The Summit service project and rank application

4.3.2.0. What a Summit service project must be Milestone

A valuable service that meets a need, and a significant personal growth experience through some combination of scope and complexity, leadership of others, or a connection to a personal future life-goal in the Venturer's education, career or other interest. Impact is the most important consideration.

4.3.2.1. Councils and districts do not review or approve it Often forgotten Requirement

Stated in one sentence and it is the biggest single difference from the Eagle Scout service project, where the council or district is one of four approvals that all fall before work begins.

One sentence, and it is the sentence to have ready. Councils and districts do not play a role in reviewing or approving Summit service projects. A district that asks to see a Summit proposal, or a crew that submits one for approval, is running the Eagle process on the wrong award.

4.3.2.3. Seven Eagle Scout project topics apply here too Often forgotten Requirement

Guide topics 9.0.2.10 through 9.0.2.16: fundraising, routine labour, common misconceptions, evaluation after completion, risk management, insurance and Messengers of Peace: apply to Summit service projects as well as Eagle ones. They are modelled on the Eagle Scout service project plan.

4.3.2.1. Four focus areas decide whether a project is acceptable Requirement

Service, scope and complexity, leadership, and personal goal connection. They are the Summit equivalent of the five tests an Eagle proposal has to meet, and they work differently: they are weighed together rather than passed one by one.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.0. What a Summit service project must be.

4.3.2.1. Service Requirement

A valuable action, deed or effort carried out to meet a need. This is the one focus area every Summit project must provide.

4.3.2.1. Scope and complexity Recommended Requirement

The scale of the project, and the level of effort and planning involved. No particular level of either is required.

4.3.2.1. Leadership Optional Often forgotten Requirement

Leading others toward a shared vision. Not absolutely required, and it may compensate for a project that is relatively simple in scope and complexity.

4.3.2.1. Personal goal connection Optional Often forgotten Requirement

Making the most of the experience, including what is important to the Venturer. Also not required, and also capable of compensating for a simple project.

4.3.2.1. All four are considered together Often forgotten Requirement

Service is required and no particular level of scope or complexity is. Leadership and personal goal connection are optional but add value and depth, and may help compensate for a project needing little planning and execution. They also matter to a Venturer who wants to show the report to an employer or a college.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.1. Four focus areas decide whether a project is acceptable.

The commonest way to misread this topic is to treat all four focus areas as requirements. Only service is. No particular level of scope or complexity is required, and leadership and personal goal connection are explicitly not absolutely required.

4.3.2.2. What a Summit project may not be Requirement

The Guide's own heading is "Restrictions and Other Considerations". Each of these is a limit on the project rather than a step in it.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.1. All four are considered together.

4.3.2.2. No required minimum hours Often forgotten Requirement

There are no required minimum hours for a project. Nor is leadership of others required, though projects that include it may compensate where scope and complexity are relatively simple.

4.3.2.2. Routine labour is not normally appropriate Requirement

Work or service provided as part of daily life, or a routine maintenance job the beneficiary normally does anyway. The Guide's example is picking up trash on the school football field.

4.3.2.2. Not commercial, and not primarily raising money Requirement

Projects must not be of a commercial nature, and must not be efforts that primarily raise money even for a worthy charity. Limits on projects for a business are not meant to disallow community institutions such as museums and service agencies, which exist to provide a valuable service.

4.3.2.2. One candidate per project, but related projects are fine Often forgotten Requirement

No more than one Summit candidate may receive credit for working on the same project. It is permissible to have projects that are related, as long as each can be conducted and evaluated independently.

4.3.2.2. Not for Scouting America Requirement

Summit projects must not include service to Scouting America or its councils, districts, units or properties.

4.3.2.2. Different from any Eagle or Quartermaster project Often forgotten Requirement

This project must be different from one a Venturer used to fulfil requirements for the Eagle Scout rank or the Sea Scout Quartermaster rank. The same rule is stated from the other side at 4.3.1.4 and 4.4.0.1.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.2. What a Summit project may not be.

The one that catches a young person doing well in two programs at once. A Venturer who is also a Life Scout, or a Sea Scout working toward Quartermaster, must run separate projects for each. This is stated three times in the Guide (here, at 4.3.1.4 and at 4.4.0.1), which is a fair indication of how often it comes up.

4.3.2.3. The Summit Service Project Workbook Document

It carries the project proposal form, whose "What Is Required" section is the standard the crew Advisor measures the finished project against, and the project report completed afterwards.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.2. Different from any Eagle or Quartermaster project.

4.3.2.1. The crew Advisor and a designated crew member agree Often forgotten Approval

Two people, one of them a crew member. That is the whole of the approval for a Summit service project, and there is no stage after it before work may begin.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.3. The Summit Service Project Workbook.

4.3.2.2. Fundraising, if materials have to be paid for Optional May not apply Decision

Permitted only for securing materials and facilitating a project, and it may need approval by the local council.

You have not answered "Will the project need fundraising?" yet.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.1. The crew Advisor and a designated crew member agree.

Two different things share the word, exactly as they do for the Eagle project. A project that primarily raises money is not an acceptable Summit project at all. Raising money to buy materials for an acceptable project is permitted and may need council approval.

4.3.2.2. Only for materials and facilitation May not apply Often forgotten Requirement

The distinction the Guide draws twice: a project that primarily raises money is not an acceptable project at all, and raising money to buy what an acceptable project needs is a different thing.

You have not answered "Will the project need fundraising?" yet.

4.3.2.2. The Summit Service Project Fundraising Application May not apply Document

Found in the Summit Service Project Workbook. Where local council approval is needed, this is the form that obtains it.

