Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook

Transcription

1 Orange County Council, BSA Council Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook Introduction This policy is approved by the Orange County Council Advancement Committee, Boy Scouts of America. This document addresses the approval process inherent with the Eagle Scout Service Project, starting at the unit and then progressing to the District and Council level. The Orange County Council (OCC) Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Advancement Committee is the administrator of this policy. The approval process includes those qualified to serve as a project coach associated with reviewing Eagle Scout Service Project Proposal planning. The policy describes who has authority to sign for the Council or District on the Eagle Scout Service Project Fundraising Application. Besides the proposal approval process, the provisions herein also describes the appeal process an Eagle Scout candidate has, if he feels that he was mistreated or his proposal was wrongfully rejected. Any other types of appeals are documented separately. Approvals The approval process normally requires signatures as follows: Project Proposal - minimal planning details required. 1. Eagle Candidate 2. Unit Leader 3. Unit Committee representative 4. Beneficiary / representative 5. Council or District Eagle designated approver 6. Project Final Plan - project details including planning, organization of steps, etc. No approval signatures required. 7. Coaches are encouraged to be used, but do not have authority here to suspend, stop, or proceed with the plan. Project Fundraising Application: 8. Beneficiary 1

2 9. Unit Leader 10. Authorized Council representative may be delegated to District. The policy is a section of this document titled Eagle Service Project Fundraising Application. The Project Report (completion approvals): 11. Eagle Candidate 12. Beneficiary 13. Unit Leader District Approval of Eagle Scout Service Project Proposals Each District Advancement Chairman or designee shall create and maintain a list of Scouters authorized to sign Eagle Scout Service Project Proposals. The qualifications for this District position are: Has read sections through regarding the Eagle Scout Service Project in the Guide to Advancement Agrees to apply the procedures as written and in compliance with the policy on Unauthorized Changes to Advancement found on page 2 of the Guide to Advancement. Encourage the candidate to complete a final plan and share it with a project coach. Registered with the BSA in any position and come from the unit, District or Council level. Youth Protection Trained - Certified as trained Authority to sign for the district approving the project proposal. Proposal tests 1. The project provides sufficient opportunity to meet the requirement. 2. The project appears to be feasible. 3. Safety issues will be addressed. 4. Action steps for further detailed planning are included. 5. The Eagle Scout candidate is on the right track with a reasonable chance for a positive experience. Orange County Council delegates the approval authority to their respective Districts. Each District may enlist one or more adult individuals to serve as (1) leads in project proposal approvals, (2) the board of review representative for Council, and/or (3) a District Eagle Chairman or advisor. A designated person will be assigned the authority to approve and sign the Eagle Scout Service Project Proposal after reviewing a 2

3 proposal. Once a proposal has been signed off, it may not be undone except by the Eagle Scout candidate. The District approver who signed off the proposal may serve as the Coach, if the Eagle Scout candidate requests him to serve in this capacity. Note that the unit leadership has been a crucial factor in contributing toward advancement to the rank of Eagle Scout, and continues to be involved in the Eagle Project planning and completion processes. Eagle Service Project Coaches Each District Advancement Chairman or similar designee shall create and maintain a list of Eagle Scout Service Project Coaches. The Eagle Service Project coaches may come from the unit, district or council level. The District approver who approves the Eagle Service Project proposal shall strongly recommend that the Eagle Scout candidate avail himself of the services of a project coach. He may use the services of the person who approved the proposal or any other project coach. All coaches will thoroughly understand the goals and process that the candidate undergoes to complete the Eagle Service project requirement. The coach is there to assist the candidate, but the final plan decision belongs to the candidate. The coach can only use positive adult association, logic and common sense to guide the candidate to the right decision. The coach cannot dictate changes, withdraw approval or take any directive action regarding the project. All coaches shall be registered with the BSA in any position. All coaches shall hold current Youth Protection Certificates. All Youth Protection rules will be followed. The job of the Coach is to help the candidate completely think through his project and produce the best possible documentation for his project. The candidate makes the final decision regarding his project. It is recommended that the Eagle Scout candidate show his completed workbook to his coach to make sure that everything is completed satisfactorily. The coach will review the workbook to make sure that all is in order. Eagle Scout Service Project Fundraising Application The District is authorized to approve the Eagle Scout Service Project Fundraising Application. The person who gave district approval to the Eagle Scout Service Project Proposal is authorized to approve the Eagle Scout Service Project Fundraising 3

