Eagle BOR Makeup?

[fritz1255]

I have been on several of these, but still am not familiar with some of the basics. Our District Advancement Chair would like to get one or more school board members on our next Eagle BOR mostly for political reasons. He feels that they will be more amenable to Cub Scout recruiting in the schools if they are at least peripherally involved in Scouting. Who is supposed to select the BOR members? In the past, the Eagle candidate has selected the members.

[wagionvigil]

Here we always have the District Eagle Chair,1 MC person(scouts choice) and then others selected by the scout. Always remember the members do NOT have to be registered in scouting But must understand the rules of the BOR.

[FrankJ]

It is up to the council (district) how eagle BOR members are selected. Getting the school board members involved sounds like a good idea, just make sure before hand they understand what the BOR is about. Eagle BOR make up is in the District Advancement Committee guidelines which the district advancement committee chair should have a copy.

[9009scoutmaster]

Good Idea Fritz.
As of Jan 1, I am now also our New District Advancement Chairman.
Under our council/district advancement policy all Eagle Board of Reviews are set up by the District Advancement Chairman.


The following is from scouting.org

The Scout must submit his proposed Eagle project plan and secure the prior approval of his unit leader, unit committee, and district or council advancement committee, and the organization benefiting from the effort, to make sure that it meets the stated standards for Eagle Scout leadership service projects before the project is started. This preapproval of the project does not mean that the board of review will accept the way the project was carried out.
Under our Council policy, I will be responsible for setting up Eagle project preapproval board of reviews for all units within district.

Frank, I hate to say that at this time I donot have a copy of our District/Council Advancement Committee guidelines. I cannot even say that we have written guidelines at this time.
Also the last Eagle Board of review that I attended was MY EAGLE BOARD OF REVIEW in 1978
I have only sat in on unit board of reviews early in our troops life to help ensure that my troop committee members knew what they were doing.
Ask for and you will receive I only asked to sit on and Eagle Board of Review to help better prepare the scout of my troop for future Eagle Board of reviews
All I can say is that I WILL DO MY BEST.

I am open to feedback from any of you to help better prepare myself for this task.

[FrankJ]

What I was thinking of is

Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures Pamphlet

item 33088 from the the scout shop. ($3.99)

I do not think that you need a lot rules & policies in addition to what is provided by the BSA. Anything written locally should be more of a help or FAQ to let normal people navigate the scouting maze. Anyway that is my opinion.

My advice would be to keep in mind that advancement is a method & not the goal of scouting. Good luck on your new position.

[9009scoutmaster]

Thanks Frank for the item number.

My advice would be to keep in mind that advancement is a method & not the goal of scouting.

Frank, the one and only reason I am involved with BSA is to help build better young men.
If they make Eagle I will have a on my face. but my NUMBER 1 GOAL AS A LEADER is to help teach a youth to live by the scout oath and law.
When I meet my maker at this end of this life, I would rather be told You changed one's young boys life threw scouting that all the Eagles in the World.

[Bill Pitcher]

We have 3 Eagle Chairman in our council, 1 in a small county and 2 of us in the large county. We have 4 to 5 people on each EBoR. We select 2 from the candidate's troop committee (some troops let the candidate select these, other troops let the CC do it - up to them), me, and then I select 2 from the council or community. But yes, those selected from the community should have as thorough understanding of the importance of the Eagle Rank, what it stands for, and the BSA in general. School Board members, local judges, policemen, etc. are all examples of great EBoR members.

[smtroop168]

There is a change to this in the 2008 edition of the Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures #33088

Page 30: “The Scout may have no input into the selection of the board or review members.”

Here's the link:

http://www.zion412.org/Library/Advancem ... deBook.pdf

[9009scoutmaster]

Thanks, 168 downloaded copy.

[Quailman]

There is a change to this in the 2008 edition of the Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures #33088

Page 30: “The Scout may have no input into the selection of the board or review members.”

Here's the link:

http://www.zion412.org/Library/Advancem ... deBook.pdf

I need some advice. As of two days ago, I am the CC of my troop. I had been an ASM in it for about eight years. The condition I gave the COR who asked me to take over was that the Advancement Chair be replaced. I understand there will be a brief transition period while the new AC comes up to speed, so I have to deal with the former one for now.

Last night I found out that an EBOR is scheduled for this evening. I contacted the AC and asked to be included and always to be notified when these are scheduled. Her reply was that selection of the BOR members is up to the Scout and she won't go against his wishes. I pointed out the reference in the current GTA which states that neither the Scout nor the Scout's parents shall have any input as to the members of any BOR, and I told her that it's been that way since at least 2008 (gotta love the search feature). Her reply is that she was following direction from our district.

I figure my options now are to:

a. Do nothing and let the Scouts continue to choose BOR members.
b. Change the process in my troop and make sure we comply with BSA rules.
c. Option b and: Open a can of worms at the district level by notifying the DAC that we will no longer be allowing this in our troop and see what she says.

