THE COMMISSIONERS’ INTERNET RESOURCES WORKSHOP
   
Version 2.0 - February 1996
Prepared by:  Michael F. Bowman

Part 1:  	LET’S STRENGTHEN OUR ABILITY TO SERVE UNITS AS COMMISSIONERS -- DELIVERING THE PROMISE

Section 5:  What Resources Are Available to Help You:
Using Information Technology to
Deliver the Promise

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 	PART 1 - LET’S STRENGTHEN OUR ABILITY TO SERVE UNITS AS
				COMMISSIONERS -- DELIVERING THE PROMISE
		5.	What Resources Are Available to Help You -- Using 
			Information Technology to Deliver the Promise
			
			Official BSA Literature
	
			Communications

			Resources you can use to help units

			Training to improve commissioner service to units

			Records & Data

			Future Possibilities
Return to Commissioners' Internet Resources Workshop Introduction page.

THE COMMISSIONER’S INTERNET RESOURCES 
WORKSHOP PART 1

Section 5 -- 	What Resources Are Available to Help You -- Using Information 
	Technology to Deliver the Promise

           
Official BSA Literature & Video Tapes

	Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner Training, No. 34256
	Boy Scout Roundtable Planning Guide, No. 7263A
	College of Commissioner Science, No. 34522
	Commissioner Administration of Unit Service, No. 34120 (1994) (For DCs and 
	ADCs - This is an absolute must for DCs and ADCs)
	Commissioner Basic Training Manual, No. 33614
	Commissioner Conference, No. 33616
	Commissioner Fieldbook for Unit Service, No. 37123 (For UCs)
	Commissioner Helps for Packs, Troops and Posts, No. 33618
	Commissioner Job Description Cards, No. 34265
	Continuing Education for Commissioners, No. 33615 (1995) (Supercedes College of 
	Commissioner Science and Commissioner Conference)
	Cub Scout Roundtable Planning Guide, No. 34249
	Cub Scout Roundtable Staff Guide, No. 33013
	Highlights for District Commissioners... An Overview, No. 37123 (For DCs and 
	ADCs)
	Hightlights of District Operations:  Helping Units Succeed and Recruiting District   
	Volunteers, AV-06V002 (Video Tape)
	Highlights of District Volunteer Recruiting, No. 37130
	Scouting’s Library of Literature, No. 33000
	Selecting District People, No. 34514
	Self-Evaluation for Unit Commissioners and Exploring Service Team Members, No. 
	34424
	The Commissioner (Newletter distributed quarterly to Council Commissioners and 
	Scout Executives), No. 14-975
	The Unit Commissioner’s Orientation:  Helping Units Succeed, AV-04V001 (Video 
	Tape)
	Unit Commissioner Program Notebooke, No. 26-006
	Unit Commissioner Work Sheet (Pack), No. 34125
	Unit Commissioner Work Sheet (Post), No. 33619
	Unit Commissioner Work Sheet (Troop), No. 34126

	
Communications

Without good communications the extraordinary and dedicated efforts of each individual can get lost in isolation.  Information not shared is simply information lost.  Worse, a failure of communication can deny program opportunities to the very Scouts we seek to serve.  As a DC or ADC what forms of communication should be exploiting to do our utmost to see that information flows quickly and feely from the local Council through the District to the units serviced?  Consider the following array:

	E-mail - for leaving a message to be picked up at the convenience of the recipient

	E-mail Discussion Groups - Do volunteers in the local area have an e-mail net to share 
	and exchange information on when events are going to occur, how-to wisdom, etc.?

	Faxes - passing hard copy information quickly - do you know the fax numbers for
	the DC, each UC, and the Council offices?

	Formal letters - thank yous, appointments, recognition, confirmations, etc.

	Internet Web Site - have volunteers set up a web site where announcements, dates and
	local information can be posted and found by volunteers?

	Meeting agendas - keeping things on track

	Meetings - face-to-face discussion for planning, problem resolution, etc.

