Problem Connecting MB Counselor with Scout

We had several scouts working with 2 different MB Counselors in our troop this weekend on Water Sports MB. I was able to connect the scouts to one counselor with no issues, however when I try to connect the scouts to the other counselor, I am able to select the counselor from the roster and when I attempt to confirm the connection I get a message: (aside from the wonky grammar)

The MB Counselors are both Asst Scoutmasters and have the MB Role with the right merit badge assigned. Both listed to work with Scouts in our District.

I have removed the Water Sports MB from the Counselor’s list, saved it, and then added it back. Not sure what else to try.

A Scout can only be connected to one MBC for a single badge. Are you trying to connect 2 Water Sports MBCs to the same Scout simultaneously?

Hi Ed - I realize that. So I was not trying to connect scouts to more than one MBC for Water Sports.

We had several scouts, each working with one or the other MBC. I had no trouble connecting the scouts working with one MBC, but got the error above when connecting the other scouts to their MBC.

First end the Old MBC connection for the old MBC - then try to add the new MBC

The scout is not connected to any MBC for Water Sports MB. In fact he is connected to his MBC for Family Life already, so when I get the screen to update the connection I am simply checking the additional MB for this MBC. When I hit Update I get the message above.

If you read the error message, it does not make any sense. The MBC is not allowed for Water Sports MB but then in the list of MBs he is allowed for it lists Water Sports. Clearly a bug somewhere.

When I attempt to connect this MBC to a different scout also working on the Water Sports MB I get this message:

The Water Sports MB is the only MB this scout is working on, and it shows up on the list when I attempt to create the connection.

From the MBC’s profile:

Can you show us the full list of positions for this individual?

In addition to Roles in Troop 48, he has roles in Troop 148 G and Pack 84.

I did notice that the list of MBs in his MBC role for T148 does not match his list of MBs for T48. I wonder if that is the issue.

I wonder if the 2 MBCs roles are confusing the system?

That is the problem. An MBC should ONLY be listed in one unit. Scoutbook does not properly handle an individual that holds an MBC position in more than one unit.

Because of the MBC search function, there is no need for an individual to hold more than one MBC position. End one of the positions and make sure the list of MBs counseled is correct and your problem of connecting the Scout to this MBC for Water Sports will go away.

OK - Thank you for the clarification - I will remove the second MBC role from the linked troop. It would be helpful to have a helpful message when the connection fails.

May I suggest an enhancement to Scoutbook to check the roles of the individual (who I assume is one record) when registering them for a second unit to make sure they do not end up with this issue.

Or better yet, if setting up the MBC role for multiple units, have it show up on both rosters correctly!

IMHO - If this is a problem, it seems like there are some fundamental architectural database issues with how the MBC records are set up. (I spent a number of years as a DB Admin and developer…)

There are changes coming to how MBCs are managed. MBCs are not registered with a unit. The current implementation is from before the BSA purchase of Scoutbook. This problem should go away when the MBC updates are released.

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Perfect - Thank you. I can confirm - that once I removed the ‘Position Approved’ checkbox for the 2nd unit, I was able to add the connection.

Looking forward to the changes for managing MBCs in Scoutbook.

If not registered with a unit, who is expected to manage MBC registrations? Our council unfortunately does not manage updates for Scoutbook, even though they manage MBC registrations.

Prepare for a massive number of complaints about how MBCs are managed, and how the current, broken tools are infinitely superior to whatever new solution is provided… :wink:

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