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.
As advancement chair for my troop, I’m used to approving MB requirements that are signed off in Scoutbook by the MBC. As of the past couple weeks, many requirements aren’t showing up in my Needs Approval Report (though some still do) because they are automatically signed by “BSA Administrator.” What changed?
I hope that whatever changed does not carry over to approving whole badges, because then I’m afraid I’d miss purchasing and awarding them. If the change is just to save advancement chairs the work of approving sub-requirements, then I can appreciate that – even though I enjoyed seeing the progress that my scouts were making!
IF an MBC marks approved - the requirement is Leader approved - has been that way for a Long time - not sure what Audit log says?? - but there is a block to keep it from rolling up to the whole MB for that reason
When an MBC marks a MB requirement Counselor Approved, the system automatically marks it Leader Approved because once an MBC approves a requirement it does not need further approval.
The Leader Approved check box is still present for the case where an MBC is not using Scoutbook. This allows the unit to approve requirements they know were MBC approved.
The overall MBC still needs unit leader approval because per the Guide to Advancement, a Merit Badge is not complete until the Scout and Unit Leader have a discussion about the MB experience.
Ah, I think I figured it out. When a MBC marks “Completed” then I get notified to approve. When they mark “Approved” I don’t. I’m guessing that a lot of my MBCs have recently figured out that they need to Approve, not just check the completion box. Glad to hear I’ll still get the final approval for the whole badge, for the sake of recordkeeping.
Ideally, MBCs that are using Scoutbook will marked requirements and the final MB Counselor Approved. This is equivalent to the MBC signing the Blue Card.
