Unit Rechartering

1. Unit Rechartering David Mitchko Mercer Area District Commissioner

2. The BSA is unique in that it does not own or operate Scouting units. It grants charters to community organizations that adopt the program and operate units. It’s like a franchise, and commissioners help renew the annual franchise agreement, which is between the BSA and the CO. The ownership belongs to other community organization or groups such aschurches, Schools/PTA’s/Home School Organizations, Service Clubs and Businesses and labor unions Rechartering is the only means the BSA has of keeping track of who is no longer a registered member - youth or adult. Why Recharter?

3. When Should Units Recharter? • Before the charter date, which is the date of expiration • All unit charters expire on December 31st, the end of the calendar year • To avoid the busy holiday period towards the end of the year, units should look submit their rechartering paperwork by December 4th,, at the Charterama • Units late in rechartering run the risk of losing insurance coverage and having their charters lapse. • If a unit’s Charter lapses, none of it’s paperwork will be processed by Council Office.

4. Assign someone to be responsible for rechartering your unit (Rechartering Chair). This should be a reliable committee member or even a parent. This person should be good with computers, because part of the process is done online. Give your unit leader a break and assign someone else to do this job! It would be a good idea for this person to get familiar with the online rechartering process by taking the tutorial on our Council’s web site. If nobody is given the job to do something, then nobody does it! How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 1

5. Receive your Charter Packet and review the instructions in it. You can’t recharter without this packet. It contains the user name and password, which your Rechartering Chair should use to access the rechartering web site. It will have other forms in it that your unit should fill out and submit to Council. It will also have hard copies of the Charter Agreement, but this can be printed on-line. Most of your questions about rechartering are answered by the instructions in this packet . How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 2

6. Find out who is staying in your unit and who to drop (Membership Inventory) Call, email or ask each scout’s family if they wish to continue with scouting. Now is a good time to ask the parents of the boy who you haven’t seen in a while. Perhaps they have had a prolonged illness or got involved with sports for that period? Some units collect their yearly dues at rechartering time. That way, the dues payment confirms that they are staying with the program. Now would also be a good time to check which adults need the mandatory Youth Protection Training. This training is available online via the MyScouting web site. If Council Office does not have proof that an adult leader has completed this training within the last two years, you will need to attach the printed training certificate for that person to the rechartering paperwork. All registered adults must be Youth Protection trained or they will not be allowed to recharter with your unit. How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 3

7. Meet with your Chartering Organization Head (COH) This is the person who will sign your rechartering paperwork, once you have completed the online process and printed it out. Now would be a good time to thank your Chartering Organization for all that they do for your unit. Talk about what your unit accomplished last year and the plans for the coming year. Let your COH know that you will need to meet some time in the future to get the signatures for the Charter Renewal Application and Charter Agreement. Technically, the Charter Agreement is between the COH and the BSA. Shouldn’t they be aware of what is going on with the unit that they have agreed to sponsor? How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 4

8. The Rechartering Chair completes the online portion of the process Using the updated unit roster, verified by the membership inventory, the Rechartering Chair logs onto the Council Internet Rechartering website and goes through the process. Drop the people who are no longer members of your unit. Any members added online must have an application for that person attached to the rechartering paperwork. This must be done even if you have already submitted an application for them beforehand - simply make a copy of your copy of their application and attach that to the paperwork. When in doubt - attach a copy! The same goes for a boy scout in your unit who aged out and is switched online to an adult leader - an Adult Application must be submitted for that person. If a boy dropped out last year and has since rejoined, an Youth Application must be attached, if you add this scout to the online roster. You can go back and make any needed changes to the online roster, as long as you haven’t clicked on the “SUBMIT” button. You must click on the “SUBMIT” button in order to complete the online process. Once you do this, you cannot make any more changes to your online roster. Any paperwork printed out before clicking “SUBMIT” is preliminary and must not be used. Completing the online process does not mean your unit has been rechartered! You must print out paper copies, get them signed and submit all the rechartering paperwork to Council Office. How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 5

9. Print out your Charter Renewal Application and Charter Agreement and get them signed After you have completed the online process and have clicked on the “SUBMIT” button, print out the Charter Renewal Application and the Charter Agreement. The Unit Leader signs the Charter Renewal Application for “Unit Leader Certification”. Chartering Organization Head signs the Charter Renewal Application for “Executive Officer Certification” and the Charter Agreement “For the Chartered Organization”. Be aware that the rechartering fee as printed on your Renewal Application is missing the Council per-person insurance charge. If you have done Step 4 above, getting the signatures from you COH should be easy. How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 6

10. Check your rechartering paperwork before handing it in Do you have all the needed signatures? Have you attached originals or copies of applications for people added to the online roster? Are these applications completely filled out and do they have all the required signatures? For adult applications: is the Disclosure/Authorization form (page 4 of the application) filled out and signed? Have you attached a Youth Protection Training Certificate for each registered adult (as needed) as proof that their training is current? How are you going to pay the rechartering fee to Council Office? If by unit check, do not fill in the amount yet - wait to get the final number when you are at Council Office - there is an additional Council insurance charge that needs to be added to your total rechartering fee. How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 7

11. Deliver the rechartering paperwork to your District Executive (DE) at Council Office* If you have done all the other steps, this should be an easy task. Your DE will check the paperwork, give you the final number for the rechartering fee and then sign the paperwork as needed. If your paperwork is ready before December 4th, then plan on handing it in at the Charterama. (* If your paperwork is not completed by December 4th) Congratulations! Your unit is now officially rechartered for the new year. How to Recharter Your Unit – Step 8

12. The timeline suggests when certain steps should be accomplished. It also list who provides which signatures for the rechartering paperwork The goal of this Timeline is to get everything done by December 4th, so the rechartering paperwork can be handed in at the Charterama. Please visit the District’s Unit Help web page to download a copy of this timeline. Rechartering Timeline

13. The Unit Leaders are not aware of the process, that their charter expires and when it expires Chartering package is not complete Missing signatures Missing check Missing adult applications and Youth Protection Training Certificates Starting the process too late It takes time to contact all the unit members and get their commitment for renewal, which may be in the form of a check The renewal processor needs time to get trained if needed and to input the data online once all the commitments have been made It may take some time to get the signatures from the Executive Officer of the Chartering Organization Pitfalls in the Process

14. Unit Leaders not aware that membership applications are needed for new members on the Charter Applications must be completely filled out and signed Needed for any youth or adult who is not currently on the charter, but was added during the online process Priority should be given to youth applications and adults who need to be on the roster in order for the unit to recharter No one in the unit is assigned the job of processing the charter, or this person is not trained and does not know how to do it. The unavailability of key people in the process - someone going out of town for a month, for example Pitfalls in the Process

15. Be sure that you are aware of the process and how long it could take Establish a time line similar to that of the official process Be aware of the pitfalls in the process Assign someone as the renewal processer and that this person is trained and properly motivated Focus only on the paperwork needed to recharter and not on anything else that may have come with the packet Things You Can Do As a Leader

16. Start working now to ensure on-time renewal of your charter. Be one step ahead. Seek advice and counsel from your Unit Commissioner about the process, especially if you are unfamiliar with it. Assign someone to do your rechartering online. Meet with your Unit Commissioner during the key steps Keep on top of the process – know what should be happening and when. Plan on handing in your rechartering paperwork at the December 4th Charterama. In Conclusion