2 Questions: Blue Cards & Old MBC Lists....

[RWSmith]

1. What do you do if the SM gives the scouts blue cards without signing them - and the SM is going on vacation?

2. What do you if the list of merit badge counselors that the scouts are given is dated 2006?

[FrankJ]

If the SM is on vacation then have who ever is filling in for the SM to sign them. A little depends on how rigid your unit is on this. No one else will care. If the SM gave out the cards, then he should be OK with the scout starting the merit badge.

Up to date merit badge counselor lists are very dependent on a volunteer to maintain the list. You can ask you district advancement committee for an up to date list. It might be 2006 is the most current. Any way make a good faith effort to get an up to date list.

[SoCal76]

Thanks. That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure. Thanks!

[RWSmith]

1. What do you do if the SM gives the scouts blue cards without signing them - and the SM is going on vacation?

While a UL has the option to (actually, is supposed to) assign a MBC to a Scout wishing to take a MB, a UL has no business handing out unsigned BCs to (nor the authority to withhold signed BCs from) a Scout. BSA advancement (and safety) policies and the MB requirements determine whether or not a Scout can work on a MB requirement, not a UL's initial signature, or lack thereof. There are two reasons for a UL's initial signature on a BC:

1. To identify the current MB requirements at the time the Scout started the MB; and
2. To let the MBC know that the Scout and a UL have discussed it (and got the MBC's contact info) -- NOT that the Scout has obtained the UL's permission.

Officially, if the SM is unavailable, the CC wears his hat. However, this authority can also be delegated to an ASM. If a Scout asks for a BC, he gets one... and he receives it signed -- be it from the SM, CC (if the SM is unavailable), or ASM (to whom this authority has been delegated).

IOW, somebody... have the conversation with the Scout, sign the BC, give the kid his BC (and get out of his way).

Sidebar: There are certain BSA safety rules that affect certain MBs... Climbing, Scuba and Whitewater, come to mind; but, these rules apply across the board. If a SM has some other legitimate concern w/ a particular Scout taking a particular MB, then s/he needs to talk it over with the Scout... but, not say no. If the Scout still insists, and you can't make it "fit" within the rules that apply to all Scouts, then my advice is to take it to his parents and let them say no. Lack of maturity is not a legitimate reason. 5, 10 or 20 other open BCs is also not a legitimate reason. It's never the SM's job to say no to the possibility of advancement.

2. What do you if the list of merit badge counselors that the scouts are given is dated 2006?

It's my understanding that the Council (or District) Advancement Committee is responsible for developing and maintaining the MBC roster, even those MBCs that make themselves available only to one unit; it is supposed to be updated as needed or (at least) annually... how they actually go about accomplishing this is completely up to them.

The unit is only responsible for having/using the most current MBC roster. You should be able to get it from the Council (or District) Advancement Committee.

[wagionvigil]

However Blue Cards are not even required

[nolesrule]

However Blue Cards are not even required

Yes and no. A council can determine what constitutes an acceptable merit badge application form.

Of course, this only comes into play when records are reviewed when an Eagle Scout Application is submitted (which itself is technically not required either, yet has to be filled out, doesn't it?)

Our council requires the blue card as the official merit badge application record, and has a procedure in place for units creating blue cards when summer camps and such only distribute computer printouts.

[FrankJ]

Actually the council never sees the blue card. Just an advancement report. If you do internet advancement, Just a verification print out from scout net. (It needs to be signed though.) Blue card or not, the requirements are the same.

[nolesrule]

Our council doesn't rely on advancement reports or ScoutNet as the primary source in regards to Eagle Application verification process due to date issues and data entry errors. All too often, for one reason or another, the earned date recorded on the report or in ScoutNet is the date of the Advancement report, and not the actual date earned. Occasionally this happens with ranks as well. It's a data entry nightmare.

Whether this is a unit issue or a registrar issue, I have no idea. But then, we still get fully trained plus Wood badge-beaded leaders showing up as untrained on unit rosters too, so who knows?

In the case of a missing scout's portion of a Blue Card or a camp printout, "A Scout is Trustworthy" is the basis of creating a replacement. The counselor or unit portion can be used to recover the date, followed by an advancement report, but as I said, those dates aren't necessarily reliable.

[Mrw]

We have not sent blue cards to council since long before I joined the troop when my now 24 year old crossed over. Dates were entered into Scoutnet from advancement reports. There were some data entry errors, but not all that many. And a review of the advancement report was all that was needed to get them fixed.

Now we upload all of our advancement information from Troopmaster directly to Scoutnet via the online advancement tool and have not had an issue since.

Although we tell the guys to hold onto their portion of the blue card, and I keep the troop portion, I have never needed to dig one out for any reason.

We do have the boys check with me to ensure all the dates they have are correct before filling out an Eagle application as some have used the date the SM gave them a card rather than the earned date.

We have had over 20 Eagles since I have been advancement chair (12 in the past two years) and have yet to have an application flagged for incomplete or wrong dates.