Setting Up Advancement at Camp

Stage 1 of 5 Can start now

• 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures

  Not the camp, and not the district. The committee writes the camp advancement procedures in compliance with national procedures.

  Approval

• 5.0.1.1. Bring the camp director, programme director and camp committee in

  Their expertise matters in judging what is practical, and their buy-in improves cooperation from the camp staff. Procedures written from a distance and handed over tend not to be followed.

  Task

• 5.0.1.1. Under the direction of the council executive board

  The committee's authority to set camp advancement procedures comes from there.

  Approval

• 5.0.1.3. The letter approving them

  Resident camp standards require a letter from the council advancement committee approving the camp's merit badge counselors.

  Document

• 5.0.1.3. Staff under 18 are not counselors Often forgotten

  They must not serve as, or be treated as, merit badge counselors. Those with subject-matter knowledge may assist a qualified and approved counselor with instruction — which is not the same thing as signing anything.

  Requirement

  Assisting a qualified and approved counselor with instruction is permitted. Being treated as the counselor — running the session alone, or signing anything — is not.

• 5.0.1.2. And for issuing partials Often forgotten

  For badges that take longer to complete than the time available at camp — which for many badges is every camp. A partial is the expected result, not the disappointing one.

  Document

• 5.0.1.4. Nobody may add to or subtract from a requirement Often forgotten

  No council, committee, district, unit or individual. There are no camp-related exemptions except those described in "Advancement for Members With Special Needs". Camp counselors and their helpers are not permitted to modify requirements, whatever the circumstances.

  Requirement

  This is stated in the Guide more than once, and is repeated in the camp section precisely because it is where the pressure to bend it is greatest. The only exceptions are those in "Advancement for Members With Special Needs", 10.0.0.0.

• 5.0.1.4. What cannot be done at camp is done elsewhere

  Before or after the camp experience. The blue card has space to record and initial what is finished, and the 18th birthday is the only limit on completing a partial.

  Task

• 5.0.1.4. Reporting concerns about camp advancement Optional

  Where unit leadership or others are dissatisfied with the quality of instruction, or believe Scouts are being approved for badges they have not earned, a report goes to the council advancement committee.

  Document

• 5.0.1.5. Committee members who make the trip and lend a hand Recommended

  Implementing a merit badge programme at camp is not a simple task, and it is not something to consider from afar and then make rules about. Committees whose members turn up are more likely to see it work.

  Task

Stage 2 of 5

• 5.0.1.2. Decide how camp staff are trained on advancement, programme by programme

  Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouts as appropriate. The training may be run or supervised by members of the council advancement committee.

  Training

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

• 5.0.1.2. Decide which merit badges may be offered at camp

  Camp is not the best place for some of them. The citizenship badges are the Guide's own example: they can be earned at home with counselors who may be better qualified than those available at camp.

  Decision

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

• 5.0.1.2. Recommend instructor-to-Scout ratios

  For classes and activities related to advancement. A ratio that looks fine on paper is the commonest way a camp ends up certifying work it did not actually watch.

  Task

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

• 5.0.1.2. Set a process for accepting work done before camp

  Prerequisites finished at home, and partials brought from another counselor, both need a route into the camp's records.

  Task

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

• 5.0.1.2. Set procedures for Scout through First Class

  It is appropriate for camps to offer "Trail to First Class" programmes, and camp staff may sign off related requirements — though they should offer unit leaders the chance to do it instead.

  Task

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

• 5.0.1.2. Set record-keeping practices

  Accurate reporting to unit leadership of completed requirements and partial merit badges, and documentation the unit can produce later if it is questioned.

  Document

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

• 5.0.1.2. Collect feedback on programme quality, and use it

  The last of the eleven, and the one that tells the committee whether the other ten worked.

  Task

• 5.0.1.1. Visit each resident camp while it is running

  Once the procedures are in place, advancement committee representatives should visit periodically to help achieve compliance. The visits also surface better ways of implementing them.

  Task

• 5.0.1.2. Train counselors and staff to work the requirements as written

  No more and no less. This is the training that decides whether the rest of the procedures mean anything in a session.

  Training

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures and 5.0.1.4. Nobody may add to or subtract from a requirement.

• 5.0.1.2. Develop lesson plans and instruction guidelines

  Making the best use of the time available and assuring that campers get credit only for requirements they actually and personally fulfil.

  Document

Stage 3 of 5

• 5.0.1.3. Approve the camp merit badge counselors Often forgotten

  Both halves of the ordinary counselor approval apply — registration in the position, and approval for each badge. There are no camp-related exemptions from the qualifications in 7.0.1.1, and councils are not permitted to change the rules about who qualifies.

  Approval

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

  There are no camp-related exemptions from the supervisory qualifications and certifications in 7.0.1.1, and councils are not permitted to change the rules about who qualifies. Every certification must be current.

• 5.0.1.2. Tell units what to expect

  Scheduling, prerequisites, unit leader approvals, paperwork. A family that learns about a prerequisite on the Monday of camp week has lost the badge to a communication failure.

  Task

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.1. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

Stage 4 of 5

• 5.0.1.3. Group instruction rules apply

  Classes and activities may take place in group settings, but according to the procedures in "Group Instruction", 7.0.3.2 — which exist to assure that only Scouts who actually and personally fulfil a requirement get credit for it.

  Requirement

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.3. Approve the camp merit badge counselors.

Stage 5 of 5

• 5.0.1.1. A quality merit badge programme

  The stated purpose of the whole partnership: a programme run according to the policies, procedures and best practices in section 7, and especially the group instruction rules. Camps should not have a reputation of "just show up and get the badge".

  Milestone

  Usually comes after 5.0.1.2. Decide how camp staff are trained on advancement, programme by programme, 5.0.1.2. Recommend instructor-to-Scout ratios and 6 others.