Joni4TA 10 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Wouldn't you know.... every single one of them has listed that they only want to teach MBs for their personal Troops only - no one else!! What's up with that? No one wants to share their resources or what? Is it the same for ya'll out there? Are you an MBC for just the Troop you are affiliated with or did ya check the box that says "Counsel in my District Only" or "Council", on the MBC application? We're updating our applications right now - and I am not going to be stingy. I am going to go with Council Wide. Why limit a resource for the boys like that? Link to post Share on other sites
eolesen 10 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Totally agree... I'm council-wide as well. Link to post Share on other sites
insanescouter 10 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I am council wide as well .... Scott Robertson http://insanescouter.org Helping leaders one resource at a time... Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I'd say it is about 60-40 around here, with the majority being open to all. This might be a good thing to point out to your district advancement chair. Along with the rest of the council advancement folks, he or she may be able to get a campaign going to convince more people to register council-wide. If not, keep in mind that you are not limited to only your council! You can always contact another council to see whether they have MBCs available for popular MBs. Link to post Share on other sites
raisinemright 13 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Thankf for answering a question I never asked. I wans wondering if you can go outside district or council for merit badges. Our troop is spread out over many miles. (one scout lives 50 miles away) and many of us don't even live in the district we're chartered in. My son has been meeting with a backpacking MB counselor every couple weeks but it's at the far end of the district. This guys is great, even offering to go backpacking with our guys. However, for future ones, I'm going to stay a little closer to home. Link to post Share on other sites
John-in-KC 311 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 In my Troop, if a Scout goes to a specialty camp (science, music, and equestrian come to mind), and if a staff member at that camp is registered as an MBC in the camps home council, we send a blue card with the Scout... Our Council internet MBC database only shows by District, but if a Scout asks, I will find a way!(This message has been edited by John-in-KC) Link to post Share on other sites
LongHaul 10 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 As for going outside your council for merit badges you have two things to remember; 1. BSA Advancement is a National program. A registered MBC is a registered MBC for the purposes of advancement for the entire organization. A merit badge earned in Maine is good in Oregon. 2. This only becomes a real issue when a boy applies for Eagle. Until then the local troop deals with the question and it revolves around did the boy get approval from his Sm before he started the badge? Johnnie scout comes home from summer vacation with a blue card signed by someone the SM does not know claiming Johnnie has passed Swimming merit badge. The SM BASICALLY either a.)checks the MBC's credentials with the home council, b.) Say's "to bad you didn't talk with me first and tears up the card, or c.) signs the card and gives it to the Advancement Chair to record. When the boy applies for Eagle National gets involved and the Council Advancement Chair/District Advancement Chair can "question" MBC's from out of Council (usually only eagle required). My advice is when you go out of council be sure the MBC is registered in their council, be sure the SM is on-board, be sure the advancement paper work is filed. An email to the Councils/Districts in your drivable area should net you a list of counselors, "help other people at all times". As for limiting the boys you will counsel. I think a MBC should be a MBC and that is that. If a boy is turned down when he calls to begin work that should be reported to the DAC and it should be investigated. I just cringe when I sit on an EBOR and all the Eagle required badges were done with counselors from the boys own troop. LongHaul Link to post Share on other sites
scoutldr 732 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I have shared this rant before, but I think a troop-run MB program circumvents the intent of the MB program and short-changes the boys. The point of the MB program is to promote initiative, adult association (NOT being group-spoonfed 5 MB from "Joey's mom"), and the chance to meet some real experts in the subject. If it were up to me, I would not allow "Troop XX Only" MBCs. They would be recruited and managed at the district level to ensure quality control. One of the things I miss from the old Exploring program was the way we passed on our expertise to the Scouts. Our Post was sponsored by a Vol Fire Dept and Rescue Squad, and we regularly staffed camporees, OA events, and offered MB classes. We were all Certified by the ARC (as a 16 year old, I was an Advanced First Aid Instructor and Water Safety Instructor), and in fire fighting and heavy-duty rescue. When we turned 18 we were eligible to become real members of the squad. We offered real expertise, a quality training experience, and we had real equipment to go with it for show and tell, including a fully equipped and licensed ambulance. Link to post Share on other sites
