Inputting rank advancements in Scoutbook

@EarlFarnsworth, congratulations on getting your Troop up and operational. As you can see, each unit handles how “Completed” is recorded in Scoutbook a little differently. There is no way to prevent a Scout or parent from marking an individual requirement, or the whole badge, “Complete.” What the unit controls is who can mark the requirement or badge “Approved.”

One thing you wrote bothered me. You stated, “They also put the date that they entered it rather than the date they completed the requirement.” This is a concern for me. This is not a concern for Scout thru 2nd Class, but for First Class through Eagle, Palms, and Merit Badges, this is a disservice to the Scout. The reason is that the Board of Review date for 1st Class - each Palm starts the clock running for the minimum amount of time before the next Bard of Review. If you date First Class 2 months after the Board of Review, then your Scout may not have a Board of Review for Star until 6 months after that date, instead of the prescribed 4 months. You want Merit Badges entered properly as they must be Approved before you hold the Board of Review for the rank they apply.

If one of your Eagle Scout Candidates (currently a Life Scout) handed me their Eagle Scout Rank Application, and the dates on the ESRA, Scouts BSA History / Individual Advancement Report, and Handbook / Merit Badge Cards did not all agree, the Scout would be asked to go back and have their unit correct Scoutbook and bring me corrected documents before I would submit the ESRA to Council for Certification and request authorization to hold the Eagle Scout Board of Review. That is a delay for the anxious Scout, that I ask units to avoid.

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The BOR date IS the date the rank is earned. The dates are supposed to match. We have asked the developers to put in a check so if the BOR date is filled in, the overall completion date must match. This request is in the backlog.

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The BOR date is not always the date the rank is earned. By GTA requirements do not have to be completed in any order. Often we have Star and Life scouts that will reach their time (4 months/6months) on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of the
week. We meet on Monday. We will do the BOR on Monday then on day they hit their time will check that requirement as complete. In this case the completion date is the date later in the week not the BOR date.

This is incorrect. The BOR is always the last requirement completed and is the date the award is earned. The SUAC has consulted with the national staffer multiple times on this and he has always been consistent. There is no earned date for rank, it is always the date of the Board of Review.

Page 414 of the Scouts BSA Handbook says:

  1. You are reviewed. hen you have completed all the requirements for a rank (except the Scout rank), you meet with a board of review made up of troop committee members. The board makes sure you’ve completed all the requirements and also talks with you about your Scouting experience.

The Guide to Advancement says:

8.0.0.1 Purpose and Timeliness of Boards of Review
A Scout who has completed the requirements for any rank (except Scout rank) then appears before a board of review. Its purpose is to determine the quality of the Scout’s experience and decide whether the requirements for the rank have been fulfilled. If so, the board not only approves the Scout’s advancement but also provides encouragement to continue the quest for the next rank. Because the board of review date becomes the effective advancement date, boards should be scheduled promptly as Scouts are ready, or set up on a regular basis that assures Scouts are not delayed in beginning time-oriented requirements for the next rank.

Requirements can’t be changed. If the Scout meets the time requirement on a Tuesday and your Board of Reviews are on Monday, the Scout must wait until the following Monday for the Board of Review.

Both the Handbook and Guide to Advancement are clear, the Board of Review is the last requirement completed and the date of the Board of Review is the date the rank is earned.

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We have the Scouts turn their books into me (adwards advancement chair) as soon as something is signed off. I note it and enter it into Scout book with the date earned and hit the space for date entered. Scout book shows the % of the rank that is completed which is helpful. You know how close the scout is to completing the advancement. You can also check who needs what completed and sometimes they all need the same item. Then you can adjust meetings or outings to help complete what needs to be done.

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Also from the Guide to Advancement:

4.2.1.3 The Scout Is Reviewed
After completing all the requirements for a rank, except Scout rank, a Scout meets with a board of review. For Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, and Life ranks, members of the unit committee conduct it. See “Particulars for Tenderfoot Through Life Ranks,” 8.0.2.0. The Eagle Scout board of review is held in accordance with National Council and local council procedures. (emphasis added.)

8.0.0.2 Boards of Review Must Be Granted When Requirements Are Met
A Scout shall not be denied this opportunity. When a Scout believes that all the requirements for a rank have been completed, including a Scoutmaster conference, a board of review must be granted. (emphasis added.)

8.0.0.1 Purpose and Timeliness of Boards of Review
Because the board of review date becomes the effective advancement date, boards should be scheduled promptly as Scouts are ready, or set up on a regular basis that assures Scouts are not delayed in beginning time-oriented requirements for the next rank. (emphasis added.)

Note that Scouts must be registered through the time they are working on advancement requirements, but need not be registered thereafter or when their board of review is conducted.