You have not answered "Will the project need fundraising?" yet.

4.3.2.0. Carry the project out Task

The impact of the project (the extent to which it makes a meaningful difference) is the most important consideration, and it is the one the board of review will come back to.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.1. The crew Advisor and a designated crew member agree.

4.3.2.3. Complete the project report Document

After completing the project, the candidate completes the project report found in the service project workbook.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.0. Carry the project out.

4.3.2.3. The beneficiary approves first Often forgotten Approval

This approval is simply agreement that the project was carried out to the beneficiary's satisfaction. It is not a judgement on whether the requirement was met, and it comes before the Advisor's.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.3. Complete the project report.

4.3.2.3. The crew Advisor determines whether it meets what is required Approval

Against "What Is Required" in the proposal form in the workbook. A thorough review of the four focus areas described in the proposal provides helpful information, as does a careful reading of 4.3.2.1.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.3. The beneficiary approves first.

4.3.3.0. Apply for a time extension Optional May not apply Decision

Where a Venturer foresees that, through no fault or choice of their own, it will be impossible to complete the Summit requirements before age 21, they may apply to the local council for a limited time extension.

You have not answered "Can the requirements be finished before the 21st birthday?" yet.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.3. The crew Advisor determines whether it meets what is required.

The 21st birthday, for the requirements. An extension is available only where finishing before it is impossible through no fault or choice of the Venturer's own, is granted only when necessary, and covers work on the Summit rank alone. The tests and procedure are the Eagle Scout ones at 9.0.4.0 and 9.0.4.1, reading age 21 wherever they say age 18.

4.3.3.0. The same tests as an Eagle Scout extension May not apply Requirement

The tests that apply and the procedures to follow are those set out at 9.0.4.0 and 9.0.4.1, with references to age 18 in that procedure reading as age 21 in Venturing.

You have not answered "Can the requirements be finished before the 21st birthday?" yet.

4.3.3.0. Keep working while the request is decided May not apply Often forgotten Requirement

The Guide says so explicitly. A Venturer who stops on the day of the request loses the weeks the decision takes, and those are weeks that may not be recoverable.

You have not answered "Can the requirements be finished before the 21st birthday?" yet.

Carry on working while the request is decided. The Guide says so in as many words, and a Venturer who downs tools on the day of the application has thrown away however long the decision takes.

4.3.3.0. Granted only when necessary, and only for Summit May not apply Often forgotten Requirement

Extensions should be granted only when necessary and are reserved only for work on the Summit rank. There is no extension for the other three Venturing ranks.

You have not answered "Can the requirements be finished before the 21st birthday?" yet.

4.3.4.0. The Summit Rank Application Document

Published as a PDF in the Scouting America filestore, under venturing, as 512-941.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.3. The crew Advisor determines whether it meets what is required.

4.3.4.0. Copy the application and the workbook before sending anything Often forgotten Task

A copy should be made of both, and the originals delivered only once the copies are in safekeeping.

4.3.4.0. There is no deadline on the application itself Often forgotten Requirement

There is no requirement that the application be completed or submitted before the 21st birthday, and councils do not have the authority to reject applications submitted on or after that date. The requirements are what must be finished by then.

4.3.4.0. Deliver it promptly, by hand if possible Often forgotten Task

The candidate's application should not be delayed, and timeliness is especially critical for a Venturer approaching or past 21, because sending materials late can imply the work continued afterward. Hand delivery if possible, otherwise registered or certified mail.

Usually comes after 4.3.4.0. The Summit Rank Application.

The reasoning behind the urgency is not bureaucratic. Sending materials late can imply the work continued after the birthday, which is exactly the thing the record is meant to rule out. Hand delivery if possible, registered or certified mail otherwise.

4.3.4.0. The council checks it against its records Approval

This goes more efficiently if the crew's records in the Scouting America system are up to date. If everything is correct the council provides a verification signature, files a copy, and sends the original with the workbook to the board of review chair or another designated volunteer.

Usually comes after 4.3.4.0. Deliver it promptly, by hand if possible.

4.3.4.0. Only then is the board of review scheduled Often forgotten Event

The board is scheduled only after the council-verified application is received. That order is stated in the Guide and is the step crews most often try to run early.

Usually comes after 4.3.4.0. The council checks it against its records.

The board is scheduled only after the council-verified application is received. A crew that books the board first and chases the paperwork afterwards has reversed the two steps the council uses to check that the record is right.

4.3.2.3. The Summit board of review sees the project too Approval

The board has the opportunity to review the service project. The procedure for a Venturing board of review is 8.0.5.0 and is modelled separately.

Usually comes after 4.3.4.0. Only then is the board of review scheduled.

4.3.2.3. Rejection at that stage should be rare Often forgotten Requirement

It should be rare that a project acceptable to a beneficiary and to the crew Advisor would be rejected by a board of review.

4.3.4.0. Where the paperwork goes afterwards Task

An approved application is returned to the council service center and the workbook is returned to the Venturer. If the board denies approval, both the application and the workbook go back to the council service center.

Usually comes after 4.3.2.3. The Summit board of review sees the project too.

4.3.4.0. The Scout executive signs, and it goes to the national team Approval

The Scout executive signs the board of review-approved application. It is sent by email to the National Service Center at advancement.team@scouting.org, where the certificate is produced and returned to the local council service center.

Usually comes after 4.3.4.0. Where the paperwork goes afterwards.

4.3.4.0. Reported, and the medal is bought locally Milestone

The Summit rank is then reported through the Scouting America system by the local council. The medal may be purchased from the local Scout shop.

Usually comes after 4.3.4.0. The Scout executive signs, and it goes to the national team.