There has been a call from the field for the Venturing program to provide some structure and directives for the organization of Venturing Officer Associations at all levels. The Venturing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were designed to answer this call. Beginning in 2021, the SOPs have been divided into two documents: one for council-specific recommendations and one for national and territory procedures.
These SOPs contain the following elements:
- Mission of the VOA
- Selection process for the youth VOA president at each tier
- Appointment process for youth vice presidents at each tier
- Organizational diagrams of the structure of positions and functions
- Job profiles for each position, both youth officers and adult advisors
- Glossary of terms describing the process, positions and key terms
It is important for councils to note that these are minimum standards of recommendation and councils may add to these making them functional for your service demographics and directives as determined by the council approved leadership charged with this task both from a volunteer and professional perspective. We do request that adjustments to these SOP’s by local councils be submitted through the Program team so we can establish a library of practices being used in local council operation. These can be submitted through the email of venturing@scouting.org.
We stand ready to support and serve you and your local council as you implement this process for the first time or fine tune it for those who are already conducting your operation in a similar manner. Please utilize the youth leadership on an area and region level to assist in the organization of VOAs. Their contact information can be provided by contacting the Program team at venturing@scouting.org.
