Advancement Chair

[ogghall]

Was interested in how your troops communicate with Advancement Chairs to keep records upto date. (Had this posted on another scout forum that closed down and got a good response unfortunately didn't copy the answer before it closing down.)For example is the only thing used to sign off requirements the scout's handbook? Then how does that get reported to the Advancement chair for posting in something like Troopmaster. We are a small troop of 11. Typically me, the SM, has been keeping the software updated but have a parent now who wants to take on the responsibility. Any info on the workings of andvancement communications is appreciated.

[mdutch]

In our troop, while the primary responsibility is for the scout to keep their books up to date, the Advancement chair (AC) also keeps duplicate records. Prior to each BOR, the AC updates her records to confirm that they match what is in the scouts handbook. Completed blue-cards are processed through the AC, allowing those to be recording. Also, on a semi-regular basis, the AC asks for scouts who are not yet 1st class to give her their handbooks, so that she can record all progress they have made towards first class.

[John-in-KC]

1) About a month before COH, I sent the SM a Scout-by-Scout individual history from Troopmaster. I'd save the .txt file and drop it into a Word document. That way he had a baseline 3-4 times a year.

 

2) I attended meetings; each week I scheduled a different Patrol. I picked up their books at meetings end and took them home for a week (at this time we were too small to justify a Scribe as a POR).

 

3) Scouts brought me their completed blue cards. I took them home, did the data, and then returned them.

 

4) Annually, right after recharter, I asked the Council registrar to dump me a report from ScoutNet. That was my annual audit point. Usually there was something missing; occasionally there was a MB which had been input by miscoding.

 

HTH.

[OldGrayOwl]

What we do is just after the Scout completes his BOR, we make a copy of his handbook (another good reason to bring your handbook to your BOR), so that the troop secretary can input the data into Troopmaster. We then file the copy away in the troop's file cabinet and the Scout's induvidule file folder (just in case any Scout loses his handbook, like that won't EVER happen)

 

When the Scoutmaster signs off on the completed blue card, he makes a copy of that and gives it to the Troop secretary as well to enter the data into Troopmaster. That copy is then stored in the file cabinet.

[evmori]

When I was the Advancement Chair, I would periodically ask the Scouts for their books & update my records accordingly. This also gave me the chance to review each Scouts advancement. When it came to merit badges, I was the one who purchased them so keeping track of them was easy.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[John-in-KC]

Ogghall,

 

Find out how your Troop organizes data management within the Committee. As OGO noted, he was a data collector for the Committee Secretary. In my case, I actually handled both membership and advancement, keeping Troopmaster and doing online recharter.

 

IMO, the Advancement Chair has to work with the youth. Perhaps even more than the SM, he knows where the youth are. In my experience, he's the one who drops a hint to a PL or a TG to give Billy a nudge; he's one requirement from Second Class.

 

The other really cool part of the position is you get to work with the candidates for Eagle, helping them make sure their paperwork is ready to go. While it's a lamentable life lesson, it's a valid one: The job's not done until the paperworks' complete.

 

Enjoy your time!!!

[ogghall]

Thanks for the ideas. I talked with our AC about collecting books and that sounds like a really good idea. As does submitting the blue cards to the AC too.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Vicki]

An observation - in both the troops I've served, the AC also tracked camping nights (having served as AC in my first troop). This was critical information for OA, camping MB and just keeping track of activity levels. In both cases, depending on who the scouts and adults in attendance were, it was sometimes difficult to find out who had attended outings, but, in general, I'd either get a list or call an adult/scout who was there and create one.

 

Vicki