Abstentions at BORs

[evmori]

If I remember the requirement correctly, it states to list people who would be willing to give a reference if asked.

[PaulSWolf]

If I remember the requirement correctly, it states to list people who would be willing to give a reference if asked.

the actual wording on the application is:

List the names of individuals who know you personally and would be willing to provide a recommendation on your behalf. - Name, Address and Telephone numbers of Parents/guardians, Religious; Educational; Employer (if any); and Two other references)

And the wording in Advancement committee Policies and Procedures is

5. When the completed application is received at the council service center, its contents will be verified and the references contacted. The council advancement committee or its designee contacts the person listed as a reference on the Eagle Scout Rank Application either by letter, form, or telephone checklist. The council determines the method or methods to be used. The candidate should have contacted those individuals listed as references before including their names on the application. The candidates should not be involved personally in transmitting any correspondence between persons listed as references and the council service center.

So there is NO requirement that reference letters be submitted, just the NAMES and contact information for people who would be willing to provide the references. Its up to the COUNCIl to obtain the references. If the council uses a form letter that the candidate gives to the references to be mailed back in, it is still the COUNCIL's duty to contact them if letters have not been received in a timely manner.

[Scouting179]

Happy to help Souting 179, page 31 bullets 5 and 7.

There is nothing that states that fewer than the required references are allowed by the requirement. The only option I am aware of that the requirement offers is if the scout does not have an employer, otherwise it would appear he is to offer all the listed references.

I have a copy of the 2004 edition of the manual now. It's at least 21 pages longer than my old one, much of that is more graphics. But, there is lots of new info too, though I'm already quite familiar with most of it. I'm glad to see they put in some stuff on references now.

[fritz1255]

I am relatively new to Boys Scouts, and have never been on an eagle BOR, but let me ask a general question: How many kids on average actually FAIL a board of review? The only circumstances where I could see this happening is if the kid for some reason did not actually complete the requirements for the badge, in which case he should not be there to begin with? This might happen if whoever signed off on his requirements let a lot of stuff slide. Happens all the time in Cub Scouts - we've ALL seen that.

[Scouting179]

It's fairly rare that someone acutally fails any BOR, especially an Eagle one, though it does happen. However, I do not have any stats.

IF everyone does their job: the Scout does his requirements without snowing anyone (we had a case of that recently), the ASMs who do the signoffs, the SM at the conference, THEN the BOR should not uncover any problems.

Every BOR member should be able to go into the BOR neutral.

You're right, many of the failures occur when someone uncovers a discrepancy in the Scout's background or there is a holdup because the adult who did the paperwork for the BOR didn't do his homework.

Another area is what is considered the definition of Scout Spirit, Troop job performance, and being active. This is left to the SM traditionally, but there are widely varying intrepretations of this. If you disagree on the standards of this, then you should settle it with the SM, not after a BOR.

There is an appeal process for all BOR failures (not just Eagle). The advancement manual discusses this.