Beavah 205 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 When the boy applies for Eagle National gets involved and the Council Advancement Chair/District Advancement Chair can "question" MBC's from out of Council (usually only eagle required). Nah, dat just doesn't happen, eh? Da reality is that if a troop has filed an Advancement Report form (paper or on-line) so that there's a MB listed in ScoutNet, everything's good. National will never get involved with second-guessing that. Nor should a Council or District Advancement Chair, because that role in verifying da Eagle Application they have no say over - it's the responsibility of the Council Registrar. Only issues that come up are when a troop hasn't submitted an advancement report or the council or ScoutNet lost the record. I have shared this rant before, but I think a troop-run MB program circumvents the intent of the MB program and short-changes the boys. I agree with scoutldr on this, eh? Unfortunately, one new issue we're seein' is that some CO's now have more strict Youth Protection rules than the BSA. Their kids can't use non-CO MBC's, because they don't meet the YP standard for the organization. Part of modern life to be afraid of other adults I guess. Beavah Link to post Share on other sites
LongHaul 10 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 >>When the boy applies for Eagle National gets involved and the Council Advancement Chair/District Advancement Chair can "question" MBC's from out of Council (usually only eagle required). Nah, dat just doesn't happen, eh?<<< Beavah, Sometimes it seems your seated on a swinging pendulum. You switch between what is, what you think should be, and what is supposed to be and state each as hard fact. The truth is that it does happen. Should it happen? NO, will National overturn the decision IF the boy appeals and takes it that far? Yes, but it still happens. One of our CACs actually put it in writing that if a boy applies for Eagle and has more than three merit badges from the same counselor the app will be rejected. Another "memo" that has come down is that any Eagle required badge that has been earned at a merit badge day, merit badge clinic, merit badge college etc. will not be recognized with the exception of aquatics badges. On appeal the boy wins but it happens, it's a problem, and it needs to be considered when making the decision to contact or recommend a MBC. Stop and think of all the reasons a boy would not be advanced at an EBOR. Now tell me what requirement would be lacking. How about the last one "Successfully complete an Eagle board of review." The reasons that are given are many some are overturned some are not. Whichever the case "It does happen" LongHaul Link to post Share on other sites
mdutch 10 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I don't think MBC's can designate troop only in my district. Either you are an MBC or not. And from my experience of calling counselors, they usually seem to be willing to work with just about anybody. But maybe I just got lucky and called the right ones. Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Hey Joni, I know this is probably kind of low on your list of district and council things to deal with right now! But I'm really curious to know what would be said if you contacted your district advancement chair and asked them why EVERYONE is registered troop-only?! There has to be a story here. Link to post Share on other sites
Beavah 205 Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 The truth is that it does happen. Yah, LongHaul, yeh got me there! I thought I was clear that National would never do that, and that a district or council advancement chair should never do that 'cause it ain't their role. But yer right, just because it's goofy doesn't mean that some goof won't do it. Speakin' of goofy, I'm real interested in Lisabob's question too. What in da world happened in that district that made every MBC declare "in-troop only" ?? Beavah Link to post Share on other sites
Oak Tree 15 Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Around here I'd say it's the norm for troops to do their merit badges in-troop. That, plus summer camp and the occasional merit badge fair or group class. I did go up to council to get the list of counselors, and the woman looked at me kind of funny, like I was asking for some type of state secret. Eventually, after continued prodding, she printed out the list for our district. It only included those who not checked the troop-only box, and there were a reasonable number of people on it, but it was not a large number, given the size of the district. I'd guess that it was maybe 20% of the registered counselors. Link to post Share on other sites
Joni4TA 10 Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 Lisabob, I got the list from the Council's Head Registrar via email. So I emailed her back to verify that everyone on the list was truly only an MBC for "Troop Only" as indicated on the list that was sent to me. I haven't received a response yet, but feel like it has to be an error or something as well. It could be I am reading the report wrong too. She sent it as a plain .txt file, 25 pages, and I just opened it again, under "selcted options" it says - Badges: ALL, Include Troop Only Counselors: NO. But then under every MBC's name, it says - "Troop Only Badges" and then under that it lists the MB's they counsel. I am hoping that I just can't seem to read the report right and there is some invisible line between "Troop Only Badges" and the list of MB's they will teach, which indicates there are no Troop Only Badges on the list, and if a MB is listed, it's in fact NOT a "Troop Only" MB. Anyway, no word back from the regsitrar yet! Link to post Share on other sites
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