BOR advice needed

[fl_mom_of_2]

our troop committee has decided that we will only be giving Board of Reviews 2 weeks before our Court of Honor (our COHs are held every 3 months). I feel this is too long of a period to wait especially for those scouts who already have attained first class and are trying to advance to the next rank. Since these ranks require either 4 or 6 months in a POR, this will hold them up from advancing. Am I wrong in suggesting this is too long to wait?

 

When I emailed the committee and expressed my concern for this decision I received an email from one committee member which said "Racing through the ranks for the sake of getting them is not what the Boy Scout program is about and furthermore, the anxiety created in that race is a detriment to the troop as a whole".

 

 

 

[John-in-KC]

How bad do you want to push this noodle?

 

The District Advancement Chair, if he's doing his job, will soon enough get printouts that show your unit not regularly advancing. Will he or the UC do something? Can't tell you.

 

I can guess, even from this remove, the root cause: Your committee, in particular your CC and your advancement guy, don't understand the Advancement Method or ages and stages. Kids advance at their own rate. If it is a race, it's the job of the SM to slow things down a bit, by making sure the kids who sign off on skills are being certain the Scouts coming to them know.

 

Your options:

 

- Try to advocate change and training for the Committee.

- Evaluate other area troops, then let your son evaluate against your short list, and punch out.

- Do nothing and put up with your Committee procedures.

[Beavah]

Yah, fl_mom, this is a decision that's up to your committee, eh? Remember, it's their time you're talkin' about. Always a good idea not to try to sell other people's time.

 

That havin' been said, I think most of us would encourage your unit to think a bit differently. Lots of troops only schedule BORs once a month, but it would be pretty rare to find a troop that only did once every three months. Perhaps a once a month schedule can meet everybody's needs? I think yeh might have a hard time givin' each boy the attention he deserves if yeh have to try to work through a whole mess of kids in just one evening every three months. That notion of givin' kids our undivided attention is why I personally prefer doin' BORs "as needed".

 

Practically speakin', the once every three months bit won't hurt any kids' advancement unless they're an old scout runnin' into Eagle deadline problems. Sounds like a troop that is tryin' to keep advancement in its proper place as only one out of the 8 methods of Scouting. That can be an OK thing, if they're usin' the time and energy to develop other aspects of the program.

 

Beavah

(This message has been edited by Beavah)

[croushorn]

Agreed - once a month isn't too much to ask. And if you have a decent sized troop, say over 15 boys, once every three months will make for one loooooong night for your committee. Don't forget, the idea is to work in new parents into these events so they can learn how to do them, too (always be training a replacement!). Increased frequency will tap more people instead of being so heavily reliant on just a handful.

 

A side point - don't use email to plead your case; get to a committee meeting and have a good face to face talk. Email for this kind of discussion will go bad, guaranteed.

 

If they won't accept a monthly BOR, at least offer a compromise from 4 times a year to 6 times a year and see what happens. I bet it will relax some angst of committee members performing them and also the boys because they will know if they miss this one the next is only two months away, vs 3.

 

[OldGreyEagle]

I came from a Troop that does BOR's as necessary, if the youth is ready, its necessary, something about making sure the scout is recognized in a timely fashion, that being said, tradition can be a killer, and organizational inertia is hard to change.

 

What would happen if a scout finished a rank 2-3 weeks after a COH and then finished a secnd rank before the next BOR, would they do two? If the scout is able to complete requirements and advance, this while not being my ideal situation is just a situation. If it delays advancement in the ranks with time requirements, Star, Life and Eagle then it may require another look see

[John-in-KC]

BTW, fl_mom, we do want to know how this turns out.

 

While personally I believe in the "when he's ready, come ask the advancement coordinator or the CC to set up a BOR next week" way of scheduling BORs, I'm OK with monthly.

 

Loud Snoring Bear's 2d monthly is Plan B.

 

BTW, are you registered and on the Committee? Being part of the team won't hurt advocacy for change. Not being part of the team may get you blown off...

[Horizon]

We used to be on a BOR once per month schedule. I convinced the committee to move to an "as requested" model, to fit the more openness and frequency that I was granting SMCs.

 

We used to only give out ranks and merit badges at the COH. I convinced the committee to start handing out badges as soon as they are earned (and recorded - about a two week delay). The date on the ranks is now the day the BOR occurred, so that the boy can start work on the next rank immediately.

 

If you are trying to shift the timing of BORs - see if your Council is doing any BOR training soon. If they are, then go get trained and you can then offer to hold BORs on a more frequent basis now that you are trained! That will help you show that you are willing to handle some of the work involved in making the BOR's more frequent.

 

We do put a stop on BORs as we lead into the COH, so that the Advancement Chair has time to prep for the COH. They boys are given frequent notice about how they need to schedule themselves. What is good is that since we also do not require the COH for advancement, the rush has died down a bit.

