insurance section in the Guide to Safe Scouting. 14. When towing the tow vehicle driver has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to operate the vehicle with the attached unit. That your council is having "...adult staff using their personal vehicles tow all troop trailers..." is troubling. Council cannot require any staff member to use their personal vehicle for camp requirements, without remuneration and ensuring adequate liability coverage. If they make this some sort of condition for employment, or otherwise require employees (which camp staff are) to use their personal vehicles in this way, they are asking for trouble. Good luck convincing them

I am an advocate for returning to no age limit on earning ranks. (BSA instituted the age limit in 1952.) Want a good chance to see a return of Scouting skills? Allow adults to earn their ranks as well... Want to have a good chance at restoring some integrity into the Merit Badge program? Allow adults to earn them as well... Removing age limit would also pave the way for bringing back testing for a Board of Review, thus reinforcing Scout skills. Adults would be in a "Rover"-type patrol... Add some additional awards for them for mentoring and teaching youth under 18...

Yes, the 31 December 2025 number of "Total Unit-Based" is 877,403. If you included Learning for Life numbers, then the total youth served by Scouting America programs on 31 Dec 2025 was 907,950. The 31 Dec 2024 Unit-Based number was 956,541. So, that one year period change was a loss of 79,138 Scouts, or an 8.27% loss from the Dec 2024 numbers. Current number reporting today (Unit-Based only) is 837,145. There have been numerous problems with online registrations, particularly if families delayed... If the unit charter lapsed, families were blocked from renewing registrations. I imagine we will be seeing a cleanup of that boondoggle through March. So, my gut tells me the 837K number is low. If accurate, it would mean a loss 40K Scouts since end of 2025. (Another loss of 4.56% of membership.)