Commissioners

Commissioner Training

Upcoming Events

Retention Mission Statement

The retention mission of the commissioner corps is best achieved by providing an adequate number of trained unit commissioners who provide a link to district committee resources in support of a quality unit program.

Unit commissioners will focus on the following areas:

• Being the single, best resource… Commissioners are the first person unit leaders turn to when they have a question, if a commissioner can’t answer, they will find the answer and deliver it timely.
• Delivering great, S.A.F.E programs… Commissioners equip unit leaders with the district committee’s delivery of a “catalog of services” to support a particular unit’s health and success.
• Enabling significant, sustainable unit growth.  Commissioners partner with unit leaders to understand their goals and the unit’s objective measures, connecting leaders with resources that drive unit growth and improve unit health.  
• Visiting units and logging the visits into Commissioner Tools: Our core task remains visiting the unit. Commissioner Tools input feeds critical information to the district committee to help link resources to the unit.
• Supporting on-time charter renewal: The commissioner’s focus is the retention of the unit, though we should be especially mindful of supporting new youth membership efforts as we move more toward a volunteer-led, professionally guided approach to increasing membership.

Roles the Commissioner Plays

COMMISSIONER TRAINING! Commissioner training is ongoing, and we have many opportunities for our commissioners to be trained.

Basic Training – can be conducted by a District and hosted with classroom approach for our commissioner staffs.

MATERIALS AND ADDITIONAL INFO FOR BASIC AND SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING FOUND HERE

NOTE: Once Basic Trained as a Commissioner, please continue to seek training and support! Our best source of ongoing local training for commissioners is our Lincoln Heritage Council Commissioner College! More info and links for our LHC College can be found below.

https://My.Scouting.org/

• Create an account if you haven’t already! Once logged in you will select My Training, select Position Specific Training and select Commissioners.
• Under the Commissioners Section you will find COMMISSIONER TRAINING.
• The BSA LEARNING CENTER has information and training for all volunteer leaders (Cubs, Boy Scouts, and Venturing). Once you click on the BSA LEARNING CENTER you can view all of the trainings offered through the course catalog tab at the top of the page.
• Your familiarity with this site will prove very useful when supporting our various Scouting programs and leaders. For example, Cub Scout Basic Leader Training is found here and a Cub Scout leader can be considered Basic Leader Trained from taking the appropriate courses online! Also, this is the spot to go for Youth Protection Training!

Our goal is to not only recruit Commissioners to support our Scouting program, but to train and support the best way we can. We believe if we do this we can recruit, retain and build a sustainable support system for our Scouting programs throughout our Council!

Commissioner Recognition and Achievement Knots

The LHC & UMC Affiliation Agreement:

Overview Affiliation Agreement: The church agrees to serve as a physical meeting place for the unit and complete/support the Affiliation Agreement that was approved by the UMC and BSA. The church will need to complete a Unit Charter Release form. This will release the charter and allow the Lincoln Heritage Council to become the chartering organization for the unit.

CLICK HERE for the Affiliation Agreement paperwork tool kit to be submitted in conjunction with the recharter/membership renewal process.

Specific sections from the tool kit above & additional support/resources:

** Unit Charter Release – Assumption Form: Completed by UMC (current Chartered Org) & Council

** BSA UMC Affiliation Agreement: Completed by UMC, Council, and Unit Leadership

** Annual Registration Agreement – Council Registered Units: Completed by Council and Unit

** New Unit Application: Completed by Council Leadership

** Annual Unit Finance Report: Completed by Unit Leadership

**Annual Unit Finance Report: (Excel Format)

**Indicates paperwork, also within the toolkit, that is to be submitted to the Lincoln Heritage Council, BSA as a part of the annual recharter/membership renewal process.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & RESOURCES:

UMC Affiliated Council Chartered Unit Bank Account EIN FAQ Process

Fiscal Policies of BSA Units

Steps to Protect Unit Funds

Steps to Protect Unit Trailers

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: The new Affiliation Agreement has the same robust liability coverage and indemnification as the current charter agreement.

Our council staff along with our newly formed Council UMC Subcommittee are here to support you. Our subcommittee is led by Steve Bays, a Council Board Member and the Scouting Coordinator for the Kentucky Conference for the UMC; also serving on our committee is the newly appointed Scouting Coordinator for Indiana, Steve Driver who is also a long-time LHC Scouting volunteer.

We are committed to ensure Scouting continues uninterrupted for the Scouts, leaders and Scouting families in units chartered by United Methodist Churches.

If you have any questions, please contact your District Executive or David Sikes, Director of Field Services/COO, at david.sikes@scouting.org. CLICK HERE FOR A STAFF DIRECTORY