Minsi Trails Council Monthly Unit Visits Glenn Higbie Council Commissioner Minsi Trails Council Lehigh Valley, PA

BACKGROUND Long ago and far away -The Commissioner primarily only helped with the Annual Charter -Monthly visits were not the norm

Along came – EVERY UNIT – EVERY MONTH Took a while to catch on and be supported by all district, assistant district, and unit commissioners.

Why Every Unit – Every Month? -Keeps Units operating well -Maintain regular contact with leaders -Provide resources to the leaders -Note areas for improvement and help unit to improve Make every unit a success!

So, if we’re doing the job properly, how do we measure success? QUALITY UNIT AWARD

Four Mandatory Items: -Trained Top Unit Leader -Trained Assistant Unit Leader -Outdoor Program -Recharter On-Time Plus Two Optional Items

Every youth will: have a trained leader enjoy a summer camping experience advance one rank per year Anticipated Result = Increased Retention COUNCIL GOALS

Council using elements of Total Quality Management -Monthly Quality Reports to Board on critical strategic issues -Measurement standards for each issue -Progress Reports are color coded HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS

Commissioner Staff needed something similar CC and Director of Field Service formulated Quality Program Report Shared with ACCs and DCs and revised

Three areas of focus: -Training -Camping -Advancement

TRAINING Top Unit Leader identified and trained (required for rechartering) Assistant Leader identified and trained Percent of Direct Contact Leaders trained Committee Chair trained (required for rechartering)

CAMPING Cub Scouts No. of youth attending Day Camp No. of youth attending Long-Term Camp

CAMPING Boy Scouts No. of youth attending Long-Term Camp in Council plus No. of youth attending High Adventure or Out of Council Camps

ADVANCEMENT Cub Scouts -No. of youth advancing a rank in year Boy Scouts & Venture Scouts -No. of youth advancing a rank in year (merit badges not counted)

OTHER ELEMENTS ReChartered on time last year 100% Boy’s Life Subscriptions Annual FOS contributions

OTHER ELEMENTS Quality Unit the previous year Progress toward achieving Quality Unit Status in current year

HEALTH CHECK District Key 3 Evaluation of Unit Health

Annual Percentage Retention of Youth in Unit RETENTION

Updated Bi-Monthly/Quarterly Tool for Council Commissioner to see each unit in the Council Tool for District Commissioner to report on specific unit issues Tool for ADC and Unit Commissioners to monitor and report their unit’s success TOOLS

Most information is available on ScoutNet (available to professionals) Some information requires internal recording and reporting RESOURCES

REVIEW FORM

Every Unit – Every Month can be successful if Unit Commissioners follow their Plan But one of the most important keys in the Plan is measuring the success of those visits and refocusing when needed CONCLUSION

QUESTIONS?