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Internet AdvancementWelcome to Internet Advancement Overview!

We will cover what you need to know to get you started with using this new system, how it can benefit your unit, and what paperwork you need to submit to the Council.

Roll out to all the units in the council will be Oct 1, 2012

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Please Hold Questions Until The End

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What is Internet Advancement?

Internet Advancement enables units to process ranks and awards for youth members in Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout Troops, Varsity Teams, Venturing Crews, Ships and Posts

Use Internet Advancement for the following:Add ranks, merit badges and awards.

Update information on existing

advancements (except the Eagle Scout rank).

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Easy To Use !• A simple and intuitive interface• Works from any Internet-connected

PC with Internet Explorer 5.5 (or above) (only)

• Minimum 56KB Dial-up Modem• Works best with Cable Modem or

DSL• Will be kept current by the BSA with

the latest rank, merit badge, and award options

• Available whenever you want to use it (24/7/365)

You can upload your advancement records from the following approved Unit Management Software directly to Internet Advancement:

Packmaster, Troopmaster,

Rank N’ File, Scoutmate, or ScoutSoft.

Internet Advancement will prompt you to either upload your file or enter advancement records directly.

Benefits to Scouting Units

• You enter your own advancement records, when you want to.

• You print a convenient advancement report, to turn in when you purchase the awards

• You also print a “shopping list.”• You have a current unit roster

(youth and adult members) and a unit history.

• You can track your adult leaders youth protection training status

Units will:• Have one unit advancement processor

registered to use Internet Advancement.• Have access with a Unit ID that does not

change annually (also works for Good Turn for America ) http://www.goodturnforamerica.org

• Enter ranks and awards appropriate to their unit type.

• Submit signed advancement reports and other award applications to the Council.

Benefits for the Council

• Youth member records are immediately updated in Scoutnet

• Data entry workload is reduced• No more deciphering handwritten

forms• Data is validated against current

advancement rules • Advancement statistics are current• Units become aware of membership

issues immediately and regularly

Advancement Reports

• Units set their own schedule for submitting advancement reports.

• The council recommends submitting the report once per month, before the month end.

• The unit must submit one final report each December.

Three Step Process For Units

• Load the Unit Roster.• Update Youth Member Records.• Submit to the Council – Unit

Advancement Processor sends advancement data to ScoutNet (BSA National Data Base) and submits the signed Advancement Report to the Council to purchase advancements / awards

Possible Issues Entering Data

1. You can not find a Scout in the data base

(a) Look for the Scout under a different name (ie) Tommy may be Thomas, Billy may be William.

We find this a lot right now.

(1) Change the Scouts name in your units records to match the name in Scoutnet to prevent possible future problems

2. The Scout does not appear under a different name as mentioned above, he is not in the data base at all.

(a) We expect this to be common as we currently have this issue quite often due to membership applications not being turned in and / or lost due to transfers between units and crossovers.

(1) To correct this • The unit should verify that it did turn in

the membership or transfer application along with the required fees. We often find that the paperwork is in the committee chairman’s or unit leaders files yet to be turned in.

• Or in the case of crossovers we find that the pack assumes the Troop is handling the paperwork and the Troop thinks the Pack is handling the paperwork and neither one does so the Scout does not get transferred into the correct unit in Scoutnet. The unit the Scout is transferring into should always process the paperwork to ensure his membership is transferred into their unit.

• After the unit has verified that the membership application was turned in they should contact their District Executive to assist in trying to locate the missing membership application. If the application can not be located a new application, with the appropriate fees, must be submitted to get the Scout registered.

Other Reasons A Scout May Not Be On Your Unit Roster

(A)The Scout is a “new” Scout and his membership has not yet been entered into Scoutnet.

(1) For “new” Scouts (those that recently joined thru a roundup etc) You can expect it to take up to 8 weeks for a new Scout to get entered into Scoutnet and show up on your Internet Advancement roster. This is common due to the number of new Scouts recruited at roundups and the shear volume of Scouts to enter.

(A)You will need to add the Scouts name and advancements to the advancement report you print from Internet Advancement so you can purchase the awards at the service center(s). Once he shows up on your Internet Advancement roster in Scoutnet you will need to “catch” his records up.

(B) If 8 weeks has passed and the Scout is still not on your roster in Scoutnet you will need to follow up with your DE to ensure his application has not become lost.

