Eagle Project Nightmare

[evmori 11]

This Eagle adviser said he has a 100% first time pass rate and he is not going to take a packet in that he does not think is certain to pass the first time.

 

Who's Eagle project is this? It is the Scouts not the adviser! And why is the Eagle adviser taking the packet anywhere except back to his house to read & advise the Eagle candidate on corrections/improvements? This man is out of control & needs to be removed. He is doing a great disservice to the Scouts & Scouting.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[momof7scouts 10]

The seventh version of the proposal has been rejected. Son two is supposed to meet with him tomorrow night. I have a feeling that he will not be able to get it approved fast enough to keep all the help he was promised back in September.

 

[click23 66]

Who is this guy, a committee member, ASM, or just some guy that "helps" out?(This message has been edited by click23)

[momof7scouts 10]

He is the troop eagle adviser and in this troop, he is the one who takes the proposal to district to get the DAC approval. Son two already has signatures from the group to be helped, the scoutmaster, and the committee chair but only the eagle adviser can take it to the DAC and he won't unless he is certain in his mind that it will pass.

[Beavah 205]

Yah, wait a minute.

 

I thought this fellow was your DAC or a member of the district advancement committee assigned to review projects?

 

If he's just an in-troop advisor, then the SM or CC should just replace him, eh? Have the boy, the SM, or the CC take the project proposal to the DAC themselves.

 

An in-troop Eagle advisor should help coach a lad in place of the SM, but only up to the point where the SM and Committee approve the project, eh? Once the Committee approves, it should go straight to the district for their (rapid) signoff.

 

Yah, if this guy is really an in-troop advisor, he works on behalf of da troop committee. Just thank him for his past services, give him a plaque, and move on.

 

Beavah

 

[Bob White 20]

Once your son has the signed approval of the rep[resentative from the benefitting organization, the unit leader, and a representative of the unit committee then the project can be sent to the council/district advancement committee for approval, your unit's "project advisor" has no authority in the matter.

 

Ignore him and send the project to the council or district advancement committee. Your local Scout office can tell you who to send it to.

 

Good Luck to your son.

BW

 

 

 

[click23 66]

If the CC and the SM will sign off on the plan, I would get them and the benefiting organization representative to sign off on it. I would try submit it to the DAC, using the argument that counselor was trying to add requirments, "No council, district, unit, or individual has the authority to add to or subtract from advancement requirements." If this does not work, I would then present it to the CAC, completely bypassing the district.

 

This also needs to be addressed by the CC and COR, they need to get this guy on the right page or give him to boot.

[Eagle92 110]

Wait one minute, the Scout has the organization's to be aided approval, the SM 9 or in your case an ASM's approval since dad is SM, AND the CC's approval? The you you can go straight to teh DAC since the "adviser" works for the SM or CC, depending upon his registration. Once the "adviser's" boss signs off, i.e. SM or CC, then it goes directly to the DAC. I recommend your son contact ther DAC or CAC ASAP to expedite this process immediately. Especially if this is attempt number 7 as you stated. AT THE MOST, a project proposal should be revised ONCE. This is riduclous and I am gettign angry at the situation from reading about it.

 

Something is not right with your troop/district if an 'adviser" presents the project proposal to the DAC since that is taking away from the leadership experience. Again I recommend your son contact ther DAC or CAC ASAP to expedite this process immediately, especially if he is about to loose his workforce.

 

 

[momof7scouts 10]

Okay, saying a little prayer here because son two decided to contact the two district advancement people without even consulting his SM dad. SM dad still wants him to try to work it out with the eagle adviser one more time but son two does not want to. He says he does not understand what the man wants from him and is hoping that even if the project proposal write up is rejected at least he will get some input as to what he needs to do to fix it.

[evmori 11]

There is nothing to work out! This "adviser" doesn't have the best interest of the Scouts at heart! How do I know this? From a previous post that stated This Eagle adviser said he has a 100% first time pass rate and he is not going to take a packet in that he does not think is certain to pass the first time. This tells me it's all about him!

