Your life just got easier, thanks to these new online unit and district tools

Updating your personal info in the BSA’s database shouldn’t take an act of congress.

Fortunately, a just-launched suite of unit and district tools has the power to change your address, phone number, e-mail, or more—with just a click.

In the past, Scouters or parents who needed to make changes had to call their council. Now they can do all of it through the Unit and District Tools page on MyScouting (changes to your name and date of birth still go through your council, for Youth Protection reasons).

I suggest you log in soon and make sure the BSA has your most up-to-date contact info. Does someone in your unit lack reliable computer access? Have them call one of their unit’s Key 3 (unit leader, the chartered organization representative, or the unit committee chairman) to change it for them.

And simplified contact info is just the beginning. Phase 1 also offers an announcements page, a calendar, and a roster manager. You can learn about all the new tools and how to use them in the tutorial below. Or just log in and explore. I found it very intuitive.

I also want to draw your attention to the design of the new Unit and District Tools site. It’s clean and simple, with large icons and no frills. That’s a conscious, forward-thinking move by Debra Kendrew, Brianne Dondlinger, and other members of the project team.

“It’s designed simply for a reason,” Debra says. “It’s optimized for use on all mobile devices.”

Future phases will only make these tools better. Debra and Brianne gave me a sneak peek of these changes coming soon: 

  • One member number for life, even if you switch programs
  • An easy way to track and update Scout rank advancement electronically
  • An ability to add your preferred name or a second last name
  • A spot to list your education and employment history, a useful way for unit leaders to see who’s qualified to teach a merit badge, for example
  • The ability to update your leader training information (right now that’s done through the e-learning portal)
  • Full mobile functionality for managing your unit on the go

Phase 1 tutorial

 


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.