	Telephone - do you have a listing of all key phone numbers within the Commissioner 
	Service and the units being served?

	Voice-mail - automated announcements and incoming recordings

Note:  Please be aware that BSA does not endorse the Internet and/or e-mail as official avenues for the distribution of Scouting information, preferring information to be disseminated via local Councils through Districts.  Any information passed through these avenues should be regarded as unofficial and users should be aware that contributors are not speaking on behalf of or for BSA.

           
Resources You Can Use to Help Units

Where can you find resources to help your units?

	The Official 1996 Boy Scout Catalog
	Literature available at your local Council Scout Service Center
	Scouting Magazine
	Your local Council’s newsletter
	Program Helps 
	Boys Life Magazine
	BSA Publications and Literature
	Local Council publications and handouts
	Roundtable meetings
	Training events
	Community leaders and organizations
	Community libraries - lots of good reading on team building and leadership 
	E-mail Bulletin Boards
	E-mail Discussion Groups
	Internet FTP Sites
	Internet World Wide Web Sites - planning a trip to Philmont?  Topo maps are 
	available for downloading at http://www.hiwaay.net/usscouts/index under Philmont
	Online Service Scouting Forums
	Other Scouters in your local area

           
Training to Improve Commissioner Service to Units

What training is available to help a Commissioner to improve his/her ability to deliver service to a unit?

Basic Cub Scout Leader Training  - This can help you understand your leaders much better.  You will know what they have learned from training and where you can help.

Scoutmastership Fundamentals Training - This can help you understand your leaders much better.  You will know what they have learned from training and where you can help.

Basic Commissioner Training - This is essential.  Make sure you take this course as soon as possible.  If you have completed the course, but it was several years ago, please consider taking it again as a refresher to build on your existing knowledge.

University of Scouting, College of Commissioner Science - The College of Commissioner Science is simply an advanced training program where your local Council offers a rich variety of course designed to help you further develop leadership, communicatons, management, and Commissioner skills in order to improve your ability to serve youth.   This program is designed to be a three part sequence.  In the first year attendees complete a basic program with some elective seminars to expand on basic training and capitalize on experience.  The second year program goes beyond this with additional course work  leading to a Masters.   Finally in the third year program, you will learn how to take all of your training and experience and apply it to a long-term project resulting in a written dissertation on a subject of interest to you.  The final product often will end up being a document that other Scouters can use to improve their ability to deliver the program to Scouts at the unit level.  I highly recommend these courses.

Wood Badge:  Either Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge or Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge offer Commissioners a tremendous opportunity to experience an intensive training experience unlike any other in Scouting.   And the Wood Badge experience is more than just training in a Scouting program. It is also a human relations experience that will help participants return to the District as much more effective trainers/leaders.  Wood Badge is highly recommended for Commissioners. 

           
Records & Data

Almost every unit struggles with recordkeeping.  So does the average Commissioner staff.   In this age of expanding information technology, several types of software have been and are being developed to allow Scouters to use their home computers to automate recordkeeping and data storage.  I encourage you to investigate the software packages offered in Scouting magazine.  However, before you purchase one, you may wish to experiment with the shareware version to see whether it suits your needs or the needs of a unit you are serving.  Almost all of the Scouting related software packages can be downloaded from Compuserve.  

Click here for additional information on shareware available on Compuserve.

If sufficient interest exists, I will try to expand the discussion of Scouting related software in future versions of this seminar.

           
Future Possibilities

The national office of BSA is looking at ways to improve the delivery of service to units by developing software to automate some services.  This is a relatively new development and one that may take awhile to grow to fruition.  In the meantime I counsel patience.  If/when BSA develops new systems using information technologies, we will add a discussion of them to this Web page after they have been tested and made public.

Likewise, as information technologies develop we may add additional information concerning cable TV interconnects to the Internet and other information resources, information on video-teleconferencing possibilities, etc.

The Commissioners' Information Resources Workshop by Michael F. Bowman, is presented by R. Gary Hendra -- The MacScouter -- WDL, Pack 92, Milpitas, California