Thank you all for your warm welcome and support as I attempt to fulfill the duties of Council Commissioner – we all know Stan Stanley and realize that he can never be replaced, however I will do my best to continue the excellent work he started and make Commissioner Service in Sam Houston Council the model that other councils strive for.
If you think back to your 21st Century Wood Badge training – one of the first things taught was the value of Vision, Mission, and Objectives. The first order of business for your Council Commissioner Team in 2013 was to determine what the Vision, Mission, Values and Objectives of the team. From that exercise we developed the following:
Every Unit in our service area receives regular and effective Commissioner Service Mission To enable, guide, and support unit leaders to deliver the Scouting program
Values
Demonstrate the Scout Oath and Law in all that we do
Objectives
• Strong Districts – an engaged District Commissioner Team with effective monthly meetings and information sharing that conduct and report unit visits that truly make a difference.
• Strong Training – providing training to the Commissioners to equip them to be the best they can be
• Strong Roundtables – providing the tools, training, and support enabling each District to deliver Roundtables that are a valuable asset to the Unit Leaders
• Strong Tools – District Service plans, UVTS Reporting, Unit Validation tools that decrease the effort required while providing actionable information to all stakeholders
To start on the journey toward our Vision, we have three major initiatives underway.
1. A tool for each Unit Commissioner to utilize to create a Unit Service Plan for each unit in Sam Houston Area Council. This plan was introduced at the March Council Coordinated meeting and received a positive response from the District Commissioners. By utilizing the tool and a unit’s 2012 JTE results, the Unit Commissioner and Unit Leaders can develop actionable plan to improve a units performance in increase the quality of the program being delivered to the youth. An online tool is being completed that will allow the Unit Commissioner to quickly and easily enter the information from the form and allow the District Commissioner a view into each unit to assist in determining where resources should be focused. The target for completing this work is the May 30 Council Coordinated Meeting.
2. Our Cub Scout and Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioners are developing plans for a Roundtable Commissioners Meeting on June 1 to create plans for roundtables to ease the load on each district while increasing the impact (i.e. touching more people) with various delivery mechanisms, leveraging the vast array of communication tools.
3. Our Division Commissioners will be working with each District in our council to develop District Service Plans – again based on the 2012 JTE scores to help each district be a stronger “unit” and improving the quality of the program delivered to youth in that district.
Thank you all for the tremendous service you provide to our units – the theme for Commissioner Service is “Making a Difference”. I am proud to be able to work with you to make a difference in the lives of the youth.
Brian
