Virtual Boards of Review

Whether to allow a videoconference Eagle Scout board of review is your council’s decision, so check with the council before scheduling one. From the Guide to Advancement, topic 8.0.1.6:

Boards of review for any rank are meant to be face-to-face, personal experiences. From time to time, however, due to communicable disease, or as Scouts go off to college or the military, or live in very remote locations, for example, it may be difficult to hold in-person boards of review. In those rare situations where it is unreasonable to expect a Scout to travel long distances or to wait several months, it is permissible to use videoconferencing. If such boards of review are held, however, they must be conducted according to the following requirements.

1. It is a local council decision to allow videoconference Eagle Scout boards of review.
2. All equipment, including the cameras, lighting, microphones, software, and internet connection, should be tested ahead of time to provide the best audiovisual experience possible.
3. All members of the board of review must be visible to the Scout, and any observers with the Scout must be visible to the members of the board of review. No one within hearing range on either side is allowed to be off camera. It is important to consider your technical capabilities when planning how many board of review members to involve. Observers should be minimized for any board of review, and this applies especially to videoconference reviews. Their presence can change the discussion dynamics.
4. For Scouts under the age of 18, care must be taken to ensure compliance with the Guide to Safe Scouting.
5. Videoconference boards of review must not be recorded.

Read-Only Document Sharing

Scan the Board of Review documents for each Scout: application, workbook, statement of ambitions, and reference letters. Store them in a Google Drive folder for each Scout. Using Google Drive permissions, share the folder with the Board of Review members with view-only permissions, and turn off the option for viewers to download, print, or copy.

Reference letters are confidential council property, so limit sharing to the board members for that Scout only, and delete the folder (or at minimum the reference letters) once the board has met and the application has been returned to the council. Never share the folder with the Scout or the Scout’s family.