 

Smart move by your son. I do commend him! Please keep us informed.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[GKlose 24]

It's not like I've been around as a scouter for very long, or been participating in this forum, but one common theme that keeps being visited over and over again is how scouters are supposed to be assisting with getting things done rather than putting up roadblocks.

 

In the "Ask Andy" column, this sounds like Andy's classic case of a Tin God who has his priorities mixed up. He'd be exactly the kind of guy that says "yeah, I know what the handbook says, but we have higher standards around here for our Eagles."

 

You'd think that after two or three or four passes he'd get tired of the back-and-forth too, but in this case it seems like he is enjoying keeping a kid twisting around. I had some experience at being a "target" by an adult scouter when I was on a summer camp staff. He really was entertained by making me miserable. He got another adult scouter to join in the fun too. When I didn't get the support of the camp director, I should have quit on the spot. But I didn't, I stayed. And the only thing I learned is that there are adults that are jerks and few people ever stand up to them.

 

Guy

[momof7scouts 10]

Is this normal? Our troop has two eagle advisers, neither have sons in the troop any more, so they are seldom actually at troop meetings. When son two had his first version of the plan done, he took it to a meeting, both advisers were out of town, so he got it signed by the committee chair and an ASM since his dad was the SM. He already had the signature from the benefiting organization. The ASM who signed it told him that he still needed to get it reviewed by an eagle adviser. He took it to the first one who got back into town, who had approved of the initial concept. The EA was irritated that son two had all the signatures before he reviewed it and said they were not valid since he was making him rewrite parts of it. The parts that have been rewritten have not changed anything about the project at all. It is exactly the same plan, same implementation, just more details and rearranging or rewording sections. Son two actually has each previous version saved, either a hard copy or an electronic one. I am now wondering if he is perhaps punishing my son for having someone other than HIM sign off on the project.

[Beavah 205]

Yah, your son is just fine submitting his project to the district, eh? That's what's supposed to happen as soon as he has all of da signatures.

 

Now, your husband and the CC need to sit down and talk about how they want Committee approval of an Eagle Scout project to be handled in the future. I don't much care for a CC acting solo, I think it's better for the boys and better for the unit if a few adults contribute and have input, eh? The boy gets better feedback, and it prevents any CC or "Eagle Advisor" settin' himself up as King.

 

As an example, yeh might designate a few committee members as bein' the regular review board for projects. Yeh can put one of your old "Eagle Advisors" on it so long as he can be kept under control by the rest of the group. Treat it like a BOR, in that if the group says "no" they must give timely and written feedback to the boy on what to revise and resubmit.

 

Or some other mechanism eh? It's your troop's committee, you know best how they operate. Once a project gets committee approval (which should come after beneficiary and SM approval), it goes straight to district for immediate review and approval.

 

But it's your troop committee's job, eh? There's no "Eagle Advisor" adult leadership role or position in da BSA. The committee needs to take back its turf. Give the men a plaque and thank 'em for their service.

 

Beavah

 

[fleetfootedfox 10]

Given what I have heard here, I would be 100% in favor of the SM (your husband) taking away the eagle adviser job from these guys.

[momof7scouts 10]

Actually, once we get son two through this project, dad finishes his current commitment as SM, and son five crosses over to boy scouts in Feb, we are changing troops.

Our first troop was awesome and our sons loved it but we moved too far away to continue in the troop. Our boys have not been happy since we changed to this troop three years ago. While being boy led is that goal, there needs to be some adult supervision in this troop. The aggressive boys rule the troop, the parents stand around and do little but complain, the adult leadership forms committees and adds additional paperwork to everything that needs to be done (They actually have a form to fill out, including an essay, every time a boy does any community service. An essay!) Meanwhile the quiet scouts just watch the chaos, and the newer scouts wilt.

SM dad has done what he can to change things with help from some of the parents newer to the troop but he is burned out on this troop. He says he has seen military battle orders with less detail than they are requiring for his son's eagle plan. As a former army officer, he can't deal with the level of bureaucracy this troop requires, which is far more than the previous troop or anything he has seen required in all his BSA training. Few of the ASMs are even halfway trained.