Welcome! This forum has a treasure trove of great info – Scouters helping Scouters! Just a heads up, though - all content, information, and opinions shared on this forum are those of the author, not the BSA.
The question has come up in our council on whether it is appropriate and if so how to add a single council representative to all units to aid in helping units with Scoutbook issues. We are looking at having either a council commissioner or council registrar next out on unit’s list of leaders.
Leaders can be a part of multiple units on Scoutbook so I’m seeking input from the group on whether anyone has a council or even a district that something like this has been implemented. Also if this isn’t advisable can someone please provide the relevant guidance from National about this.
If this has been done, can you provide details on how this was done (all unit leaders invite The representative, etc) and what roles/position such a person was given.
We know of at least one council that did something like this in the past. Here are a few thoughts:
It takes a lot of work coordinating this.
Scoutbook CANNOT handle a User with more than 70 or so Unit Connections without coming to a screeching halt on most pages
This was Before single sign on and member update. So fake accounts and positions were easier to add and handle. There could be other new issues with this too.
Considering all of that, we would not recommend this for anyone but the MOST METICULOUS and dedicated power-users. The return on time is not great.
ETA - If you decide to do this, the unit commissioner role might be appropriate. Depending on how much help you want to give, you could make them a unit admin, too. This would have to be initiated by the unit inviting that person.
As my council Scoutbook Champion, I have connected to several units temporarily to help them work through issues. It has always been at the invitation of the unit. I usually stay connected for about a week after, and then end my membership in the unit.
Here’s the logistical problem with the idea of having a single person do this - Scoutbook uses your connections to populate a lot of different controls and reports. I am currently connected to two units as an admin, and when I want to add a calendar entry to my home troop (where I am also committee chair), I have to select between each unit’s entire list of calendars (unit, patrols, dens). This was a convenient feature when I wanted to create a joint event between troop and pack for a crossover campout, but its value is fleeting.
The first question I would ask is “why?” What are you hoping to accomplish by doing this? What is the benefit to the units to having a council rep to their leadership roster? What’s the benefit to the council to having someone attached to all the units?
There’s no point in bothering with the work if you don’t have a clear plan for what you want to do.
