Planning the Year
The once-a-year setup for a monthly event: the venue, the sign-up schedule, where Scouts find it, and how the boards get staffed.
Running an Eagle Board Event
How a district advancement committee runs a volunteer-staffed event that holds Eagle Scout service project proposal reviews and Eagle Scout boards of review, organized by when each task happens.
An Eagle board event puts two kinds of review on one schedule:
- Project proposal reviews. A Life Scout presents their Eagle Scout service project proposal for district approval before starting work.
- Eagle Scout boards of review. A Scout who has finished every requirement, and whose application the council has verified, meets the board.
Most districts hold these once a month, by appointment. Volunteer adults staff the boards, and one of them chairs each board; the district advancement chair is responsible for running the event as a whole. These pages are that person’s working guide:
- Planning the Year: the venue, the sign-up, and the equipment.
- Each Month: notifying Scouts, getting verified applications from the council, pre-checking paperwork, and printing.
- Event Day: check-in, walk-ins, seating boards, and what has to be signed before a Scout leaves.
- After the Event: getting the signed applications back to the council.
For the adults in the room, see Board Members and Reviewing Project Proposals. Ready-to-adapt letters, emails, and checklists are under Templates. The Scheduler section shows the free software that runs check-in and room assignment.
Examples from Etowah District
Boxes like this one describe how Etowah District of the Northeast Georgia Council does something. They show one working arrangement, not a requirement. Swap in your own council’s service center, sign-up system, and venue.
Everything here follows Scouting America’s Guide to Advancement (No. 33088). Where this site describes a local practice, it is a procedure for administering the national requirements. No council, district, or unit may add to or subtract from the requirements themselves.
Each Month
The district advancement chair’s countdown to the event: the notification email, getting verified applications from the council, pre-checking paperwork, and printing and preparing the week before.
Event Day
Running the event: check-in, walk-ins, seating boards, and what must be signed before each Scout leaves.
After the Event
Returning the signed applications and reference letters to the council, and what happens between the board and the Eagle Scout credentials.
Board Members
For the adults serving on an Eagle Scout board of review: the Guide to Advancement’s ground rules, how the board runs, and how the paperwork gets signed.
Reviewing Project Proposals
For the adults reviewing Eagle Scout service project proposals: what must be in place before the review, the five tests, the limits on reviewers, and the possible outcomes.
Templates
Generic versions of the emails, letters, and checklists used at the event. Copy them, replace the bracketed fields, and adapt them to your district.
Scheduler Software
Free, open-source check-in and room assignment for board of review events, in three versions (Java, Mac, and Windows) that share the same data files.
Virtual Boards of Review
When a videoconference Eagle Board of Review is allowed, the rules it must follow, and how to share documents with board members for a virtual review.