Is A Chartered Organization Representative A Registered Adult Volunteers

expertlogo1 Yes, your official championship — the position indicated on your BSA registration — says you're an assistant Scoutmaster.

But at present a Scouting colleague has asked yous to sit down on the troop committee as well.

Yous concur (just an hour a week, right?), but when you endeavor to annals your second position, it turns out the BSA's registration arrangement won't allow it. What gives?

Let'due south enquire the adept.

The question

That question was on the heed of a Scouter named Curt who emailed me recently.

He writes:

You've probably heard this one before. Can an banana Scoutmaster also be on the unit of measurement committee?

Thanks!

– Curt

The skillful's reply

The unproblematic answer is no. The BSA has a i-position-per-person policy designed to offering the all-time possible feel to Scouts while not stretching our already-busy volunteers as well thin.

Of course, this simply applies within a unit of measurement. Some volunteers are registered in multiple units. That means you could, for example, serve as a commission member in a pack and an banana Scoutmaster in a troop. Or a Scoutmaster in a troop and an associate advisor in a crew. And so on.

For the total answer, I went to the expert: Peter Self, program development team leader for the BSA.

Peter offers three reasons for the one-position-per-person (per unit of measurement) policy:

It keep Scouters from existence as well overwhelmed past too many responsibilities.
It encourages a broader base of operations of adult volunteers in the spirit of "many hands make light work."
It offers our youth members multiple developed role models.

Here's his full response, which is worth taking time to read:

This is a question that is asked of every professional from the newest commune executive to the most seasoned Scout executive. Anybody who has tried to register in more than one position within the same unit of measurement knows that in most cases, it tin can't exist washed. Our registration software just won't permit it.

The only exceptions are for the head of the chartering arrangement, known every bit the Institutional Head (IH), and the Chartered System Representative (COR). Either of these individuals may register in one other position within the unit.

This means that an assistant Scoutmaster cannot as well serve every bit a member of the committee. A den leader may not simultaneously serve as the Cubmaster. A crew advisor or Varsity autobus may not additionally serve as the committee chair, within the same unit.

The reasons behind this policy are pretty elementary just intentional in their design. Here are but a few of those reasons:

We don't want whatever of our leaders to become so overwhelmed in their Scouting part(s) that they end upward neglecting their own families, careers, churches or other customs commitments. We know that Scouting is an amazing tool to help strengthen families and develop our youth, but Scouting is only one aspect of a well-rounded life. Spreading out the volunteer roles of Scouting over a larger number of people helps ensure a more-balanced life and prevents volunteer burnout.

Having a broader base of volunteers results in a stronger unit with more parental and chartering organization support. Only imagine how robust your unit would be if an developed member from every Scout'southward family unit, or several members from the chartering organization, were engaged in a support role for the unit. As they say, "many hands make low-cal work." How much more fun would a volunteer's job be if he or she didn't experience lone in his or her efforts?

In terms of the youth experience, interacting with multiple developed role models helps develop our Scouts in ways that pay big dividends when they head off to college, the military or the workforce. Our young adults will be better prepared for life if they have had the opportunity to interact with a wide assortment of personalities and grapheme traits. Existence able to communicate and piece of work with different people of varying backgrounds results in ameliorate citizens. Isn't that what we want?

And then, although the "one-position-per-person" policy may seem restrictive, it'south just one of the ways we can ensure that Scouting delivers on the values we strive to instill in our Scouts.