Merit Badges — What’s New?

New merit badges are considered and introduced through the efforts of the BSA Innovation Team.

Chess Merit Badge Rollout

After many months in research, planning, and development, Chess is the most recent in a series
of new merit badges. The requirements were posted at www.scouting.org on September 7; pamphlets and badges were available in Scout shops and at www.scoutstuff.org on September 10. That same day, a launch event was held in St. Louis, Missouri, during the opening of the World Chess Hall of Fame.
The badge will be featured in mid-November during the National Scholastic K–12 Championship chess tournament in Dallas. Thanks go to the United States Chess Federation, developers of the badge.

Welding is planned for release in late 2011, followed by Kayaking sometime after that.

The Inverted Percentage:

Many council and district advancement committees spend most of their efforts on Boy Scout advancement and especially Eagle Scout issues. This is understandable; the processes are involved. 

When considering the percentage of Cub Scout membership, we find what some would call “the inverted percentage”: Cub Scouts make up 60 percent of that total traditional membership. Each year, about 5 or 6 percent of Boy Scouts and Varsity Scout—less than 2 percent of the total traditional membership of the BSA—earn Eagle Scout rank. The vast majority of an advancement committee’s time is spent meeting the needs of a very small percentage of our membership. Looking at these numbers, it seems it would make sense that 60 percent of advancement committee efforts go to building Cub Scouting advancement—or if not that level, then at least significantly more than is now spent. Doing this would contribute enormously to the retention of Cub Scouts, and since most Boy Scouts transition from Cub Scouting, we should see more Boy Scouts, and eventually more Eagle Scouts.

Advancement is a key indicator of a successful unit. Learn how to enhance the program for your Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, Venturers, and Sea Scouts by increasing your knowledge of the BSA’s procedures governing advancement.

There are a number of ways to address the inverted percentage and support Cub Scout advancement to the degree it warrants. Here are just a few ideas.

• Develop a clear understanding of “Unit Advancement Responsibilities,” section 3.0.0.3 in the Guide to Advancement. For Cub Scouting, the most important responsibility may be No. 2, “Educate parents, guardians, unit leadership, and committee members in ways to stimulate and encourage advancement.”
• Initiate communication with Cub Scout packs, and develop relationships with pack advancement coordinators. Some of them may be candidates for the council or district advancement committee, and could lead the charge in helping packs fulfill their responsibilities.
• Keep Eagle issues in perspective.

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What Do You Think
BSA Advancement Team would like your feedback. They are asking for feedback or opinion on a specific advancement topic each month.
Questions or surveys will target either specific groups, or all recipients in general. We encourage all those targeted—whether they received Advancement News directly from the national Advancement Team, or as a forward from someone else—to respond.
To respond, simply click on the link below. Results of each survey will appear in a subsequent issue of Advancement News.

Survey Questions for October 2011

1. Number of Council Advancement Committee Members
This question is for council advancement chairs only. We are looking for the number of active
members of the council advancement committee—including the chair—who are not district advancement chairs. It doesn’t matter if they are registered in the council or not, or if they attend meetings. If they are active on the committee, please count them.

2. Number of District Advancement Committee Members
This question is for district advancement chairs only. We are looking for the number of active
members of the district advancement committee, including the chair. It doesn’t matter if they are
registered in the council or not, or if they attend meetings. If they are active on the committee,
please count them.

Please click here to begin the survey: /eu.aspx?url=https%3a%2f%2fbsa2.allegiancetech.com%2fcgi-bin%2fqwebcorporate.dll%3fidx%3d75S68T