Bachelor of
Commissioner
Science
Instructors: Richard Benner, David Carleton,
Gene Letner, Chris Porras, Walt Robbins
Introductions
Name
 Commissioner job
 Scouting experience

Overview
BS104, Unit Visitation (R)
 BS102, Rechartering (R)
 BS103, The District
(O)
 BS105, Solutions
(O)
 BS106, Priorities
(O)
 Or — any optional Masters or Doctoral class
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BCS 101
Introduction to
Commissioner Science
Instructor:
Introduction
Need a dynamic commissioner staff
 Commissioner role is different
 Quality depends on commissioners
 Resources help commissioners succeed
 You aren’t an expert in everything
 Know where to go to get help
 First resource: Commissioner Fieldbook
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Commissioner Fieldbook
Resource of information
 Experience of hundreds of commissioners
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Contents
Commissioner Orientation
Overview
 Use with video: Helping Units Succeed
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Commissioner Concept
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Help units succeed!
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Max efficiency
Good program
More members
Results oriented, not procedures
 Roles
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Friend of the unit
Representative of the BSA
Unit “doctor”
Teacher
Counselor
District Commissioner Staff
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District Commissioner
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Assistant District Commissioners
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Unit Commissioners
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Roundtable Commissioners
District Executive
Providing Unit Service
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We care — listen!
Unit contacts
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Frequency
Unit meeting visits
Unit committee visits
Other contacts
Annual commissioner service plan
Other ways to help a unit
Quality Unit Award
Do unit service first!
Commissioner Style
Frontline diplomat
 Exceptional service
 Roots and wings
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Lifesaving Commissioner
Watch the vital signs
 Go into action fast
 Hurry cases
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Counseling
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“Ability to listen and react in a way that will
help others solve their own problems”
Unit Charter Renewal
BCS 102 covers unit charter renewal
 Commissioner’s goal—“on time”
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Commissioner Training
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Orientation
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Basic training
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Arrowhead Honor
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Commissioner’s Key
Commissioner Resources
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A list of basic helps
Unit Commissioner
Worksheets (1)
Unit Commissioner
Worksheets (2)
Summary
Commissioner Fieldbook is your guide
 Only a tool
 You have to build something with it
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Questions?
Comments!
BCS 102
Unit Charter
Renewal
Instructor: Richard Benner
Why Recharter?
BSA does not own Scouting units
 Annual franchise to chartered partners
 Chartered partners are:
 Churches
 Schools / PTAs
 Service clubs
 Businesses and labor unions
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When Do Units Recharter?
Before the charter date (expiration date)
 Most are one year
 Minimum 6 months, maximum 18 months
 Each council has a preferred pattern
 BDAC
 LDS - December 31st
 Community - January 31st
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The Charter Renewal Process
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90 days before:
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60 days before:
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Charter renewal meeting
Boys
Adults
Fees
Approvals
Plans for the next year (Quality Unit)
15 days before:
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Membership inventory
Recruit to make up loss
100% Boy's Life?
45 days before:
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DE visit IH
Printout available (to right person!)
Charter turn-in night
60 days after:
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Charter presentation
Ninety Days Before:
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District Executive visits Institution
Head
Friendly visit
or
 "How can I help"
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Sixty Days Before:
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Membership inventory
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Set review meeting
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Uniform inspection?
Forty-Five Days Before:
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Charter review meeting
 Youth
 Adults
 Fees
 Approvals
 Quality Unit status
 Plans
Fifteen Days Before:
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Charter turn-in night
Sixty Days After:
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Charter presentation
 Chartered partner
and
 The unit
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Sample presentation in Commissioner
Fieldbook
Failure to Recharter
Who has the forms?
 Why?
 What can you do about it?
 Reorganize before charter expiration
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Charter Renewal Application
Headers
 Adults
 Age
 Applications
 Youth
 Applications
 Boy’s Life
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Two Principles
Assure Success
Keep the unit charter renewal process simple
 ONLY registration, Boy’s Life, Quality Unit
 Anticipate anything that could delay on-time
charter renewal
 Unit problem
 Leader or institution head out of town
 Etc.
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Questions?
Comments!
BCS 103
The Commissioner
and the District
Instructor: Chris Porras
Volunteers and
Professionals
Working Together
Relationship
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What makes the relationship work?
Who makes the important decisions?
The flavor of the relationship
How do UC and DE work best together?
How to avoid common problem areas
District
Organization
Four-Function Plan
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Membership
Finance
Program
Unit Service
Key 3
 District Chairman
 District Commissioner
 District Executive
Membership
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School nights
 Commissioners needed!
Garfield roundup
Patrol plus
New unit organization
 Commissioner needed!
Finance
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District goals support council services
District campaign
Unit campaign
 Unit commissioner explain / support
Program
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Training
 UC support, take people to training!
