Troop Committee Requirements

[mbeyke]

This might sound like a odd question but I can't find the answer anywhere. Do the members of the Troop Committee need to be registered BSA members? Our Troop dropped several of the committee members from their recent recharter to save cost and told me that those dropped would still be available to sit on BOR and serve as secretary and treasurer of the committee. This does not sound right to me.

[Bill Pitcher]

They can sit on BoR's annd hold Committee positions ONLY if registered and need YPT to be around the boys.

[Quailman]

You are correct in your suspicions. It's not right. Why is the troop trying to cheat the BSA out of its fees? They should all register.

It's okay to have an unregistered parent or two take a small role to begin to get involved. Maybe coordinate the Scouts to volunteer at the food bank or local trash bash. But to drop your treasurer to save a buck? That's just wrong.

And as Bill said, BOR members must be registered MCs.

[philpisch]

It's not that clean of a situation. I agree with the idea of the answers, but it's not that clean. I say that because my own troop does what the original poster's troop is doing and I'm a driver in that decision.

... [b]BORs [/b]... As long as the troop tries to normally use registered committee members for boards of review, then the troop is acting in good faith. I'm using BSA Guide To Advancement section 9.0.2.0 paragraph one as a reference. "In units with fewer than three registered committee members available to serve, it is permissible to use knowledgeable parents (not those of the candidate) or other adults (registered or not) who are at least 21 years of age and who understand Boy Scouting’s aims. Using unregistered adults for boards of review must be the exception, not the rule. "

... [b]Committee [/b]... I don't see any requirement that each and every adult that might help during the year needs to be registered. For example, if a parent says they will coordinate a volunteer event and that's all they do, we don't register them with BSA. Or if the parent says they will coordinate the flower fundraiser sales in April, we don't register them.


Our troop had around 8 ASMs and around 8 committee members. Now, we have two ASMs and about four committee members. The ASMs are the ones who have completed all the training ... AND ... who are there regularly and interacting with the scouts. The committee members are the ones who have signed up for standing continuous roles: committee chair, treasurer, advancement, camping coord. If someone really wants to be registered, we register them.

... ... Treasurer? ... Yes, I'd always register the treasurer. They have a big responsibility in any scouting unit and work with scouts at times.
... ... Secretary? ... They take notes and organize. If they don't interact with scouts, I would have no issue if you choose not to register them.

It's all about money. Dues have more than doubled in the last ten years. By eliminating 10 registrations, we've reduced our rechartering cost by $240. That's $7 per scout per year or so. Or, about 10% of their troop annual dues. It's significant cost.

As a nice side effect, we're closer to a goal we have always had. We want scouts to work with scouts and only a few select adults coaching. When you have 8 ASMs, it's hard to keep the SM and ASMs working in the same direction. By not labeling each and every adult "ASM", the adults subconciously don't feel expected to step in each and every moment. [b]"I think" a troop with only a few ASMs works better than one with 10 ASMs.[/b]

[FrankJ]

Speaking as an avowed renegade here. Official committee members should be registered. Anybody having regular youth contact should have YPT, registered or unregistered. In utopia council all people sitting on a board should be registered committee member. As a practical matter, nobody is going to check. There is no place to record who sat on the board in internet advancement (scoutnet) which is the official record of these things. Nobody is going to take youth advancement away because of errors by adults. So as long as the intent of the BOR is correct, proper questions & all, I wouldn't worry about it. If you expect a scout is going to be unsuccessful & go up the chain, you should dot your I's &cross your T's

Official guidance for this is in the GTA (guide to advancement.) It will tell you that you should use registered committee members for BORs, but has wiggle room for exceptions. My point of view is if you are holding up advancement because of a lack of registered committee members you are in violation of general advancement principles which is also in GTA.

[Fox-in-KC]

In my troop, we have used parents on boards of review whether they are registered as troop committee members or not - an effort is made to make sure they are registered, but if they are'nt the advancement chair is happy if they are at least aware of the purpose of the board and, of course, not related in any way to the scout(s) sitting before the boards. Sometimes at camp we will even borrow Scoutmasters/Assistant Scoutmasters/Troop Committee Members from other troops to make the boards happen.

I would think as long as all adults on the board are at least 21+, not related and aware of the situation, you should be good to go and not have to hold up scout advancement over an adult issue.

[jr56]

The troop I am registered with also uses parents who are not registerd committee members to fill up board of reviews.