What is Scouting?

Scouting is and international organization devoted to the intellectual, spiritual, social and physical development of youth.  It is the largest non-profit organization in the world with members in over 100 countries the world over.  Scouting is open to all people regardless of  religion, race or gender.
The above picture is the international symbol of Scouting.

Scouting is based on three broad principals which represent it's fundamental beliefs:
-Duty to god
-Duty to others
-Duty to Self

Scouting is organized into sections which are based on the age of the youth involved.  Each section has an individual program, but the program is based on the three principals of Scouting.  The names, age divisions and program content are usually defined by the national counsel.  This means that the section names, age divisions and program content will vary from country to country.  This allows each nation to develop a program specific to its needs and culture.

Scouts Canada has five sections.  They are:
 

Scouts Canada has a fairly simple structure.  At the top is the National Counsel.  This is the head of all Scouting activities in Canada.  They define the different sections of Scouts Canada, the rules all groups much abide by and award qualifications.  The next level is the provincial level.  There is one counsel for each province/territory in Canada.  These counsels organize province-wide events, and act as a link to the national level.  After the province comes the region.  A region can be a city, a part of a city, or an area encompassing several towns.  Under the region comes group committees.  Group committees are usually based in one community or town.  Group committees usually bear the name of the community they are in, and a number that is assigned to them by the region  (for example Pineridge 166 would be in the community of Pineridge, and the 166th group committee in the Calgary region).  Each group committee is responsible for financing and running various sections beneath them.  For example our group committee (the Pineridge 166) has two Beaver lodges, one Cub pack, one Scout troop, one Venture company and one Rover crew.  (lodges, packs, troops, companies and crews are simply groups, each with their own set of leaders and youth).
 

What is Rovering?:

Rovering is a section of scouting for people 18-26 years old.  Individual Rover groups are called Crews, which is equivalent to the Scout Troop. Most Crews allow both male and female members.  Rovering varies from most other sections in Scouting in the fact that the Crew has almost total control over there program, as long as the Crew stays within the standards and expectations of Scouts Canada.  Crews may choose to have a very specific program that is based on only one theme (such as service, or canoeing).  Other crews, like ours, have a more diverse program based on several interests and activities.  For more information on our crew click here.

Rovers Canada's Mission:
To contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities through the application of our Principals and Practices.

Crew Structure:
How a crew is structured is up to the crew, but most crews have common features:

Executive:  this is the decision making section of the crew.  Usually it consists of a President (or Mate), Vice President (Vice Mate), Secretary and Treasurer.   In some crew's the executive makes all the decisions and the rest of the crew just follows along, in other crew's all people are involved in the decision making process, the executive just have special responsibilities.

Advisor's):  this is simply the groups leader's).  The advisor doesn't have too much to do with the day-to-day operations of the crew.  The main function of the advisor is to advise the crew (duh).  The advisor is also responsible to make sure that the crew stays within the law, the ideals of Scouting, and that all activities are properly planned.  The advisor has veto power over all crew decisions.

Crew's can also be loosely divided into five groups based on how they run:

Committee type:  These crews operate by forming committees to plan activates.  The crew (or executive) then vote on the plan.  These crews tend to be large and this system allows all members of the crew to be involved in planning.
Scout Service Core:  These crews provide service to other Scout groups.
Theme Type:  These crew's are based on a theme (such as a knighthood).  They may have various levels that members can achieve (following the knighthood idea you could have pages, squires and knights).
Club:  These crew's tend to have one focus (say service), and plan few activities outside their chosen area of expertise.
Fraternity:  These crews operate like college fraternities, and can often be just as secretive.

As you can see its easy for crew's to fit into several categories (our crew fits into the first three), so these guidelines can only be loosely applied.  The structure and operating procedures of the crew is determined by the constitution and bylaws, described below.

Constitution and Bylaws:
All crew's have a constitution and bylaws.  These two documents outline the crew, and the way it operates.

Constitution:  This document defines the crew.  It gives the structure of the executive, the responsibilities of the executive officers, purpose of the crew, defines several things such as what constitutes a member, sets out voting procedures and outlines how the constitution and bylaws may be amended.

Bylaws:  These define the day-to-day running of the crew.  Item such as dress code, activity planning procedures, new member selection, standards of conduct, funding, meeting structure etc.. are included in the bylaws.

Generally the constitution is hard to change, whereas the bylaws are easy to change.

Award Scheme:
Like all other sections in Scouting Rovers have a variety of awards.  Unlike the other sections the requirements to achieve the awards are up to the crew, not the national counsel.  This allows each crew to set its own goals within its program.  There are four development awards: spiritual, physical, intellectual and social.  Achievement of these awards are represented in one of two manners (determined by the crew).  One is to use a progress thong.  This is simply a leather thong that is looped over the shoulder, and clipped onto the pocket.  A diamond knot is placed on the thong for every development award achieved.  The second method is to use colored patches, each color corresponding to an award.

The Development Award Color Scheme:

Outside the development awards there are several other awards.  Some of these are:
 

Ramblers Badge:  This prestigious badge's requirements are defined by the crew.  Its usually awarded for extraordinary achievements in the outdoors, but some crews use the as a crew specialty badge.  They award it for achieving excellence in the activity that the crew specializes in.
Religion in Life:  This badge can be earned at any level of Scouting, the requirements are defined by Scouts Canada.
Duke of Edinburgh Award:  This award is not a Scouts Canada award, but an award available to all Canadian citizens.  Its usually awarded for exceptional community service.

Other agency awards may be worn if the crew decides, and it doesn't conflict with Scouts Canada's policies and procedures.  An example of this would be wearing a Red Cross badge after completing a Red Cross first aid course.