Advancements
In Cub Scouts, the parents and adult leaders play a very active role in helping the Scouts progress through their advancements. This is largely due to the Scout’s age while in Cub Scouts. While there are plenty of things that Scouts can do on their own, parent/leader involvement is critical.
In Scouts BSA, parents and adult leaders are still there to help and encourage the Scouts. However, it is the Scouts themselves who are ultimately responsible for managing their advancements through the ranks and for completing their merit badges.
The BSA’s Guide To Advancements covers the entire advancement process, including rank advancements, merit badges, and other awards. While this is the ultimate resource, it is quite lengthy. The sections below provide a quick review of the process with an emphasis on the Scout’s responsibility for his advancements. For additional information, you can also check out the Rank Advancements and Merit Badges pages, which cover these topics by focusing on the differences between advancements in Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA. For other questions, check with an adult leader or consult the Guide to Advancements.
In each of the sections below, the focus is on what the SCOUT should be doing to ensure that he is progressing through his advancements. The adult leaders are there to help and encourage the Scouts to keep progressing. Parents are encourage to do the same, but they should always encourage the Scouts to take a more active role in their advancements.
When To Work On Advancements
As described in our Rank Advancements page, Scouts progress through the ranks at their own pace. Unlike Cub Scouts, the Scouts BSA ranks are not tied to the Scout’s age. They need to be completed in order. The pace at which they are completed is ultimate up to the Scout. The only hard requirement…achieve your goal before you turn 18!
Personal Time
All Scouts are encouraged to review the rank requirements and to work on them on their own time whenever possible. It’s true that some requirements need to be completed at troop events or with the troop as a group. However, many of the requirements can be completed outside of troop events on the Scout’s own time.
This is one of the times when parents have the opportunity to help encourage the Scouts to keep progressing through their advancements. The adult leaders will do the same at troop events.
The word “encourage” is key. The Scout should still be the one doing the work and tracking his progress. The parents and leaders are simply their to help and encourage him.
Troop Meetings
During our weekly troop meetings, our troop often uses a portion of the meeting to focus on the rank requirements for the first 4 ranks. This isn’t meant to remove the need for the Scout to work on his advancements on his own. It’s simply our way of encouraging the Scouts to continue their rank advancement progress. Additionally, for those who have already completed their first 4 ranks, it serves as a refresher for what they may have learn or reviewed several years ago.
Scouts should not solely rely on this for progressing through their rank requirements. That said, they should definitely utilize this opportunity by attending troop meetings and participating in our rank advancement break-out sessions.
Troop Events
Another opportunity for completing rank requirements is at troop events, such as weekend campouts. Each event typically has a given “theme”, and the PLC often has various activities planned that tie back to specific rank requirements. This is also an opportunity to complete requirements that specifically mention doing things “with the troop”, such as preparing meals and cleaning up after meals.
Even when an event doesn’t focus on advancements, there are usually plenty of opportunities for the Scouts to work with an adult leader or another Scout at the event on their own rank requirements.
The best way for a Scout to make the most of these opportunities is to:
- Attend troop campouts and other events
- Know what requirements he still needs to complete
Tracking Advancements
As mentioned above, the Scouts are encouraged to take an active role in the tracking and management of their own advancements.
The key to continued progress through the advancement process is knowing what still needs to be completed. If they know what needs to be completed, the Scouts is more likely to make it happen. Scouts are encouraged to be aware of their incomplete rank requirements as well as merit badges that need to be completed. That way, if an opportunity comes up that will allow them to complete a requirements, they will be ready.
The easiest way for a Scout to remember their current advancement progress and needs is for the Scout to play an active role in the tracking of those advancements. Our troop, like ever other troop, uses Scoutbook to track completed rank and merit badge requirements. Parents have the option to give the Scout direct access to his own Scoutbook information. This can be done through the parent’s “profile” section. Once this is done, the Scout will have his own login and will be able to access his own information whenever he wants.
One important point to note is that the parent/guardian is the only one that can give the Scout access to his Scoutbook account. The adult leaders do not have the the ability to do this. While we definitely encourage it, the decision on whether or not to let the Scout create his own login account is up to the Scout’s parents/guardians.
Rank Advancements
Various people in the troop can record rank advancements for a Scout.
Parents can use their Scoutbook account to mark individual rank requirements as completed. This is the approach that will most often be used when a Scout complete rank requirements at home outside of troop events. Alternatively, the Scout can discuss completed rank requirements with an adult leader at a troop meeting or event. Please be aware that, for requirements marked as completed by the parent, the Scout may still need to discuss the requirement with someone in the troop to show that the requirements was actually completed and understood by the Scout. Once that is done, the requirements will be marked as “approved”.
Another way to complete rank requirements is with the help of someone in the troop. While this could be an adult leader, many times it is another Scout that approves the completion of requirements. Our older Scouts (especially those on the PLC) have the ability to approve rank requirements. This is often done during troop meetings and at troop events such as campouts. Scouts are often more eager to learn from their fellow Scouts (as opposed to an adult leader). As a result, we encourage our older Scouts to help the younger Scouts through their rank requirements. This is especially true for the requirements in the first 4 ranks.
As mentioned above, the PLC also designates a portion of each troop meeting for working on rank requirements. In these situations, an adult leader will update Scoutbook to reflect the requirements that were completed at the meeting.
Scoutmaster Conferences and Board Of Reviews
One of the last requirements for all ranks is a Scoutmaster Conference. This is a discussion/meeting with the Scoutmaster that occurs once all requirements have been met.
Another requirement for all ranks (except for the Scout Rank) is a Board of Review. This is a meeting between the Scout and three or more adult leaders (not to include the Scoutmaster or one of the Scout’s parents). During this meeting, the “board” will review the completed requirements to ensure that the Scout has learned something from the experience.
For each of these requirements (Scoutmaster Conference and Board Of Review), the Scout (not the parent) should coordinate with the adult leaders when he is ready for these events.
Merit Badges
The completion of merit badge requirements is slightly different compared to rank requirements.
Merit badge requirements can only be marked as completed by a merit badge counselor. For some merit badges, Scouts can work ahead on some of the requirements, but those should not be marked as completed in Scoutbook until they have been discussed with the counselor.
When a Scout completes a merit badge, they will either receive a physical “blue card” showing what was done, or they will be given information that can be used to look up the “electronic blue card”. In either case, this information should be given to an adult leader so that Scoutbook can be updated.
Scoutbook also includes a way to invite and associate a merit badge counselor with the Scout’s Scoutbook account so that the counselor can directly mark individual requirements as completed. In situations when the Scout will be working with a counselor on his own, he should let one of the leaders know so that the counselor can be given access to the Scout’s merit badge advancement records.