Camping / Outdoor
 Summer camp
 Day camp
 Outdoor program
Activities
Advancement
Unit Service
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UC a friend to the unit’s leaders
UC evaluates program, provides help
UC encourages activities
UC reports unit status
UC helps unit solve problems
 Training
 Advancement
 Outdoors / Activities
Council
Organization
Council Organization
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Six valley Scouting districts - Tomahawk,
El Dorado, Sunrise, Chemehuevi, Big Horn, North Star
Urban Scouting - 60+ units
Northern & Southern districts
 Mini-districts within
Learning for Life
 In-School Scouting - elementary & HS
 Exploring
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Council Support
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Executive Board - governance
Professional staff - service
Support staff - service
Volunteer staff - service
 Training - Pow Wow, Wood Badge, etc.
 Commissioners - RTRT, CCS, etc.
 Camping - camps, high adventure, etc.
Successful
Districts
Quality Districts
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60% Quality Units
2% unit growth
2% or balanced membership growth
Finance goals
On-time reregistration goals
1 unit commissioner for each 3 units
Use the standard district structure
Each key volunteer position filled
Hold annual conference with each IH
How Do You Contribute?
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On-time rechartering
Quality Units
 Membership growth
 Outdoor program
 Trained leaders
Communicate the need for finance drives
A quality program for kids!
Questions?
Comments!
BCS 104
Unit
Visitation
Instructor: Walt Robbins
Types of Visits
Unit meetings
 Unit committee meetings
 Individual get-together with unit leader
 Visit with other unit adults
 Effective phone contacts
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Before You Go
Friend of the unit
 How can you help the unit?
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Know what is best for unit success
Strengthen unit adult roles
Commissioner is in the background
Be helpful, not critical
Better to call first
 Know units, do homework, know what to expect
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During the Visit
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Watch and listen
Do not disrupt the meeting
Stay long enough
Don’t take notes
Chat with other adults on the sideline
Get to know the boys
Don’t distract the leader
Give a chance to mention problems
Take some freebies
After the Visit
After—fill out commissioner worksheet
 Determine priority needs
 How can you be most helpful?
 Discuss special needs with ADC / DC / DE
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Worksheet
Sample
Odds and Ends
Brainstorm ways to help
 Prioritize your units
 Keep a positive attitude
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Uniform Inspections
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Notify youth and adults in advance
Hand out uniform inspection sheets in advance
Prepare your team before the inspection
Inspect the inspectors first
1-2 inspectors per den / patrol
Give an honest grade, move on
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Compliment the boys and adults
Questions?
Comments!
BCS 105
Practical Solutions to
Common Unit Needs
Instructor: David Carleton
Commissioners Help Units:
Succeed
 Develop a better program
 Operate more effectively
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Unit Commissioner
Worksheets
Review worksheets—Commissioner Helps
 Nine / ten categories for each unit
 Unit profile
 “Some Ways to Help” suggestions
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Pack Worksheet (1)
Pack Worksheet (2)
Pack Worksheet (3)
Troop Worksheet (1)
Troop Worksheet (2)
Troop Worksheet (3)
Troop Worksheet (4)
Crew Worksheet (1)
Crew Worksheet (2)
Crew Worksheet (3)
Crew Worksheet (4)
Commissioner Response
Commissioner Helps for Packs, Troops and
Crews
 Standards based on experience and policy
 Practical action by a commissioner
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Find a Solution
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St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church has a new pastor who
is unfamiliar with Scouting
Neither Troop 41 nor Crew 41 appear to have any program
planned more than two weeks in advance.
Last week you attended a pack meeting and only three
parents were present.
One of your assigned troops has not added a new boy
member in ten months.
At their May Pack meeting, Cubmaster Bob Newguy tells
you he looks forward to seeing you in September.
The chairman of a unit committee calls and expresses
concern about the adequacy of the unit’s meeting place.
Class Project
“A Cub Scout pack consists of six members,
one den leader (untrained), one Cubmaster
(untrained), no committee members, and
parents who say they are willing to help but
never make a move to do so.”
 List every section of Helps which can help you
respond
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Questions?
Comments!
BCS 106
A Commissioner’s
Priorities
Instructor: Gene Letner
Know Your Units
Know the unit adults
 Be a friend of the unit
 Understand the environment
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Chartered organization
History and experience with Scouting
Income and education level
Inner-city neighborhood / suburban / rural
Visit often enough to be up-to-date
Prioritize Unit Needs
Keep a list of needs and problems
 Evaluate your time—it is limited
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Concentrate your energies on main problems
Focus on units that need help
Do unit service—not everything else
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Activities are not a commissioner’s first job
Say “no” when required
Being a commissioner is your primary job
Typical Priorities
Unit not meeting
 Unit with no leader
 New unit leader lacks training
 Unit with no active committee
 Unit with no new youth members
 Unit with weak leadership
 Conflict with chartered organization
 Unit charter renewal time
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Steps in Handling a Problem
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Identify the problem
Decide if it is a problem
Discuss the problem with the ADC
Is assistance needed from the district committee?
