Internet Advancement
Welcome 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)
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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 Summary
The 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 Help
The 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