(2) Crossovers and membership transfers between units should appear on your unit roster in Internet Advancement within 4 weeks of the paperwork being turned in to one of the service centers. If they do not, again, please contact your DE to help follow up. Add the Scouts name and advancements to the report you print from Internet Advancement so you can purchase his badges and then catch his record up once he appears in Scoutnet.

NOTE TO PREVIOUS SLIDES:

It is always best to provide a copy of the units copy of the membership application to your District Executive to assist in trying to locate missing membership applications.

If the existing application can not be located then a new application, with appropriate fees, must be submitted to get the Scout registered

Also it should be noted – Scouts that crossover or transfer between units will also show up on his “old” units roster in Internet Advancement until recharter at which time they will be dropped from their old unit.

What should units do now?

1. Unit appoints the unit advancement processor.

The unit leader will then: (as of Oct 1st 2012)

2. Obtain the unit ID and link to Internet

Advancement from the council

( email Ed Foster @ efoster5@windstream.net)

3. Review instructions, Help, and FAQ.

4. Enter Internet Advancement.

5. Register as a new user.

6. Review your current Unit Advancement Summary.

7. Gather unit records and begin.

Ranks, Awards, and Merit Badges

• Nominated awards, such as meritorious action awards, cannot be entered.

• The Eagle Scout rank cannot be entered with Internet Advancement and must be completed through the council.

• Ranks must be added in sequence based on unit type and program.

Units Cannot• Change member data, names, addresses,

etc.• Add new members.• Remove members.• Delete Advancements (can change date

but not delete an advancement)

Changes in membership or Adult Leader registered positions are submitted by completing the membership applications for either a youth or an adult and turning into one of the service centers.

Other Reports Available• Unit Roster

The Unit Roster is the current roster of adult leaders and youth members. The information is current from the time the unit

advancement processor clicks the Load Roster button.

• Unit Advancement SummaryThe Unit Advancement Summary is the history of ranks, merit badges, and awards, appropriate to the unit type, recorded for

the current members of the unit. The information is current from the time the unit advancement processor clicks the Load Roster button.

Help For Unit Advancement Processors

Frequently Asked Questions

This Link appears in the banner at top right of each page in Internet Advancement and displays the current FAQ for unit users.

Internet Advancement HelpThe Help link is on the Welcome page and

on the right of all other pages.

Help contains an index, search, instructions, and a second Frequently Asked Questions with additional information.

Misc Information

• Once you open a session in Internet Advancement you have 7 days to complete the session or it will reset to where it was prior to your starting.

• Unit Advancement Processors will have to create a “profile” the first time they use Internet Advancement. This profile is automatically entered on all reports and is recorded into Scoutnet each time advancements are entered or changed

• Sharing of passwords is not recommended as the Unit Advancement Processor is responsible for all entrys made into Internet Advancement if a issue arises.

• Lost passwords can be recovered thru

Internet Advancement• If the unit advancement processor changes

the profile they created can be reset by the council to allow the new processor to create a profile – contact the Council Advancement Chairman to have this done.

• Downloading of your roster from Internet Advancement so you can enter advancements can take up to 10 min based on our “pilot” units. (don’t ask us why, we don’t know, so lets not waste time)

• Review your completed advancement report prior to clicking “submit” Our pilot units have caught mistakes that were corrected before submitting.

• If advancement dates are changed in Internet Advancement it will generate a report indicating what was changed and when it was changed. Submit this report to one of the service centers so it can be placed in your units file in case issues arise later.

• When entering advancements manually you can credit multiple Scouts with the same MB, Belt Loop etc by clicking on the “multiple pesron entry”. Select the names of all the Scouts earning the badge and it will credit them all (with the same date) and save some time on manual data input

• When uploading directly from a supported

software program Internet Advancement will provide a report of any Scouts it could not find in Scoutnet. You will need to follow up as mentioned in prior slides with your unit and DE to try and resolve it. Enter these Scouts on the advancement report and list what they earned so you can purchase their badges and catch their records up once the issue is resolved and the show up in Internet Advancement.

• As mentioned earlier Internet Advancement supports only Internet Explorer. We have no idea when national plans to add other browsers.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

TONIGHT AND WELCOME TO INTERNET ADVANCEMENT