Decide whether you will handle it alone or with the ADC
Decide who is to handle the problem
Plan your actions
Plan your alternatives
Put the plan into action
Evaluate
The Quality Unit Award
A commissioner is successful if the unit is a
Quality Unit
 Review achievements at recharter time
 Make a commitment for next year
 Present streamers, emblems, etc.
 You make it a year-around project for them to
succeed
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National Quality Unit Award
Four mandatory items
 Trained leader
 Trained assistant leader
 Outdoor program
 Recharter on time
 Minimum two of six optional items
 100% Boy’s Life (or improvement)
 Advancement
 Service project
 Etc., appropriate to the type of unit
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Questions?
Comments!
BCS 107
Youth
Protection
Training
Instructor:
Introduction
Child abuse is one of “five unacceptables”
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Educate Scouting volunteers, parents and Scouts to
aid in the detection and prevention of child abuse
Establish leader-selection procedures to prevent
offenders from entering BSA leadership
Establish policies that create barriers to child abuse
within the program
Encourage Scouts to report improper behavior in
order to identify offenders quickly
Swift removal and reporting of alleged offenders
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Video
Commissioner Duties
Conduct annual adult YPT
 Help units use proper leader-selection
 Coach unit people if abuse occurs
 Promote use of youth videos
 Cub — It Happened to Me
 Scout — A Time to Tell
 Venturing — three vignettes
 Explain how to use youth handbook inserts
 Stay up to date on YPT changes
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Questions?
Comments!
BCS 108
Effective
Roundtables
I
Instructor:
Introduction
Essential elements for success
 The will to do
 The skill to do
 Who should attend roundtables
 When and where to hold roundtables
 Why people attend
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Roundtable Structure
Combined sessions
 Separate sessions
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Basic Ingredients of a
Roundtable Program
Preopening — exhibits, display, literature
 Opening
 Information and recognition
 Cub Scout program theme /
Boy Scout program feature
 Closing
 After the meeting
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Planning Cycle
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Annual program planning
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Annual planning conference
Monthly program themes
Use of theme managers
Quarterly planning meeting
 Monthly staff meetings
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Program themes
Personal resources
District and council events
Special dates
Roundtable Planning
Checklists
Resource Materials
Planning guides
 Program Helps
 Scouting magazine
 Boy’s Life magazine
 Scouting literature
 Other resources
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Closing
BCS 109 coming up!
 Effective Roundtables II
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Questions?
Comments!
BCS 109
Effective
Roundtables
II
Instructor:
Promotion and Publicity (1)
Regular date, time, and meeting place
 “Think second Thursday”
 Have a permanent meeting place
 Reminders
 Newsletters
 Follow-through
 Forming a roundtable pack or troop
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Promotion and Publicity (2)
Unit involvement
 Recognition
 Promotional plans
 Gimmicks and goodies
 Attendance awards
 Personal contact is best
 Phone squads
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Location
Adequate space
 Adequate parking
 Available year-round
 Areas for split sessions
 Attractive and interesting facility
 Easily accessible
 Easily accessible for people with disabilities
 Meets health and safety requirements
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Roundtable Morale Builders (1)
 Displays and exhibits
 Program theme ideas
 Council and district events
 Scouting literature
 Equipment
 Unit show and tell
 Scouting memorabilia
 Trading post
 Boy’s Life
 Other stuff
Roundtable Morale Builders (2)
Information center
 Announcements (keep them brief)
 Written notices and packets
 Scouting “supermarket”
 Physical property bank
 Songs
 Use of songs
 Songleading tips
 Songbooks
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Roundtable Morale Builders (3)
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Icebreakers, stunts, and skits
 Icebreakers
 Group Meeting Sparklers
 Cheers and applause
 Stunts and skits
 Developing skits
 Staging skits
 Resources
 Funny lost-and-found
Roundtable Morale Builders (4)
Games and contests
 Value of games
 Types of games
 Use of games
 Recognitions
 New people / new units
 Units and leaders
 Awards
 Fun stuff
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Roundtable Morale Builders (5)
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Ceremonies
 Purpose of ceremonies
 Essential ingredients
 Staging ceremonies
 Involvement and participation
 Types of ceremonies
 Ceremonial props
Review of Quality
Roundtable Ingredients
Action
 Material
 Handouts
 Skills and crafts
 New ideas
 Useful information
 Fun
 Food
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Questions?
Comments!
Graduation