Registering As Merit Badge Counselor for Scout

I recently met with a Scout and his dad to help him with a Merit Badge. How can I sign off on the merit badge if he is not listed under my name?

One of the unit’s Scoutbook admins can connect you to the scout, if they are provided with your email address and name so they can create the connection.

That said, you can still (as far as I know) use blue cards and the scout then provides the blue card to their unit leadership when completed for recording.

@DeborahLove

You can log in to Scoutbook, select My Account → My Connections then click Add. You will need the Scout’s last name and BSA Member ID to connect as a Merit Badge Counselor.

I am a unit admin, but currently cannot connect a Scout to a new MB Counselor. The MB Counselor is not in our council, so does not come up on a search. When I try to add her, the position of MB Counselor is greyed out, so I cannot select it. Do you have any ideas on how I can complete this connection? Thanks so much!

I sent an email to our Council person asking him to connect me to the Scout, but I’ve heard he’s busy and it takes a long time for him to get back to people.
The Scout had done all of the requirements, except for the few things I needed to ask I him, but he did not bring a blue card with him. I thought I could go to my dashboard and add him, but am not able to.
I’ll see if I can print out the blue card and get it to him. Such a great kid and dad, I want to follow through ASAP.

I’ve made connections to folks outside my council before, and have found them using email address. Not sure why that’s not working if you’re a Unit Admin, unless the person just thinks they’re a MBC, but are not currently registered as such for some reason (e.g. lapsed YPT, registration error, etc).

Personally, I’d reach out to the MBC and ask them to set “Listing Preference” to “Any Council (Worldwide)” in their MBC position in Scoutbook so you can see them. They have to do that by going to:

My Dashboard → Administration → My Account → My Positions → Merit Badge Counselor

That should set things up so that you can find them even if they’re out of council. If they still don’t show up, I would tend to suspect that there’s an issue with their registration.

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Thanks very much, Charley!

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I thought, in the Scouts BSA, you had to be a Scoutmaster to assign a Merit Badge Counselor (MBC) in Scoutbook. I do not think this is a internet advancement tool issue.

2022-10-01-C

SM or designee. It’s often convenient to tag the designee as a unit admin, since that automatically maintains Full Control connections with all new & current scouts.

Here is a guide on how a MBC can connect themselves to a Scout.