8.0.1.5 After the Review
If the members agree a Scout is ready to advance, the Scout is called in and congratulated. The board of review date—not that of a subsequent court of honor—becomes the rank’s effective date. (emphasis added.)

4.2.0.1 Scouting Ranks and Advancement Age Requirements
Requirements for the Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks may be worked on simultaneously; however, these ranks must be earned in sequence. For information on boards of review for these ranks, see “Particulars for Tenderfoot Through Life Ranks” 8.0.2.0, especially point No. 7.

All requirements for Star, Life, and Eagle, except for those related to merit badges, must be fulfilled after the successful completion of a board of review for the previous rank.

4.2.3.5 Unit Leader (Scoutmaster) Conference
While it makes sense to hold [a Scoutmaster conference] after other requirements for a rank are met, it is not required that it be the last step before the board of review. This is an important consideration for Scouts on a tight schedule to meet requirements before age 18. Last-minute work can sometimes make it impossible to fit the conference in before that time. Scheduling it earlier can avoid unnecessary extension requests. (emphasis added.)

So the Scoutmaster conference can be held at any time while a Scout is working on a particular rank, but the board of review must be done after all other requirements for a particular rank have been completed.

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Thank you everyone for all the comments. I think I am going to start a discussion with our troop leadership and hopefully change our approach as to how we are utilizing Scoutbook. I would like to see it updated as the requirements are completed so that the parents, scouts, and leaders can look see how the scouts are progressing.

It can really help your PLC with planning activities if they know which requirements Scouts need / have already completed.

Earl,
We allow Scouts (parents for first years) to enter completions as they would do in their Handbook. It shows up in Scoutbook as a green check and the requirement pops up on our Needs Approval Report. When the Scout is then tested on the material, an approved leader approves the item and the check turns blue. A Scout in our unit can also enter an explanatory note, video, or photo when they check completed and in many cases that will be sufficient for the authorized leader to approve the item without having to have a face to face with the Scout on a particular requirement - saves a LOT of meeting time! When all requirements are marked “APPROVED”, national records are updated. And finally, when a Scout receives the rank patch (conclusion of board of review) or merit badge (quarterly court of honor), our Awards Chair clicks “Awarded”.

I hope this helps!

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@RobertAcker AWARDED has nothing to do with Council - APPROVE adds the data to the National system

Donovan is, of course, 100% correct - will correct my original post and not try to type again with my eyes dilated from the Ophthalmologist! :slight_smile:

I am the Advancement Coordinator for my son’s troop and our newly formed female troop. Personally I prefer to enter the individual requirements for advancement and merit badges, but I am rarely given that information before the rank/MB is completed.

Like you, I like to see the progress. And if the committee is going to ask me what requirements for xxx are still outstanding , it’d sure help if they (the MBCs and/or the youth) shared that information with me. It also helps to guide the troop to provide the opportunity to fulfill those requirements. Gently nudging them by letting them know that xx number of youth only need the cooking requirement for Second Class. :slight_smile:

How do I do use same dates for multiple requirement sign off.

Hi, @LeonDemers,

There are a couple of approaches for leaders. You can copy-and-paste the date, and enter the requirements one at a time. This method will also work for parents & scouts. More efficiently, at least for me, is to use the Quick Entry tool:

My Dashboard → My Units → (scroll down) Quick Entry

You can enter multiple rank requirements, MB completions, awards, etc. I also have the Feature Assistant Extension installed, so there are a couple of additional quick-entry fields (I believe) that aren’t available without it.

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Thank you for your help.

Did this feature go away? My positions are Scoutmaster and Troop Admin and the Quick Entry is no longer available in my list. I get Send Message, then Export/Backup. I used to have the same list as above.

It sounds like you have 2 Scoutbook accounts. Are you logging in with your my.scouting.org ID and password? I recommend sending an e-mail to scoutbook.support@scouting.org with your name, BSA member ID, e-mail address and my.scouting.org ID, council and unit. Ask them to search for and merge any duplicate IDs they find.

I login with the same my.scouting.org account that I have been using for several months. I have other admin rights and options that I would not expect others to have, like permission setting and such. When looking at my profile in this account, it says I am Troop Admin and Scoutmaster. I will email them, though.

Thank you

Looks like it is a real issue. I received a reply from support. It looks like it is an open issue at the moment.

"Thank you for contacting Scoutbook! I’m happy to assist you. A patch was released yesterday in Scoutbook that was suppose to fix parents from being able to see the quick entry option. It seems as if it somehow removed quick entry from admins as well for Troops. I am escalating this ticket to our admin development team for further investigation. We do apologize for the inconvenience. "

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