Committee Secretary
The Committee Secretary keeps the committee's process moving and handles the paperwork behind bringing on new adult volunteers. It's a follow-through role rather than a decision-making one: the Secretary tracks what the committee has already decided and pushes adult registrations through to completion, rather than setting direction for either.
The role serves the committee as a whole, not the Chair personally — the working relationship is close, but the Secretary isn't the Chair's assistant. The Chair still runs the meeting and sets its content; the Secretary makes sure nothing that happens in it gets lost afterward.
- Selection
- Appointed by the Committee Chair
- Reports to
- Committee Chair
Responsibilities
- Build the meeting agenda together with the Committee Chair and distribute it in advance
- Capture the decisions, owners, and deadlines that come out of each meeting
- Maintain a running open items list that carries forward from meeting to meeting
- Follow up on open items between meetings
- Process member registration applications through to completion
- Add new members to TroopWebHost
- Register merit badge counselors, and make them discoverable to the Advancement Coordinator
- Live by the Scout Oath and Law
- Set a good example by showing Scout spirit and wearing the uniform correctly
Meeting Coordination
Section titled “Meeting Coordination”You don’t run the meeting — that stays the Chair’s job. Your part is making sure nothing the committee decides gets lost before or after it.
Agenda. Build it with the Chair. A few days before each meeting, ask the committee for items; anyone who can’t attend should send you their update ahead of time. Get the agenda out before the meeting so people show up ready.
Decisions, not minutes. The committee doesn’t need a full transcript of its discussions. For each item, capture three things: what was decided, who owns it, and when it’s due.
The open items list. Keep one running list of those decisions instead of a fresh set of minutes each time. Carry it forward meeting to meeting until each item is resolved. This only works if it’s used — ask the Chair to open every meeting by reviewing the list, since an open items list that nobody reviews goes stale fast.
Between meetings. Follow up with task owners on anything coming due.
Registration and Onboarding
Section titled “Registration and Onboarding”Adult Registration
Section titled “Adult Registration”Once someone decides to join as an adult volunteer, you take it from there: file the application, follow it through background check clearance, and onboard them — registering their position and getting their record set up in my.Scouting. This keeps registration paperwork off the Membership Coordinator and Scoutmaster, so they can stay focused on recruiting and running the troop.
TroopWebHost
Section titled “TroopWebHost”Add new scouts and their parents to TroopWebHost through Membership → View / Maintain Members → New Scout Registration. The form creates a user ID and password for the scout and each parent, giving them access to the troop calendar, communications, event signups, and scout accounts. Select an existing parent record when applicable rather than creating a duplicate.
Enter a scout’s phone number and email address only if they have their own. Leave those fields blank otherwise; do not enter a parent’s contact information in the scout’s record.
Enter all available details for each person, including their BSA member ID number. BSA member ID numbers can be obtained from my.Scouting.
TroopWebHost: New Scout Registration
Merit Badge Counselor Registration
Section titled “Merit Badge Counselor Registration”Merit badge counselor applications reach you the same way, but approval and record-keeping work differently from a regular adult registration:
- Make sure the applicant has properly completed the application (see the Merit Badge Counselors page)
- Forward the completed application to the District Merit Badge Dean (approves the application) and the Council Registrar (processes the application).
- Once it’s approved, check the counselor’s record in Scoutbook against the badges they applied for. The district doesn’t always register every badge that was submitted (or sometimes, any of them), so this isn’t done until the record matches the application.
- Let the Advancement Coordinator know.