ABOUT COUNCIL SERVICE TERRITORY 10 (CST 10)
The Boy Scouts of America National Council and Headquarters is located in Irving, Texas. The National Council is the governing body of the scouting program in the United States. They set policy, offer national awards, organize national jamborees, maintain national high-adventure camps, and define the scouting program. Registration and membership support, program and literature development, advancement support, liability insurance, and maintaining program consistency across the country are some of the many services provided by the National Council.
The Council Service Territory (CST) supports councils through a collaborative network under the leadership of a Key 3 and functional leads focusing on primary aspects of council operations and delivery of the Scouting program. The lateral orientation of the organization chart emphasizes peer relationships and mutual support. The “council counterparts” column emphasizes the central role that council leaders and representatives have in receiving and sharing information and ideas to strengthen local Scouting.
The CST Key 3 includes the volunteer CST Chair and CST Commissioner, and a professional CST Director. They are assisted by a Chair-Elect and a Commissioner-Elect. Note the line at the top of the chart connecting the Key 3 to their council counterparts. Sometimes the interaction will be as Key 3 entities and sometimes as peers serving in counterpart roles, such as the CST Chair’s interactions with the Council President, the CST Commissioner’s interaction with the Council Commissioner, or the CST director’s interaction with the Council Executive.
The four volunteer positions in the Key 3+ group were selected in the first phase of territory implementation. The CST Director is appointed by the National BSA.
Functional leads support councils in Membership, Program, Finance, Safe Scouting, and the other areas listed on the chart. For example, the CST Membership Lead works with council membership leads (the “council counterparts”) to provide resource updates and foster collaboration to strengthen local membership. The functional leads report to and are supported by the Key 3. Connected to the Council Relations Lead are the Council Relations Advocates, who will develop close relationships with designated councils to share and celebrate local successes and to provide guidance and support where needed. The Council Performance Champion supports councils on issues of performance and sustainability. If improvement plans are not implemented and the need for action goes beyond the support able to be provided by the Champion and other NST colleagues, an ad-hoc Council Re-Organization Group, shown through the dotted lines toward the left bottom of the chart, may be formed by the NST Key 3 on recommendation by the Council Performance Champion.
Selection of Council Service Territory functional leads occurs during the second phase of volunteer selection.
This diagram emphasizes the importance of the peer-to-peer communication flow and relationship building, which is multi-directional between and among territories, councils, and the national organization. For example, like all National Service Territories, CST #1 (at the center top) communicates with the national BSA (sometimes through National Committees), with other service territories, and with the councils within its geographical footprint. Information, ideas, and concerns need to be shared in all directions.
The arrow moving down from the BSA (at the left) and across the bottom of the diagram to a council (bottom right) shows that the National Service Center continues to communicate directly with councils on matters such as HR, legal, BSA brand, and safety policies. On the other hand, a great deal of the national communication would flow back and forth between National Committees and Key 3 or functional leads in National Service Territories.
Each Council Service Territory is expected to engage resources from within and beyond the territory to assist in supporting councils. Councils collaborate with each other through CST networks to share resources and ideas. Territory Key 3 members and functional leads also develop networks of counterparts in other territories to discuss how they can support each other.
The United States and BSA are subdivided into 16 Council Service Territories:
Council Service Territory 10 (CST) spans the entire state of New York and much of New England:
CLICK HERE to see a list of the Councils in CST 10
CLICK HERE to view information about the Leaders of CST 10
CLICK HERE to view a list of the Scout Councils in CST 10
