Centennial Quality Unit Goals

We are now entering the third year of a four year quality program called the Centennial Quality Awards Program. Each unit establishes for itself goals in predefined areas which have been determined to provide a measure of how well a unit is doing. Even though we are in the third year of the program, I still hear comments about how hard it is. When I run into this and start asking questions it is almost always a result of misinformation; either on the part of the unit leaders or in some cases whoever provided them with the original directions.

Let’s start with the hardest goal - Retention. What is an appropriate goal for retention? Since it is different for every unit and their particular circumstances you should look at your 2007 and 2008 retention numbers as a guide. If you don’t have these they are easy to calculate. Take the number of boys on your charter on January 1 of that year (X). Now determine how many of those you removed when you rechartered that same year (Y). Remember Y includes 5th Grade Webelos for packs and youth that have aged out for troops and crews. Then you can do the simple math, (X-Y)/X, to get the percentage. There is your actual retention number. It’s that simple - don’t let anyone over complicate it. If you have already rechartered, since we do not drop scouts from charters outside of rechartering time, you already know this year’s retention number. You can debate whether this is the best way to calculate retention, but you can’t argue that it hasn’t been consistent over time and between units.