[fl_mom_of_2]

thanks for everyone's help. I am actually on the committee. I am Advancement Chair and my husband is CC. I havnt been at the last 2 committee mtgs because I have been too frustrated with the way things have been run in our troop and I needed a break. This decision to do the BORs every 3 months was made at the last mtg that I wasnt at, what a surprise. I have never missed a mtg except for the last two. I have been extremely active in this troop and have worked hard to get things organized. We are new and have been around for 1 year so we're still learning.

 

I have set up many BORs for this troop and have tried to get them scheduled as soon as I could. Most of the time we did them the following week or shortly after. My husband even left work early to help do one because we only had two people and needed a third. There are certain people on the committee who always volunteer to help with the BORs and there are alot on the committee who just dont.

 

I have been lurking in this forum for quite a long time now and have learned a great deal from everyone. I really appreciate all the info you guys make available. I learned alot and it was due to everyone here.

 

Late this afternoon, I sent an email out to my committee informing them that I will be resigning after the next COH. This email from the secretary who happens to be the SM's wife, was just the last straw.

 

I will however rpt if any changes get made.

[NeilLup]

Sorry that you feel you must resign.

 

One factor I haven't seen in the posts relates to the rank that the boy is going for. I would suggest that for Tenderfoot, Second Class and maybe First Class, the Board of Review should occur just as soon as the boy completes the requirement. You want to motivate him and not discourage him. Get him started and recognized quickly.

 

On the other hand, Star can be a bit more structured and Life and Eagle can be a lot more structured. Those kids know the ropes, are a bit older and should be able to be a bit more patient.

 

But I would say that every three months is MUCH too infrequent for the lower ranks.

 

Let me speculate a bit also. Although it is permitted to have Boards of Review for more than one of the lower ranks simultaneously, I speculate that your committee doesn't like doing that either. In other words, if a Scout has completed the requirements for Second Class but still has one Tenderfoot requirement and then completes the Tenderfoot Requirement, he can have one Board of Review for both ranks or I have seen a situation where he passes the TF Board of Review, steps out to have his Scoutmaster Conference and then goes in for the Second Class Board of Review. The boy also could complete all the Tenderfoot Requirements and then complete his Second Class Requirements while waiting out the three months before the Board of Review. But I am speculating that your committee would, as a minimum, want the boy to wait that three months for another Board of Review. Am I right?

[Beavah]

Yah, fl_mom, it sounds like some folks on the committee just didn't like the frequent, short-notice nature of BOR staffing requests, eh? Perhaps it stepped on too many people's schedules bein' called for BOR's as they came up. Adults shouldn't feel like they have to leave work early to be effective committee members.

 

My guess is there's a happy compromise here somewhere. When are yeh havin' boards? Are you a unit that meets right after school gets out? That can be tough for adults. Perhaps a once a month BOR session on a night that most folks consider an "off night" would be a way to make everybody happy.

 

Probably you're too close to this, though. Steppin' back to let someone else take lead in findin' that kind of compromise sounds like it might be smart, eh? It avoids adult personalities and history gettin' in the way.

 

Thanks for your thoughtful service to the program and the boys!

 

Beavah

 

[fl_mom_of_2]

We did allow scouts to have a tenderfoot and second class at the same time. We meet on Tuesdays from 7-8:30 and were giving the conferences at the start of the mtg or sometimes in the middle. The plan now is to have them on a weekend.

[acco40]

I believe that merit badge counseling, scoutmaster conferences and boards of review should be held due to the fact that a scout has requested one. The scout gets the training & experience of interacting with adults, learns responsibility, possibly phone manners and the realization that if he calls the troop advancement chair for a BOR "now" because the COH is in two days that the "be prepared" part needs a little work.

 

Having set times for BORs is convenient for the adults but the goals and aims of the program is not convenience for adults.

[gcnphkr]

"Racing through the ranks for the sake of getting them is not what the Boy Scout program is about and furthermore, the anxiety created in that race is a detriment to the troop as a whole".

 

"I havnt been at the last 2 committee mtgs because I have been too frustrated with the way things have been run in our troop and I needed a break."

 

Okay, something else is going on here and I'm guessing that the frequency of the boards of review is just a side issue where the committee choose to flex its muscles. The idea that a troop needs to pace the scouts is (how can I say this nicely?) a load of gopher pellets. So, if you are up to it, please share the big issue that has you so frustrated.

[Stosh]

As boy led, patrol method, adult supported, as the boys need BOR's it's up to the adults to support them by providing them as needed/requested. With the boys running the show, it frees up the adults to do what they're supposed to be doing.

 

Stosh

[evmori]

BOR's should be done on an as needed basis. And since you are the Advancement chair, I would continue to do this.

 

Don't resign. The committee apparently wants to control advancement which isn't the purpose of the committee. You don't need any other committee members except yourself for a BOR. Recruit some parents to help out!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10