Judging the Requirements That Are Hardest to Judge

What this page is

Section 4.2.3 of the Guide to Advancement, drawn one requirement at a time. Every item cites the topic it came from.

The Guide is unusually candid about why this section exists. The camping, the first aid and the merit badges are the memorable part of advancement, but they are only a portion of it — and the rest, it says, is generally the most difficult to administer and judge. That is what is here.

Active participation is a test, not an opinion

Three tests, and the Guide is explicit that the first and second are required along with either the third or its alternative:

1. The Scout is registered for at least the period the requirement names.
2. The Scout is in good standing — not dismissed or suspended.
3. The Scout meets the unit's pre-established documented expectations; or, if not, an acceptable explanation is offered instead. The alternative is not a favour. If a Scout has fallen below the unit's activity expectations, the Guide says the alternative must be offered, and the reason then has to be other positive endeavours — in or out of Scouting — or noteworthy circumstances that prevented a higher level of participation. Two things are excluded from the judgment entirely. If the unit takes time off, that time counts toward the Scout's active participation regardless of the unit's own policy. And expectations about uniforming, supplies, dues or parental involvement, which a unit is free to set, must not be considered when evaluating this requirement.

Position of responsibility is about results, not titles

The position has to be one of those listed on the Advancement and Awards page, and a unit may not require a particular one — it must not, for instance, insist on senior patrol leader for Eagle. Any number of positions may be added together to reach the months; holding two at once does not halve them, and gaps between them are allowed.

Where the unit has written expectations, the Scout meets those, within reason. Where it has not, the Scout and an adult work out the responsibilities between them — and the Scout must not be held to unwritten expectations afterwards.

The hardest paragraph in the section is about failure, and it is unusually firm: if a Scout is not measuring up, that has to be said early. A Scout who is told after six months that performance nobody ever questioned is now considered unsatisfactory must be given credit for the time.

The unit leader conference is participated in, not passed

Requirements say take part in a conference. They do not say pass one. It need not be the last thing before the board of review, more than one may be held and the Scout may count any of them, and a unit leader has no authority to deny a Scout a timely conference when a rank requires it.

How to read the graph

Each requirement is a branch off the top, because they are judged independently and the Guide gives no order between them. Nested items are part of the item above them. Dashed lines apply only in the case written on the arrow.