The following FAQ is intended to help volunteers navigate Scoutbook in their role as Merit Badge Counselors. If you need further assistance, please contact one of the Merit Badge Deans.
This can be set by each counselor as follows: Log into Scoutbook using your MyScouting.org credentials Click through the following: “My Dashboard” at the top. “My Account” at the top under “Administration”.
This is your profile information page where you can change your password and look at your training. It comes from your MyScouting account (you cannot change how you login to Scoutbook, you must use the MyScouting credentials).
- Go to “My Positions” – here you will see all of the positions you hold or held in your unit(s). It may or may not be correct as most of it is based on your Unit administration updating Scoutbook.
- Go to “Merit Badge Counselor” in that page (it will probably be at the top. If not, then scroll down until you see it).
This will present a screen where you can adjust the following:
- Whether you are “available “or “busy”. Select “busy” if you have a heavy load of MBs and Scouts you are currently working with. When set to “busy”, you will not appear in searches or receive requests to work with a Scout.
- You can select “Council”, “District(s)”, “Unit(s)”, or “not listed”.
- Council requires no change, as everyone is defaulted to this setting.
- For District, the page will change and you need to scroll down and select “Francis Scott Key”.
- If you choose “not listed”, nobody, including your Unit, will be able to find you in a search for a Merit Badge Counselor. This is not recommended, as it makes your volunteering for this useless, essentially.
After making changes, check the “I agree to be a Merit Badge Counselor” box at the bottom and click the “update” button. You are done at this point and can exit Scoutbook.
Note: You can no longer add or delete any merit badges to your list. You must submit a MBIF (Merit Badge Information Form) to the FSK MB Dean to add or delete merit badges from your list or to remove yourself completely.
Note: you cannot search by the name of the counselor, Unit, or otherwise. The position is a District/Council position.
Log into Scoutbook using your MyScouting credentials and click “My Dashboard”. In the “My Units” section, (right side of the browser window) you will see however many Units you are registered with.
Click on a troop or crew to search for a Merit Badge Counselor. Remember a Pack doesn’t have merit badges and the search isn’t available there.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “MB Counselor List”
You can search for all merit badges or you can select the drop-down menu and scroll to the merit badge of your choice, or you can start typing the merit badge name. It is best to type 2 – 3 characters of the name and the first one will then be highlighted. For example, for any of the three citizenship merit badges, type in “Cit” and it will display Citizenship in the Community. You can then use the down arrow to move down the list one at a time or use the “page down” button to go down a full page.
Next, ensure your zip code is correct. The default displayed should be the zip code on record for the Unit you chose. Change the zip code as needed.
Next, select how far away from the zip code you are willing to “travel”. It is possible to have merit badge sessions via Zoom as long as the YPT guidelines for Zoom are followed.
Under the “availability”, you should normally leave it as available. If you can’t find an MBC for a specific MB or it’s a lesser favorite MB, such as oceanography (based on our area), then you could change that button to “both” to broaden the list. It would be possible to see MBCs that have changed their status to “busy” and they would not be in a list based on “available”.
Click the “search” button for ScoutBook to generate a list. The counselor’s name, unit, phone number and email address will be displayed.
It is not possible to “invite” the MBC to connect with a Scout from this window.
Note: the Scout should have already received approval from their SM/ASM to start a new merit badge and added it to their advancements. The SM/ASM need to approve it for this process to work correctly as it is possible to print the blue card from ScoutBook and blue cards do not need to be exchanged with MBCs.
Log into Scoutbook using your MyScouting credentials. Click on “My Dashboard”. In the “My Units” section, (right side of the browser window), you will see however many Units you are registered with.
Click on the Troop or Crew the Scout is in that you want to connect to a Merit Badge Counselor. From here, there are several ways to get to the Scout. You can go through the Patrols, or you can choose the Troop Roster link from the list below the Patrol links (this is generally a little faster and has less “clicks”). Scouts are listed on the right. Choose the Scout you want to connect to a Counselor.