Our district was formed about three years ago when a larger one split into three. The DAC was new in her position at that time. As a brand new CC, I don't want to be seen as a pest or troublemaker, but at the same time, I think we need to strive to comply with the GTA.

I listed option a, but I am not considering it. I am torn between b & c. Any suggestions?

[smtroop168]

IMHO.... Option C. Call the DAC and inform her of the issue and she should tell you how to proceed. Hopefully her response will be in concert with the GTA that scouts selecting their EBOR members is incorrect (if not, call the CAC). Most likely she will say to hold the EBOR and fix the process for the next one. Someone from the DAC has to be on the EBOR anyway. The scout may not be penalized for the actions of the AC. Now, you are the CC so take charge and remove the AC now and you take her place at the EBOR. No telling what other BSA rules she has violated and the new AC doesn't need to have any turnover with the current one.

[Quailman]

I guess I shouldn't be concerned about the fact that this may be a complete surprise to the DAC. Either she didn't know about the change and has been advising unit ACs incorrectly, or she didn't know what was going on in the units.

[edit] I agree that we should proceed with today's EBOR.

Oh, and did I mention that the AC is the wife of the SM? [/edit]

[smtroop168]

I guess I shouldn't be concerned about the fact that this may be a complete surprise to the DAC. Either she didn't know about the change and has been advising unit ACs incorrectly, or she didn't know what was going on in the units.

[edit] I agree that we should proceed with today's EBOR.

Oh, and did I mention that the AC is the wife of the SM? [/edit]

If the DAC gives you a wishy-washy answer, call the CAC. I would ask the DAC for a copy of the Council's Life to Eagle policies or maybe they are online?

Have fun with the transition.

[Quailman]

I went ahead and called the DAC. She was surprised that any unit AC would not know better. When she heard that the AC didn't want me to come to the EBOR, the DAC told me to come as her guest.

So I am going to ask the former AC to bring all of her records (blue cards, copies of Eagle Applications, etc.) to the committee meeting next Monday and hand them over to the new person. I was going to ask her to do that anyway, but now my question is, should I allow/ask her to remain as a committee member or thank her for her service and suggest that she find another place to devote her volunteer time? Since her husband is the SM, I am sure she'll want to stay to report to him every move I make, though that's not necessary. The SM's sister is our treasurer.

[smtroop168]

I went ahead and called the DAC. She was surprised that any unit AC would not know better. When she heard that the AC didn't want me to come to the EBOR, the DAC told me to come as her guest. So I am going to ask the former AC to bring all of her records (blue cards, copies of Eagle Applications, etc.) to the committee meeting next Monday and hand them over to the new person. I was going to ask her to do that anyway, but now my question is, should I allow/ask her to remain as a committee member or thank her for her service and suggest that she find another place to devote her volunteer time? Since her husband is the SM, I am sure she'll want to stay to report to him every move I make, though that's not necessary. The SM's sister is our treasurer.

#1 GOOD

#2 Not touching this one.. Let her make the first move..My infamous issue with a committee member (who also was our AC) resulted in her quitting (or not returning - same difference) when she was called on her BS by the CC. - As he stated..."her view of the facts is highly distorted"

[kwildman]

Gotta love them volunteers. I can not understand why anyone would think that the youth would have any say who is on his board of review to begin with.

We always have someone from the district advancement committee, our CC, and I like to add at least 1 eagle scout. We are also recommended to try to get someone from the community. The community involvement (such as school board, council, police, etc.) provides good exposure and can help open doors.

Good luck!

[9009scoutmaster]

Thank goodness I am not involved in this issue. I would not like to touch it with a ten foot pole.
Inside our council I am glad that we do not have to deal with this issue. All EBOR are set up by the district advancement chairman.

[Quailman]

I just returned from the EBOR for a fine young man. The board consisted of our DAC, our former CC, our former SM (now a CM), our Membership Chair, and me. The AC called the DAC shortly before the meeting when she heard the former CC would be there and begged out.

[Mrw]

In our neck of the woods, the EBOR consists of two representatives from the district, generally someone from the District Advancement Committee and someone willing from the list of other SM's, CC's and AC's from other troops. Plus two representatives from the troop. I am generally the one completeing these arrangements and it is often me and whichever current or recently involved committee member is able and willing at the appointed time.

[AquilaNegra2]

We try to have a mix of the following: District Rep (usually DAC), an elected official, someone who knows the Scout well, and someone with a vested interest in the troop.

For #2's, we (his parents) gave the DAC a short list of people that we knew would be happy to sit on his board, and then left it up to him to decide and arrange. The only input #2 gave was that he asked the DAC to please NOT include the CC on his board.

We did have sandwiches, snacks, and drinks set out for the board, but this was in no way an attempt at bribery.