I’d be interested just to find how to search for MBCs in SB+. I can’t seem to figure that any from the menus are helps anywhere.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
@HaroldJepsen - this is the search..
got it. Wondering how I missed that in the menu.
Thanks for the help
I would find it helpful to be able to search from this screen by counselor name–there are times when I want to check a specific counselor from our Troop and see what badges they are approved to counsel.
Also, in the Pacifica Distict (Greater Los Angeles Area Council) when we apply to be a merit badge counselor we are asked if we want to counsel only within our Troop or are open to working with scouts from any Troop. Is this information actually used when generating search results? For example if someone from outside of my Troop said they didn’t want to work with scouts outside of their own Troop, would they be hidden from my results?
Thanks!
To find MBs counseled by members of your troop, use Reports → Reports → Custom Reports → New Roster Report. Turn on the MB option
Scoutbook Plus does not restrict search results based on council only for District or Unit. If a Scout from outside the area an MBC wishes to Council contacts the MBC, they can politely decline to work with that Scout.
My personal hope is that unless an MBC is busy, they will not turn away any Scout.
1 Like
Thanks, that is helpful!
I do like being able to search by name for a single counselor though, it’s much quicker to simply type in a first or last name than running through all the report options. Another example where I would want to find a single counselor by name is when that counselor does not use Online Advancement and simply signs a blue card for a scout in our troop. I used to use the merit badge counselor search feature in Scoutbook Legacy to look them up and make sure they were registered as a merit badge counselor to do my due diligence as an advancement chair before recording the badge as complete and awarding the patch.
The functionality existed in Scoutbook Legacy, Scoutbook Plus should build on and improve capabilities, not take them away. I realize Scoutbook Plus is still under development, so I’m hopeful that an easy way to search by name will return someday.
Is this the only way to view MB Counselors? As the Scoutmaster, I used to pull up a search in Scoutbook, then I could copy and paste a list of available counselors to provide to a scout. Now it looks like I’ll have to click on each one separately and copy over their phone number and email, then separately copy over names? An export would be awesome, but I understand why that is intentionally not made available.
Per the Guide to Advancement, if a Scout in good faith believes the person they are working with is an MBC, the MB cannot be withheld. You must award the Merit Badge to the Scout.
There really is no need to check each Blue Card you receive. If you suspect someone who signs a Blue Card is not an MBC, contact your Council. Scoutbook can only return current MBCs that have unexpired SYT. If the MBC signed the Blue Card but then either had their registration lapse or SYT expire, you will not see them in a search.
I cannot say if searching for an MBC by name will be added in the future.
1 Like
I will discuss adding the e-mail address and phone number to the search results screen with the developers.
@CarlEpping - you can get the MBC list from my.scouting.org for your district/council
There have been times when a scout has turned in an incomplete Blue Card, or a Blue Card that had an older version of requirements listed on the sign-off chart than the date started would allow. Looking up and reaching out to the merit badge counselor to clarify that requirements were done or to let them know about updated requirements has been helpful.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to deny any legitimate merit badges from being awarded. Believe it or not, there have been cases of forged signatures. I’m not checking every single card I receive, but if I don’t recognize a name, running a check is a quick and easy step I can take. It might not be foolproof, but it is useful.
Not trying to beat a dead horse here, just saying that sometimes there are times when it would be nice to be able to search by name. The functionality used to exist and I made use of it. Is there a reason to get rid of a functionality that people found useful?
We’ve asked the developers to add it, but we don’t know when or if they will implement it.
Adding search by name is being added to the backlog. We cannot say when it might be available.
With the current search, if you click on the filter icon next to Name you can search the results. Unfortunately this currently only applies to the displayed page of MBCs. I recommend changing the setting at the bottom of the page from the default 10/page to 100/page.
