Elective 311 Commissioner Service Champions of the Units

K EYS TO G REAT C OMMISSIONER S ERVICE  Having enough commissioners  Equip them for service  Service focused on Unit Retention 2

C OMMISSIONERS  Have a long history  Preceded professional Scouting  Were chosen for personal qualities and skills  Considered the local authority for Scouting  Were highly respected  That’s not always the case today!  And that makes it hard to recruit commissioners 3

H OW C AN W E C HANGE T HAT N OTION ?  Stand tall as an example  Recruit highly respected people  Make commissioners identifiable  Make them visible  Recognize them in front of their constituents  Present them as an authority in Scouting 4

W HERE TO F IND T HEM  Within units  Individuals with Scouting ties  Organizations or jobs that appeal to mentors 5

D O Y OUR H OMEWORK ! Things to think about: o Why would they want to do this? o What will they get out of it? o What do they like best about Scouting? o What do they want their legacy to be? o Why do you want this person to do this? o Are there any advantages to their job/life outside of Scouting? o Make a note of how long you want them to serve. 6

H OW T O A SK  When you ask them to consider being a commissioner  Do it in person  Tell them why you chose them  Focus on them--their skills, what they will get out of it, why they are right for the job, things you discovered in the homework phase  Be honest about the requirements/time commitments of the job  Promise to “go along” during the decision- making phase 7

E QUIP T HEM FOR S ERVICE  Good Commissioner/Unit Match  Skills of UC vs Needs of Unit  Knowledge of Program  Tenure of Unit  Proper Training 8

E QUIP T HEM F OR S ERVICE Good Commissioner/Unit Match = Unit Retention 9

B UT...  Did you know that only 1 out of 3 units established make it to the third re-charter?  What can we do about that? 10

R E - THINK “N EW U NIT ”  Traditionally a new unit is characterized as:  Chartered  Not reached its first re-charter Additionally they can often be described as novice at the Scouting game A unit that has been dropped and restarted can also be described as “new” 11

W HAT IF....  We define the term “new unit” to mean any unit with less than 36 months tenure  We assign specialized Unit Commissioners to those Unit (N-UC)  We give those units extra attention 12

G IVE N EW U NITS E XTRA A TTENTION OK... But for how long? That’s not clear-- it’s different for each unit But if given extra attention for 2 re-charter cycles or up to 36 months, they’ll have a better chance of success So how do we accomplish this? 13

T O B E S UCCESSFUL  District Committee, the District Executive and the Commissioner Staff work together to:  Establish units positioned to succeed  Nurture new units for 36 months  Support all units of the district Let’s consider the process from the beginning... 14

B EST A PPROACH  “No Unit Before Its Time”  Use specialized “New-Unit” Unit Commissioners (N-UC)  New Unit Organizer and N-UC together  Enroll unit in current Quality program  Additional monitoring  District committee should develop a follow-up plan to support for 36 months 15

N O U NIT B EFORE I TS T IME  Suggestion: hold initial charter until :  Adequate adult leadership (suggest 5)  Adequate youth (suggest two den/patrols of five each or a crew of ten)  Specialized New-Unit Commissioner involved  New Unit Process is complete  Consider timing of charter 16

S PECIALIZED N EW -U NIT U NIT C OMMISSIONERS  Special training and reduced unit load  36-month commitment  Visit more than once a month  Meet monthly as an advisor with key Unit Leaders (Chartered Organization Representative, Unit Leader, Committee Chair)  Use New-Unit Service Plan plus Annual Service Plan 17

T RACKING N EW U NITS  To assist monitoring, the following ideas are currently under review:  UVTS could have a date of original charter field  On ScoutNet the “N” designation could last for 36 months 18

O THER O PTIONS  Many councils use a color code to describe Unit Health  Current color code is:  Green for strong units  Yellow for weak and unorganized units  Red for dysfunctional unit  Why not add orange for new units  Use orange meaning “needs constant attention”  Use orange regardless of strength for up to 36 months to focus attention on new units 19

D ISTRICT F OLLOW -U P  New-Unit Status Report at each Key 3  District Committee members assist with New-Unit support  District Committee participates in supplemental New-Unit Leader training (see next slide)  District Committee creates recognition plan to celebrate New Unit success 20

N EW -U NIT L EADER S UPPLEMENTAL T RAINING  Sessions should be topic-based  Delivered primarily at District level  Delivered by members of District Committee and Commissioner Staff  Topics delivered individually (30 minute sections)  Presented on a rotating basis with unit program cycle in mind  Or all sections could be delivered at a District/Council training event 21

R ECOGNITION P LAN C OULD I NCLUDE  Founder’s Bar given at charter filing  W. D. Boyce New Unit Organizer Award given at first re-charter  At 36 months recognize:  Unit leaders and members  New Unit Organizer and N-UC  District Key 3  District recognition for zero dropped units 22

T HOUGHTS ?  Already doing something like this?  NCAC has been working this  Interested in trying?  Talk to your Key 3  Get back to us 23

B UT IN THE END... It’s not really about the units we have... It’s about the youth they impact! 24

I T ’ S ABOUT THIS ONE 25

A ND THIS ONE... 26

A ND ALL THE “ ONES ” IN OUR CARE. 27

T HANK Y OU ! 28