4 Application. The person who approves the Eagle Scout Service Project Proposal will keep a copy of the Eagle Scout Service Project Fundraising Application. Proposal Wrongfully Rejected If an Eagle Scout candidate believes that he has been mistreated or his proposal has been wrongfully rejected, his method of redress or appeal is to contact the District Advancement Chairman who will provide the contact information of the Council advancement committee s advancement administrator who will review the project and make a determination as to the validity of the project. Recommendations: 1. Remember to make sure that the Eagle Scout candidate is keeping track all of the time he spends working on his Eagle project; the previous Event Log worked well. Start event logging as soon as the project is being contemplated. 2. It is strongly recommended that a candidate avail himself of a project coach. 3. Units should provide the District Advancement Chair or designee with a list of unit personnel who have volunteered to serve as project coaches. 4. A project coach should be assigned to the Eagle Scout candidate to facilitate his progress in becoming an Eagle Scout. 5. Since there is a lot of material for the Eagle Scout candidate to absorb, it should also be given to him in writing or in the form of a list. 6. The project coach should verify that the Eagle Scout candidate understands the process that he is to follow to become an Eagle Scout. If the Eagle Scout candidate is unsure of the process, the coach needs to explain it. 7. The District approver who signs off the proposal needs to review the entire process that the District uses for Eagle Scout candidate. The contact information for all the people whom the Scout needs to contact should be provided to him. 8. Early on, the District approver, coach, and/or unit leader should explain that the (1) unit leader, (2) unit committee representative, and the (3) beneficiary are part of the approval process of his final application paperwork. The review of the Eagle Scout Service Project report is for completeness. 9. The coach can only recommend changes; the Eagle Scout candidate has the right to present his report to the District Board of Review as it is currently written with or without the required final signatures. The coach should provide contact information for this process to begin. 4

5 Supporting Material - Coaching Concerns 1. Experience indicates that Eagle Scout candidates, in general, do not have a clue in proposal or detailed planning documentation. The good news is that candidates have become increasing knowledgeable, over the last few years, in the use of the word processor, spreadsheet, and drawing computer programs. Coaching involves in essence training the candidate to present his ideas and plans using the above or similar tools - most youth have never done such documentation. At the risk of invoking any new requirements, the candidate needs to be told that it his choice on the tools used to present the basic requirements in his planning document. There may a few who have no computer skills and, therefore, will require more coaching. Recommend coaches have examples of: a. Past completed Eagle Projects as document format models. b. Tables and illustrations that could be used in the write ups. c. Detailed drawing or organizational charts. 2. For many Eagle Scout candidates, the detailed write up within the final plan may take 2 to 3-hours for a coach to explain and teach the various methods and documentation tools that could be used with the Eagle Project proposal and Final Plan. Eagle Scout candidates seldom have any experience in this type of write up. 3. Tools such as breaking down the project jobs or tasks into number of helpers needed versus the time estimates on executing such jobs, and how to form a bill of materials. 4. Included in this teaching time are discussions of design structural integrity of those projects requiring construction. Use of contractors or engineers to help verify design suitability is highly recommended. 5. Other projects require the ability to describe the organizational elements such as job or task breakdowns, sequence of events, and the number of people needed to manage project execution. The write up requires the ability to describe these elements and manage a project. 6. The Final Plan is the most critical portion of the Eagle Scout Project write up for successful completion. Since there is no approval authority for an adequate or inadequate judgment here, the risks for project failure are high. The phrase: If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail seems more of a reality now. 5