2019 National Policy Changes
Brothers,
The Order of the Arrow is an organization known for its ability to innovate while maintaining its core values and traditions. Currently, our organization is facing a membership decline that necessitates continued innovation. With an 18% decline in youth membership since our centennial in 2015, the national committee has begun and is continuing to act upon this issue. At the June national committee meeting several national policy changes were approved, which are explained below.
- Brotherhood eligibility requirements: Effective June 7th, 2019, the waiting period between induction and eligibility for Brotherhood membership has been reduced to six months. There were no other changes to the Brotherhood eligibility requirements.
- The Journey to Excellence (JTE) program has been discontinued and was replaced with the Performance Measurement Program on June 7th, 2019. With a small number of requirements and clearly defined benchmarks, this program is intended to guide lodges to become “High Performing.” Additionally, the requirements align with former JTE standards in order to encourage continuity in lodge planning.
- Purpose of the Section: As of June 7th, 2019 the role of the Section has been expanded from hosting an annual Conclave to sharing the responsibility of supporting lodges in their efforts to become “High Performing.”
These national policy changes are only a small piece of the efforts needed to ensure that the Order of the Arrow continues to thrive in the future. In order to continue our organization’s service and support to councils and communities for years to come, all leaders—from the national to the chapter level—must come together in a unified commitment to act. This call to action and answers to questions regarding these national policy changes, will be addressed in a first ever organization-wide webinar, entitled Thrive: A National Webinar, A Local Commitment. The webinar will be held from 1-5 p.m. on October 19th. Please contact your Lodge Key 3 to find out where you can view the webinar. During the Thrive webinar, organization leaders will discuss the redefined role of the section, new concepts on the 3 key performance indicators (Unit Election Rate, Induction Rate, & Activation Rate), a 3 year plan to ensure that each lodge reaches “High Performing”, and an organization-wide call to action.
For questions regarding national policy changes, please contact Vice Chairman of Unit, Lodge, and Chapter Support Dan McCarthy or Vice Chairman of Strategic Performance, Ed Lynes at membership@oa-bsa.org. For questions regarding Thrive: A National Webinar, A Local Commitment, please contact National Vice Chief, Eric Harrison at 2019vicechief@oa-bsa.org or myself at chief@oae8.org
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Yours in Brotherhood,
Ethan Syster | Section Chief