PROFILES IN SCOUTING

The Chartered Organization Representative

What is the role in Scouting of the Chartered Organization Representative or COR? Anyone familiar with the Scouting movement knows that the program is delivered to our youth through religious, service, and other organizations that adopt the program of the Boy Scouts of America under a Charter granted by the BSA. The Charter spells out the mutual responsibilities of both the Scouts and the chartered organization. The role of the COR is less understood and is seen by some as merely honorary and limited in practical terms to working with the hosting institution and chartering Council to complete the paperwork associated with the Charter.

Such a viewpoint is far off the mark and fails to recognize the powerful potential of the COR to significantly advance the Scouting program. At the Des Plaines Valley Council (DPVC), we have a dramatic example of a Scouter who is widely regarded as a “model” COR. For all who know him, Horst Kniesel represents how the COR can and should function and interact in Scouting to be highly effective.

Horst Kniesel
Charted Organization Representative
Westchester Community Church

Horst is retired First Vice President of JPMorgan Chase Bank and COR for the Westchester Community Church, UCC, which hosts Troop 73 and Pack 73, a position he has held for 16 years. His involvement with the Troop and Pack go back 28 years. His two sons have both been involved in Scouting, and his oldest son, Gery, became an Eagle Scout. Based on his extensive experience in Scouting and as a COR, he developed a highly regarded training program that has educated many of the CORs in our Council on their roles and responsibilities. In the view of the Council professionals and leadership, the most effective CORs have been those who have been through Horst’s “boot camp.”

“Many CORs don’t recognize the important role they can play in Scouting,” said Horst. “They don’t see that they can have a very powerful voice, that they can bridge the gap between their organization’s members and the Council executives and leadership. Their role can and should be far more than getting the Charter completed each year.”

Horst compares the role of CORs to that of members of the board of directors of a corporation. CORs are voting members of both the Council and District Committee, although many CORs don’t take advantage of this role to influence decision making. In failing to take advantage of this important part of the COR role, they deprive those they serve of what could be an important two-way communications channel for their organization and its members.

Horst points out that the Chartered Organization and its associated units have the right to expect the COR to be active and to communicate their concerns to the leadership at both the District and Board levels. He is very outspoken about what the expectations should be for a COR.

Horst has three major points of emphasis about the role of the COR that he stresses with his students. He calls this the “ABCs of being an effective COR: Attend Meetings; Be Active; and Communicate.” To summarize Horst:

• - Attend Meetings. Attend Troop Committee meetings, Adult Committee meetings, District Committee meetings, and the Council Annual Meeting. The COR is a voting member at both the Council and District Committee level. This is an important responsibility that goes beyond getting a signature on a Charter. The COR is the voice of the Chartering Organization and serves an important role bringing information back to the organization.
  
  
• - Be Active. That means that the COR is not just a passive person on a list. It means you are active in doing the things you do well. Horst illustrates this point with examples from his own experience in which, along with others on a committee he chairs, he played a leadership role in driving the Friends of Scouting Campaign in his Unit. FOS finds Horst in multiple roles, active at every level, Family Campaign, Community Campaign, and Majors Campaign. He serves as the FOS spokesperson at functions and is a constant coach, cheerleader and mentor for those working on the campaign. This is just one area in which a COR can lend expertise and help drive a Unit to success.
  
  
• – Communicate. Horst emphasizes that communication should be at multiple levels and use a variety of means. Many activities can themselves be important tools for communications. Drawing again on his own experience, he points out his many one-on-one interactions are important communications, but also his COR training program, and the Scouting for in his Unit. That food drive delivers 10,000 lbs of food to area food pantries, and serves to give the boys involved a sense of accomplishment and community involvement. But it also serves to communicate, through action more than words, how Scouts are active in the community. Westchester, the Scouts also help with the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfasts, and in the process broaden understanding about Scouting and support for it. Eagle Scout projects are another way of demonstrating Scouting values and contributions to the community. These are all good communications mechanisms. As a COR, Horst is very much involved in encouraging and leading all of these activities.

“I believe my approach is a success model for how CORs should function,” Horst says.

By way of explanation he points to the results achieved with his Units, Troop 73 and Pack 73. “We have been ‘Top Unit’ for 12 years in a row.” He points out that this is not just a measure of a “Quality” unit, but one that is the best. He also points to his unit’s success in generating Eagle Scouts at an annual rate of at least 4 per hundred Scouts. This is double the national average.

Horst is quick to point out that these successes are a team effort, reflective of the efforts of many dedicated Scouting leaders. “I am not the Scoutmaster,” he emphasizes. “I am not the Eagle Committee Chairman. But I work closely with everyone in the Unit as the COR to help make these accomplishments happen.” That is Horst’s formula for success.

Horst has one more “C” to add to his lectures to aspiring CORs. “That other ‘C’ is ‘Commitment,” he says. “Without commitment to youth and Scouting, a COR can’t really fulfill the powerful potential of this role.”

For many in the Des Plaines Valley Council, Horst Kniesel is the very definition of “Commitment” as well as “Chartered Organization Representative.” For him, they are one and the same.

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This page was last modified on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 @ 10:01pm