Before the BSA started modifying Scoutbook, units used to be able to change parental access levels, or Permission Positions.
Full Control was used when a new Scout joined the unit so the parents/guardians could update their personal information. Once this was completed, our Key 3 reset the parental permissions to View Advancement - Edit Profile. This allowed our unit to maintain data integrity and run accurate reports for Advancement without having to perform multiple cross-checks.
Not every adult leader should have the ability to edit Advancement in Scoutbook. That should be the responsibility of the unit Key 3 to determine the responsible person(s) & their backup. Our unit has the Committee Chair, Advancement Chair & Scoutmaster with this access level in order to maintain an accurate Scoutbook data set that agrees with the Scout Handbooks.
In our unit, the Scout handbook is the official record for Rank Advancement/BORs, The electronic Scoutbook record is the submittal vehicle and backup in case the Scout loses the Handbook and/or blue cards, etc. Books are turned in regularly and updates entered into Scoutbook by Advancement after Scoutmaster review in order to keep accurate records.
1 Like
As of 1/1/2019, all Unit Admins now have irrevocable Full Unit Admin Control over all Scouts in their respective Scoutbook Units. This cannot be removed by parents as long as the Scout is registered in that Unit.
All parents also now have irrevocable Full Parental Control over their children’s accounts within Scoutbook. This cannot be removed by Leaders or Unit Admins as long as the Scout is registered in the BSA.
In that way the parent can make changes to personal information and move the Scout to other units when needed. A parent with Full Parental Control can also “invite” their Scout to have his/her own Scoutbook Account. A Unit Leader or Admin cannot invite Scouts directly.
Bear in mind that parents’ Full Control does NOT include the ability to Approve, Purchase Order, or Award Advancements. It also does not include the ability to change, remove from, or add to the Payment Log. Parents must also be Unit Leaders or Admins with proper permissions to do these things In Scoutbook.
When an item is marked as “Completed” in Scoutbook, that means that the Scout is ready to be tested just as when a Scout or Parent marks items as such in the paper Scout Handbook. The Unit Leader (or designee) “signs off” in the Handbook in the columns marked “Leader Initial & Date”. The equivalent step in Scoutbook is when a leader in the unit marks an item as “Approved”. Parents (who are not also leaders in the unit) cannot mark any items in Scoutbook as “Approved”. Leaders in the unit need to be educated that they should not be marking any items as “Approved” in Scoutbook if it is not their role in the local unit to do so. That is a specific local Unit discussion and is not and will not be a setting in Scoutbook. The Guide to Advancement does not state that Scouts or Parents should ever be restricted from marking items as Complete as a part of their Scouting Program.
3 Likes
The Parental Rights do not allow any approval of advancement. They are allowed, like the Scout, to mark advancements completed. Complete is the designation to show the Scout believes is ready to test with the Scoutmaster or delegate. Just like the left column in the Scouts book.
2 Likes
You know, we’re going to keep having this discussion for ever unless the devs re-name the permissions so they’re clearly different…
There’s no reason** they couldn’t change “Full Control” to “Parental Control” for parents and resolve the whole confusing mess.
** I say this using the Dilbert level-of-difficulty estimator, where any task that I don’t have to personally do is obviously easy and takes substantially less time to do than it does to talk about…
4 Likes
Unfortunately, the way Scoutbook is built, changing the name Full Control to anything else would just change it for everyone so it does not solve the problem. The entire permission/connection structure needs to be changed to split the description between parent/guardians and leaders. This is not a simple change.
3 Likes
