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.
I can mark for my child counselor approved and or leader approved for the merit badges I am a counselor for. I can mark for my child leader approved for those I am not a counselor for because I am a troop Admin (COR).
Under my Wife’s account she can only put a date completed in there. This needs to then be approved by the counselor and unit leader. When I mark a merit badge as complete as a counselor it goes into the needs approval list for the unit leader and also shows in the scouts profile as being completed. When it is marked as approved by the unit leader it is assumed that this was done from a paper copy and does not require signing off by the MBC. Either way the unit leader (or designee) is the final gatekeeper for the completion of these.
When a MBC marks a requirement Counselor Approved, the requirement is automatically marked Leader Approved because the MBC is the final signoff needed for a MB requriement.
The overall MB is not automatically marked Leader Approved after a MBC marks it Counselor Approved because the MB process requires the Scout to have a discussion with the Unit Leader (Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor or Skipper) about the MB experience. After this discussion, the Unit Leader should mark the MB Leader Approved. This is equivalent to the Unit Leader signing the Blue Card for the 2nd time.
This is also how I’d interpret it. However, it is the scouts responsibility to speak with the counselor and get his blue card signed not whoever looks at scoutbook.
What I do for MBs that I am acting as the MBC for, I attach photos of the work, or the Blue Card, or anything that will help to prove that the requirements have been competed by the scouts. I don’t know if this is correct or not, but I figure it will reduce any issues and show that the scout completed his work…as long as SB doesn’t crash!
Ask them which approved Merit badge Counselor saw the completed work. Then add that MBC to the Scouts record so they could “approve” it. Just because the Scout or parent puts it in as completed, it is still “pending approval”
As I believe was noted above, not all MBCs use Scoutbook, nor are they required to. If the MBC doesn’t use Scoutbook, connecting them to the scout is essentially a black hole. I personally prefer to see MBCs connected to the scouts in Scoutbook (and using it to Counselor Approve work done), but it’s not a requirement.
So the Scout in question attended a conservation merit badge weekend. The parent send efiles of four blue cards. Two were marked complete and had the date of completion. Two listed the completed requirements but there were still a few things that were left to do. I had to explain that camp credits were often not complete, and the Scout had some items to complete. She had been ready to send scans of the efiles. I had to gently suggest she look closely at each blue card. I haven’t checked Scoutbook to see if they were entered as complete by the Scout or his family.
with the rechartering issues and delays, we have multiple mbc from last yr and this yr who are active but not able to link as mbc in scoutbook.
there are glitches in the system.
scouts are not able to select/link to the mbc. We have sent multiple paperwork in and consider them mbc.
Also, my scout (and I as an older parent) has his first years of merit badge blue cards in his keepsake scout binder. I would like him to have the rest of the blue cards paper copy for the badges he earns, not just a list in the computer.
How do scouts access that information in the future when they have aged out of the troop? Sharing that with his sons (and daughters) when they get into scouting. I prefer the blue card.
We have some scouts who started a badge, then need to complete it with a different mbc. scoutbook only allows 1 mbc.
scoutbook vs blue card takes away the conversations getting the card signed to start, etc which are part of their training for adult preparation/ productive conversations in business settings, much like Scoutmaster Conferences and BOR.
in a virtual world, scoutbook helps facilitate things, but as a mbc and a parent, i will always prefer the blue cards.
You can change the MBC in Scoutbook at any time. Someone with a full control connection to the Scout just needs to go to the Scout’s connection page, click on the current MBC and remove the connection. At this point, another MBC can be assigned.
That’s on purpose in order to be in compliance with BSA rules.
The Guide to Advancement does not allow Scouts (or parents for that matter) direct access to the MBC list/search feature. And Scoutbook reflects that. The “MB Counselor List” option in Scoutbook doesn’t appear.
There are two reasons given. The first is the privacy of the MBC’s info. The second is that if a parent or scout can search up an MBC on their own, it potentially short circuits the process of speak-to-your-unit-leader-first. Guide to Advancement 7.0.2.2 puts it this way.
“Scouts should not have access. Their interaction with the Scoutmaster in discussing work on a badge, and obtaining a counselor’s name, is an important part of the merit badge plan.”
That said, a unit can keep its own list of its internal MBCs. For example, an SM can have in their head or on paper a listing of all MBCs in the Troop. But even that list BSA indicates should be ONLY the Scoutmasters or that of an adult leader and not given to scouts “Due to concerns about merit badge counselor privacy and since Scouts should receive the names and contact information from the Scoutmaster, unit counselor lists should not be made available to Scouts.” Guide to Advancement 7.0.2.3
we post our list on the wall and on our troop website with the merit badges, mbc names ,emails. The other troop who shares our scout house does the same.
our council has a list that can be searched online to find mbc in x miles from zip code.
I am personally in a leadership position in our troop with “full control” and am able to assign to some, but not to others, who are active mbc in our troop. I coordinate our annual troop merit badge days. I guess i did not know that most parents cant access that at all. We have a large troop and many active leaders, so many must have that access bc parents do link their scout to mbc for badges.
Lately, Our younger scouts have been coming asking who is a mbc for a topic more often (i thought they just hadnt learned how yet, but evidently they dont get that access) since scoutbook option, but historically they were to present themselves to SM with the knowledge of what badge, who have they contacted to be their mbc, when/ where taking if class at merit badge fair to get that initial unit leader signature.
On another scoutbook note, i couldnt find some badges like swimming in scoutbook at all.
but they did show on printed advancement report.
Once a MB has been added to a Scout’s advancement page, it will no longer appear under “Add New Merit Badge”
If an MBC does not appear in the MB Counselor Search, it means 1 of 2 things:
The individual is not registered as an MBC
The individual’s Youth Protection Training has expired
If an MBC does appear but you cannot add them by going to +Add on the Scout’s connection page, the MBC is already connected to the Scout. Find their name on the Scout’s connection page and either set the MBC check box and select the MB or just select the MB if MBC is already checked.
Are you saying Scouts are completing Merit Badges without having a Merit Badge Councilor?
" Only a registered merit badge counselor may sign off on a merit badge. He or she must be at least 18 years old, a registered Scouter, and qualified to teach the subject."
No, he’s asking about (for example), a unit that uses a third-party software package to track advancement and the MBC uses blue cards. There is not, currently, a requirement of which I am aware that Scoutbook be used.
No, but parents and Scouts themselves can mark items as “Complete” and sometimes as Advancement Chair, it can get confusing when I have to go through my “Needs Approval” list.
Ideally, only a Scoutmaster or designate, typically an Assistant Scoutmaster, will be running the Needs Approval report. The only time I recommend an advancement chair using Needs Approval is they have been given a physical blue card or are looking at a signed off handbook to know that someone authorized to test the Scout and sign off the requirement has done so.
I also suggest the Approve All button never be used unless you are sure everything has been signed off.
