March 31, 2008
CENTRAL REGION, ORDER OF THE ARROW-

Last week our Region President and Director announced the realignment of the Central Region councils into new geographic areas in order to improve service to our councils. A copy of their memorandum to the region is attached [see link at bottom of page].

As an integral part of the Boy Scout program, the Order of the Arrow is affected by these changes, and we are committed to supporting our region by facilitating the realignment process and effecting a smooth transition. We are mindful of the fact that our region’s purpose in making these changes—enhancing support to local councils—is far more important than any temporary inconvenience that might be caused by changes to our sections’ boundaries. While we enjoy the familiarity and traditions of our current sections, section boundaries have, in fact, changed many times in our history. Section realignments provide us an opportunity to take a “fresh look” at our section and lodge programs, meet new Arrowmen with new ideas, and form new bonds of brotherhood.

You will find attached [see link at bottom of page] a chart showing our new area designations. These are the area boundaries as set forth by our Regional Director and President. Within the next few months, the Region Key 3 will forward proposed Section boundaries within each area to the Region President, Region Director, and Area Directors for their approval.

Also, during this timeframe, the Area Directors, in consultation with the Region OA Chairman and Staff Adviser, will select Section Advisers for all of the sections in our region. After local council approval is obtained, the new Section Advisers will be announced. The realignment of our sections will provide new opportunities for service to several adult Arrowmen.

A more important concern is how the youth leadership of our sections will be affected by these changes. We will base our actions on the transition procedures recommended in the Order of the Arrow Field Operations Guide (the “FOG”), as follows:

• The 2008 section conclaves will occur as scheduled and involve the lodges in the existing, pre-realignment sections. The pre-realignment sections will elect new section officers at their conclaves.

• Following the fall 2008 conclaves, the new sections, in their new configurations, will come into being. An official date will be released at a later time.

• The newly elected section officers will move to their new sections, based upon where their home councils are located. This will likely result in some instances where a new section will have more than one person serving in an officer position, in which case such section will operate with multiple officers for the ensuing year until the 2009 conclave. Special attention should be paid to coordination and sharing of leadership responsibilities during the transition year. The guiding principle to be followed is that no elected youth officer is to be hurt by the realignment.

• The movement of new officers to new sections will also likely result in a few officer vacancies in the new sections. Special council of chiefs meetings in new sections should be scheduled as early as possible in order to fill vacant offices and to begin planning as a new section. Elections should follow the procedures set forth in Chapter 2 of the FOG - Section Rules, Rule IV.E. Such meetings may be conducted via conference call or by other means where all participants can communicate simultaneously. Written permission from each candidate’s council Scout Executive is required in order to run for section office. Contact information for newly elected officers should be provided to the Region OA Staff Adviser immediately following elections.

• When a section’s new leadership is in place, it should set the date for its next council of chiefs and its 2009 conclave, as well as any new conclave rotation schedule, with consideration given to the new composition of the section. ArrowCorps5, Lodge Assistance Program visitations and other programs of the new section should also be discussed.

Finally, the issue of conclave and section funds must be addressed. After the normal closeout of the 2008 section conclave budget and the refunds to the participating councils, the section operating budget and any section monetary reserve must be divided and passed on to the new sections. That portion of the section operating budget allocated for section officer travel should be distributed fairly to the new sections to which newly elected officers are moving. Special attention should be given to supporting the section chiefs’ attendance at the National OA Planning Meeting in Dallas in December and the Section Officer Seminar. The remaining portion of the operating budget and any monetary reserve of the old section should be divided by the number of lodges in the old section. The money should be passed on to the new sections in accordance with the movement of lodges.

If any issues arise during the transition process, they will be resolved by the Region OA Key 3 and the Area Directors of the affected sections. However, we expect that the realignment of our sections will be a smooth one. We are all committed to delivering quality Order of the Arrow programs to the Arrowmen we serve, and conscious of our responsibility to support our region, areas, councils and lodges in achieving success.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dan Hayes (dhayes@netbsa.org) or Chris Grove (cgrove@woh.rr.com). Thank you for your service to Scouting!