The Guide to Advancement 2025, the latest version of the one true official source for all things related to advancement in every Scouting America program, has just been released.
You can view the online version here or download a PDF here.
As with every previous revision of this important document, all the changes were made based on feedback from volunteers from across the country, along with the help of a team of more than 20 people from across the Scouting spectrum tasked with identifying the most important issues.
“There are two things we were hoping to accomplish,” says Lisa Balbes, advancement lead for the Scouts BSA Committee. “One was bringing things up to date, and the other was clarifying things that were being misinterpreted.”
Balbes says she and her team pored over hundreds of survey responses and thousands of emails to determine what needed to be changed. The result was more than 1,300 tweaks, the overwhelming majority of which are branding updates and simple clarifications to existing policies.
“This update is really meant to help make life easier for our unit-serving volunteers,” says Griffin Roblyer, the Scouts BSA communications chair. “It’s based on feedback from people in the field as we hear their questions and concerns.”
What are the significant changes to the Guide to Advancement 2025?
- Section 4.2.1.2, titled The Scout Is Tested, reads, “Once a Scout has been tested and signed off by someone approved to do so, the requirement has been met and cannot be rescinded.”
The “cannot be rescinded” wording is new, added to clarify that a Scout leader cannot “unsign” a requirement for, say, bad behavior or if it appears that the Scout doesn’t remember what they’re supposed to have learned.
“There are better ways to handle that than unsigning a requirement,” Balbes says. “If the Scout doesn’t really know it, well, let’s have them teach it at the next campout so they’ll have to learn it.”
(These clarifications go both ways. Section 7.0.0.3 provides specific consequences for a Scout who refuses to discuss their advancement plans with their unit leader.)
- Section 5.0.8.0, Using Technology-Based Tools in Advancement, includes a new policy dealing with group/online instruction and the use of artificial intelligence.
When a requirement says to “attend a meeting,” in-person participation is strongly recommended. While virtual participation may be convenient, in-person attendance allows for a significantly richer experience, with more socialization and more focus. Virtual attendance should be extremely rare, when extenuating circumstances prevent in-person participation, and the merit badge counselor must approve the substitution in advance.
There’s new wording to specify the meaning of requirements such as “discuss,” “explain” and “demonstrate,” and there’s specific guidance on the use of artificial intelligence.
Generative artificial intelligence and other tools (spell checkers, grammar checkers, autofill, etc.) may be used by a Scout to assist with written requirements, but their use must be fully disclosed to the person reviewing the work, and the final output must be the Scout’s own original work.”
“Scouts can use AI to help them, just like they can use a word processor,” Balbes says. “But they can’t use it to do the work for them.”
- Section 7.0.0.3 tightens the language requiring Scouts to talk to their Scoutmaster before working with a counselor or attending a group or virtual merit badge opportunity. “A Scout should meet with their unit leader or delegate” is now “A Scout must meet with their unit leader or delegate.”
A Scout who avoids or ignores the unit leader’s role and completes a badge without first discussing it with the leader should be counseled about the proper way to start a merit badge, and the discussion should be documented. If the Scout (or the parents) continue to ignore the established process, merit badges will not be recorded as earned until the Scout has demonstrated, told, shown, etc. that they have met all the requirements to the satisfaction of a merit badge counselor acceptable to the unit leader.
- Section 7.0.4.12 is an entirely new section addressing the use of online merit badge classes.
Merit badges are meant to be a personal activity, involving real interaction between a Scout and an enthusiastic expert in the subject at hand. … While the lack of merit badge counselors in some areas and advances in technology have increased use of virtual platforms, care must be taken that this does not diminish the learning experience. Councils may implement guidance for virtual options, with specific policies based on availability of counselors, Scout’s medical conditions, and so on. …
Requirements to show, tell, discuss, explain or demonstrate must not be substituted with checklists or forms under any circumstances. Just registering and being logged in is not sufficient. The Scout must be engaged and must actually and personally complete all requirements exactly as written, just as they would for an in-person class.
“Online classes just exploded during COVID with, like a lot of things, no guidelines, no rules and no best practices,” Balbes says. “So part of this was bringing us up to date and clarifying that.”
- Section 8.0.4.1 is titled, Filing and Processing an Appeal. It specifies a two-week time limit for a council to document its denial of advancement to the rank of Eagle Scout and also specifies that Scouts or parents have two months to file an appeal of that denial.
“We thought putting time limits on both sides would be helpful,” Balbes says.
- Sections 9.0.1.3 and 9.0.1.7 concern references for an Eagle Scout candidate. The updated guide specifies the number of reference letters required (four) and who they should come from.
These may be Scout leaders, teachers, employers, coaches, other Scouts, etc. References do not need to be 21 or older. Parents and other relatives are strongly discouraged from serving as references. The current unit leader and committee chair are not eligible to serve as references.
The updated guide also specifies that the Scout is responsible for requesting references, not the council advancement committee or any other adult. The letters should be returned by whatever method the council specifies. They could be returned directly to the Scout, but only if in a sealed envelope or other method to assure confidentiality, as Scouts must not see the contents. They could also be sent to the Scoutmaster, a district or council volunteer, or via an online form. A reference from the Scout’s place of worship is encouraged but not required.
“We want the Scout to ask for the letters,” Balbes says. “This is a valuable life skill that they’re going to need.”
- The entirety of Section 10, Advancement for Members with Special Needs, was reorganized and rewritten based on guidance from Scouting America’s National Special Needs and Disabilities Committee.
Making Scouting work everywhere
There are thousands of other changes, all of which are simple clarifications of existing policies. Readers are encouraged to read closely the sections of the guide that apply to them.
The overarching theme of this year’s updates was an attempt to make sure the leaders have the ability to make Scouting work no matter the size of the town, city, unit or council where the Scout lives.
A new paragraph added to section 1.0.0.0 reads:
The policies and procedures specified in this document must be implemented by all units, districts and councils. Therefore, they must work for all units, districts and councils, no matter how large, small, geographically dense, economically diverse, etc. For this reason, policies have been designed to be firm enough to maintain the integrity of the Scouting program, while broad enough to allow councils and districts to match to their circumstances while retaining the intent.
“There are lots of ways that leaders can be flexible so Scouting can work with their local resources,” Balbes says. “But at the same time, we need a consistent, quality program.
“So we wanted to clarify areas where we’re going to allow a little flexibility and areas where you cannot deviate.”
If you have comments or suggestions for future Guide to Advancement updates, please contact that committee via email.
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