I was asked to help on a district committee. I then said “hey, let’s try the whole online application for district positions”. So, our DE entered a innovation request to me for the position. I got the email. I clicked on it and it takes me to a page that says “start application” and it says I am already registered. Is this because I am a MBC in the district? Any thoughts?
My understanding is that district members at large can multiple register but that merit badge councilors cannot. I am not sure about charter organization representatives or council members at large (living in the district) who are listed on the district nominating committee as voting members. There are special procedures for the district chair and district commissioner, and perhaps for other commissioners. I am assuming members of the district staff (committee and unit support staff) can multiple register, but that volunteers not paying a fee cannot.
I suspect you need to have your district chair and council registrar register you in a district committee position first.
In the registration guide (2019), pp. 26, 37-38, there are functional codes for different district committee assignments. There are codes for council committee member (47) and neighborhood committee member (65).
Per the district nominating committee worksheet (form 33157 (scouting.org), 2005 printing):
District Committee Members (registration code No. 79) are not elected but are recruited by the district chairman, district vice chairman, or one of the operating committee chairs to assist with some function of the district. They are not voting members of the district committee. They are usually registered in this position because
(1) it is not currently feasible to have a committee member go through the district election process,
(2) it is not the intent of the council or district to select them as voting members,
(3) their task does not involve ongoing service on the district committee, or
(4) the Scouter has agreed to help the district with a project or limited task but does not wish to serve as a regular member of the district committee.Chartered Organization Representatives. Automatic voting members of the district committee selected by their respective chartered organizations.
For my.Scouting tools functional roles, I do not know if district functions can be attached to a unit position. I suspect not.
posted 27 June 2021, revised 28 June 2021.
The code for district committee member is 75 (District member-at-large). All committee members, that are not the chair or vice chair, are just registered “at-large”. The functional codes are additions to give the committee member access to additional tools in my.scouting. For example, adding 71 (District Membership Chair), would give that account district level access to the Application Manager, Invitation Manager, etc. You cannot be registered in just a functional role.
Found it. The “district committee member” (not elected) position code 79 is listed in the 2005 printing of the district nominations committee worksheet. This position does not appear to be listed in the 2019 registration guide.
The “district member at large” position 75 is an elected position.
If it is not in the most recent guide, one could easily assume it is no longer In use.
That’s interesting. It may just be that the technology has not yet caught up to were you need it for that process. Might just have to do it the old fashion way.
Correct. 75 is the one that is currently in use. And it is mentioned in the District Operations Handbook
“How Do You Get Started as a New District Volunteer?
The chair of each committee is appointed by the district chair, in consultation with the district executive and with the approval of the district committee. Committee members are selected by the committee chair, in consultation with the district chair and district executive and with the approval of the district committee. They are registered as district members at large.”
To put things in perspective it helps if you indicate the date of your sources.
In reference to:
This 2012 guide statement (above) may no longer be true today (and I suspect is was not true in 2012.)
Some examples:
At the unit level the following are listed with position codes in the 2019 registration guide:
At the district level the following are listed with position codes in the 2019 registration guide:
To add to the confusion, the following is also listed as a functional role:
@Matt.Johnson, I think it is more correct to say BSA organization and registration is confusing.
From a system analyst point of view there should be a “committee member” position and code at the unit, neighborhood, district and council levels. This is also true for committee chairs.
Positions are based on bylaws, rules and regulations, and separate from guides.
Non-elected volunteers should not automatically be designated as elected. Nor should a organization level (e.g. district) be forced to give a volunteer powers beyond their functional role because someone made and erroneous statement in a guide and that was passed on to information systems when designing the data system.
No they are not. The first group of documents are the policy theory, the guides carry it out. We have no ability to affect change on the systems that we have been given to use. The best we can do is follow the GUIDES to actually get the work done. The rest can be argued, but all we can do it work with what we have been given.
Maybe that organization shouldn’t be forced to give more access, but it IS being forced to use the systems as provided.
We can argue what the intent is, what the policy theory is, etc. We clearly have little to no influence on that.
What we can discuss productively, is how do we use the systems provided to get the job done following the guides and adhering to the policies the best we can. So even if the role says elected, if the unelected role no longer exists, the necessary choice is clear.
If BSA allows (or would allow) use of district committee member (position code 79), Codes NM and RED could be moved to the functional codes list where it appears they should be from how they are defined.
I would prefer to see the system fixed. Until that it is done we are going to continue to see problems and confusion.
@Matt.Johnson do you have access to what codes are defined for use in the Akela database? I don’t. I think this is going to require submitting a technical trouble report to BSA national via a council to fix.
No, I don’t have access. The is little mechanism for the type of feedback you wish to provide. I agree that a root cause fix would be best, but again, on the user end, we have to deal with the system “as-is” vs how it should or could be.
Let’s get back to the original questions.
In reply to:
No. It only indicates you are registered somewhere in BSA with the membership ID number you are using.
Which district committee? This may affect what has to be done for registration and/or for access to district tools.
No, you are making assumptions. When I multipled before, it didn’t say that. What I have learned is that you can’t multiple in the district (or other units for that matter) if you are already registered in that unit/district. It makes sense for a unit, but doesn’t for a district (eg Commissioner, District Committee, MBC).
I don’t think the committee maters as I would be registered as a member at large. It is for the membership committee.
District committee assignment affects what function roles may be turned on in my.Scouting Tools (Position Manager), not registration which in the Akela database. It also affects what training you may need to take at the BSA Learn Center.
Also it is possible to multiple register at district or council level (perhaps with the council registrar’s help.) For example the district commissioner is also a district member at large. Commissioners can also be registered as operating committee staff. But I do not think that is your situation.
So again, which district operating committee have you been asked to serve on?
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