TroopMaster Selection of Merit Badges for Ranks

[kenk 11]

I'm an Advancement Chair for a young troop. My son is in the process of completing his Eagle Rank, and so has obtained his pre-filled-out ScoutNet Eagle Scout Rank Application from the Council. The application lists his Eagle-required MBs in 'slots' 1 through 12, but then selects non-Eagle-required merit badges for slots 13 through 21 alphabetically (not chronologically. I asked the Council about that and they said that use of the alphabetical order is a standard set by National.

 

So my problem is that this puts my TroopMaster records out-of-whack.

 

Here is the non-Eagle required list as TM sees it:

Star: Basketry, Leatherwork

Life: Pioneering, Rifle Shooting

Eagle: Wood Carving, Horsemanship, Metalwork, Bird Study, Indian Lore,

1st Bronze Palm: Mammal Study, Aviation, Art, Astronomy, Canoeing

1st Gold Palm: Fish & Wildlife, Weather, Wilderness Survival

 

BUT Aviation, Art, Astronomy, Canoeing, and Fish & Wildlife were used by ScoutNet for the Eagle application, so my TM records are all out of whack.

 

Should I go back to Star and Life ranks and try to swap out MBs by hand? I really don't want to change the historical record. If I don't, then the TM-generated Advancement Report will be incorrect. I'd have to create reports by hand for Eagle Palms. That's not a big deal, but its a pain.

 

I need advice.

[Buffalo Skipper 13]

There is a way to manually assign specific MBs for specific ranks in Troopmaster. I saw it some time in the recent past, but I cannot figure it out now. I had one I was trying to do a few weeks ago and I got nowhere.

[John-in-KC 311]

IF your Troop (meaning YOU!) is properly submitting advancement reports (online or in hardcopy)...

 

AND IF your Council Registrar is timely processing these advancement reports all the way to ScoutNet (not always a given)

 

THEN THE IMPORTANT THING... the date earned for the MB, should be the same no matter which database he uses for the Eagle app.

 

When (if) Council is doing what it's supposed to, then Troopmaster is a secondary internal record only. Your son will simply need to keep that record for when he earns Palms.

 

Having been a unit advancement coordinator myself, I'd say learn the lesson and don't lose sleep over the difference

 

BTW, what's this about a pre-filled out Eagle app????????? Had not heard of that before. Am calling my DD for more info...

[Buffalo Skipper 13]

Troopmaster provides a report of what is needed on an Eagle application. It is neitjer an application, nor a substitute for one. It is a generated report from data in Troopmaster of what should be on the application; more of a pre-filled out worksheet.

 

To generate the report in Troopmaster go to:

Reports > Awards/Advancement > Eagle Application Assistance... > Select Scout.

 

The application I just looked at (from the NESA site) has the Eagle required MBs listed first and in "partial" alpha-order. The remaining are blank. Putting these in any order should suffice.

[John-in-KC 311]

We're thinking on the same terms then. Even a data dump from ScoutNet is going to have some logic in how MBs are listed. I think that is user-configurable, but most DE's and Registrars are going to leave the defaults be.

 

Personally, I prefer date earned on the app. Cleanest.

[kenk 11]

The "pre-filled Eagle application" is an Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file generated by the Council using their ScoutNet records. It auto-fills in the Scouts name, address, unit, key dates, merit badges, ...

 

All the Scout has to do is to check to make sure info is correct, and provide some information not specifically tracked by ScoutNet - or new information, such as the Eagle project title, date of sign-off, and date of Scoutmaster conference.

 

The Scout prints out the document once all requirements are completed, fills in the names/addresses/telephone for Requirement 2 (recomendations), and then the form is signed by the Scout, Unit Leader, Unit Committee Chair, ....

 

After I submitted the question I called my District Advancement Chair (I should have done that first). She said that since the Advancement Report for ranks don't list the specific merit badges "used" for the ranks, it doesn't really matter so long as the right number/type of MBs have been earned. She said that the Council advancement person who checks the Advancement Reports will check to make sure enough MBs have been earned for the respective rank (Eagle & non-Eagle), but they don't focus on which MBs they are beyond that.

 

I guess it is no big deal after all. Sigh.

[skeptic 993]

Actually, an issue could come up if for some reason there were not enough mb's listed for Star of Life with the proper dates that precede the BOR. Say it shows only 5 badges before the Star date, or only 10 before Life. Then he did not meet those requirements according to the data given. So dates earned are very important prior to Eagle.

[gcnphkr 11]

Yeah, this would work if they only had the 21 MBs, but who knows if it would be correct for the scout with 40.

 

As a programmer, we give the user what they ask for, occasionally what they want and rarely what they should have.

[Buffalo Skipper 13]

"As a programmer, we give the user what they ask for, occasionally what they want and rarely what they should have."Yes, but if we give them what they ask for, then everyone is happy.  If we were to give them what they need, instead of what they ask for, they would not be happy with us, not would they?

 

[John-in-KC 311]

No, they're not happy, because what they ask for is usually not quite what they really wanted... sigh.

[John-in-KC 311]

For kenk,

 

Please, can you find out exactly which module of ScoutNet your Council office is using to generate these pre-filled apps? I've talked with my District Director and the Council Advancement Professional (collateral duty of one of the Professionals) and they've both not heard of this...

 

TIA

[Buffalo Skipper 13]

Found it! ( knew it was there somewhere....)On the individual advancement window, look to the lower right.  There are two check boxes.  The first is "Inactive" and the one below it is "Manual MB Placement."  Check this and you will be able to place MBs where you like.  It takes a little to manipulate it, but it works.