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.
Hello, I would like to add a parent volunteer to Scoutbook as our Unit Outdoors/Activities Chair, but when I put in their name and email address, choose the position, and click Submit, I get an error:
" Whoops! We encountered an error trying to process your request.
Our webmaster has been notified and will fix it ASAP!"
It’s been a few days, and I’ve tried a few times, so I’m thinking this may not be resolved any time soon. Any thoughts on what else to try or do?
I’m just looking to get a parent involved in managing some calendar entries, helping to coordinate transportation, and make campsite reservations - following the decisions of the PLC. All feedback is welcome.
For an adult to hold a position in Scoutbook, they must be a registered scouter. Has the adult you are looking for submitted an adult application to the BSA and had it processed?
D’oh, that would make sense given all the notifications from earlier in the year. I think the error messaging could be improved in that case.
This also hurts because at a time when it’s hard to get parent volunteers, it adds even more resistance to volunteerism. After begging parents for help, now we need to ask them to take 1+hrs of YPT, fill out an application, and pay $45 just to help with troop management needs in scoutbook. That’s going to be hard to sell.
I’m sorry, but if an adult is not willing to spend 1 hour of their time every 2 years learning how to protect youth, they should not be working with them or have access to their data.
I didn’t ask the adult to work directly with the youth, and I don’t need them to have access to their data. Sending out a message to the troop with details of the activity, asking for rsvps, and drivers, and updating the calendar would take away one of my burdens.
Are there other BSA-approved technology solutions where scouts can perform some of these activities on their own?
You can enable any adult to send messages via Scoutbook by connecting them with View Profile to the Scouts.
Making someone the Outdoor Activities Chair gives them the ability to be connected to Scouts in a way that gives them access to personally identifiable information. The BSA does not want anyone without YPT and a criminal background check from having access to this data.
