How do district and council volunteers get access to the merit badge counselor list in SB?

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@KennethAdams - they did a cost benefit study and found that the current methods worked best. I did suggest your methods and was told there was no need for these newfangled things.

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The recent posts seem to be unaware that a council’s approved merit badge counselor roster is generated by council or district advancement committees. That data is then uploaded to ScoutNET by the registrar or approved volunteer administrator. From my earlier post, “In the Lake Erie Council that password protected file list is available for download on the council web page. The password is provided by request to the council advancement committee administrator. Valid users include Scoutmasters, district and council advancement committee members.”

The immediate solution would be that the posters establish a similar mechanism in their respective councils. The advancement committees might even appreciate the help.

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Lambskin?!?! In these economic times? Surely you jest!

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This just in - My.Scouting tools for a district now include a merit badge counselor list, if you have the right permissions. Go to the roster, look in Reports from the menu to the left.

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I presume this is also available for the council, but it does not appear on unit rosters.

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Thanks for the info. Sadly, no one seems to know what the magic set of permissions is to grant that access. I’m registered as a member of the council advancement committee yet I have no access to any such report.

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You could ask them to enter a support ticket asking.

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Thanks for the suggestion. I’m letting the council paid staff work though whatever channels they have. I know they’ve submitted tickets before on other issues, but I find I generally get much faster and more accurate answers here than what they get.

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I am Vice-Chair for Program a Key 3 Delegate for the district. Working with our council advancement committee to figure out how we can enable access for those who need it. The District Execs can all see it but that does not help the volunteers.

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If you figure out what rights / roles are needed, please let me know.

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Council and District individuals who can access Member Manager have access to the new MBC report. I believe this is limited to Key 3, Key 3 Delegates and some Council staff.

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My council registrar and director of support services can both access the report. No one seems to know how to enable me to see it.

However, the report is completely empty. They’ve called and begged and registered tickets and done everything they know how to do to get someone, anyone at national to address the issue. Thus far, no luck.

If anyone knows how to actually generate a report of the merit badge counselors (one that actually contains some data), I’d really appreciate the help.

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Registration and functional role assignments

@JamesBrown13 You have two separate issues here. Let us work on how you are defined in my.Scouting Tools first How are you registered at the council level? Council Member at Large?

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My “functional registration” is listed as “Council Advancement Committee Member”.

My bigger concerns are why the report is empty for our council registrar and director of support services who do have access and why they can’t get any support to fix the problem.

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“COUNCIL MERIT BADGE COUNSELOR LISTING” Access

5/8/2021: As a district member-at-large (position) with functional roles of membership committee member and training committee member, today I can see the

COUNCIL MERIT BADGE COUNSELOR LISTING
Listing of current merit badge counselors that can sorted > by badge or troop only.

with the district’s MBCs and badges each supports, under Organization Manager - Reports

As a member of the district membership committee on the my.Scouting Tools web interface, access is via:
“Menu > (district name) > Roster”. The Organization Manager tools including Reports are listed in the side-bar.

I suspect at the council level you would need to also be a member of the council membership committee to access the report.

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Are your council’s merit badge counselors registered at the district level?

The registration guidebook (June 2019), p. 25, states:

Adult applications are required of all new counselors whether they are currently registered in another position or not. Merit badge counselors are registered and approved on the district level and all applications must be approved by the district merit badge counselor coordinator before the application is entered into the BSA membership system.

Reregistering merit badge counselors must complete a new Merit Badge Counselor Information form annually for approval, but a new application is not require

Related discussion:

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Thanks Bill. Good to know. I’ll check into that to see if that enables me to see the report.

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Yes, they are registered at the district level as position 42.

BTW, it’s interesting that the registration guidebook and the guide to advancement are at odds about how to reregister MBCs. The GtA (section 7.0.1.5) clearly says a new merit badge counselor information form is NOT necessary. Which book / rule takes precedence?

https://www.scouting.org/resources/guide-to-advancement/the-merit-badge-program/#7015

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That’s an interesting discrepancy. The in-practice of it is that the approved merit badges (derived from the merit badge counselor information sheet) and the merit badge counselor position (derived from an adult application) are not related to each other. In other words, they are independent processes, but you must have both to be effectively valid.

If we assume it’s not a discrepancy, my interpretation is that the registration can be carried forward without a new adult application but the approved merit badge counselor list shouldn’t be.

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MBC Annual Renewal

Where do you see this? I do not see any statement like that. I do see in the annual renewal message/letter guidance provision for

The invitational message or letter could include the following:

  1. Listing of merit badges each is currently approved to counsel
  2. Contact name in the district or council who can provide assistance and information
  3. Response card, e-form, or other way for counselors to return updated contact information, preferred method for contact, merit badges they wish to add or drop, updates to their skills and education profile, and anything else that may be helpful

The MBC Information form in the June 2019 registration guidebook was revised in February 2018.

Reference:
BSA Home > Resources > Guide to Advancement 2019 > The Merit Badge Program

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MBC registration and MBC badge list

Or position code 42F for merit badge counselors who pay to receive Scouting magazine if not already receiving it?

For each MBC were the merit badges they counsel for, that were approved by council (or district MBC coordinator), entered by the council?