Scatacook Unit Elections and Visitations

Unit Visitations are critical to the continual success of the Lodge. If we do not visit units, we won’t continue to have elected candidates join the Lodge.

The Chapter Vice Chief of Inductions will be the main point of contact to make sure every Unit is visited during their term. The Lodge Vice Chief of Inductions will ask for a monthly report on the percentage of units that have been visited and the number left to do.

The Chapter Vice Chief of Inductions should make initial contact with each Unit leader over the summer to make sure they are aware of the unit visitation when they plan out the troop calendar for the year. It is best to schedule these visitations after your first Chapter meeting of the year (September typically) and have them completed in January. Worst case, visitations must be completed by March 13th each year. It is best practice to have 100% of visitations completed in January so that the Lodge has ample time to promote the information session in April and spring Ordeals. 

The Unit Visitation should consist of the following items:

• What is the Order of the Arrow?
• What Opportunities do you have with Owaneco Lodge?
• Q&A Session
• The Unit Election
• A CYC and Local Camping Promotion

If a Unit does not have eligible scouts to be elected, a visitation should still occur that covers the 3 other items listed.

The Chapter VCI should work with the Chapter Adviser to get an updated list of each Unit Leader’s contact information for that year. There should be an initial email over the summer to that leader about the Visitation and what is included in it. During the first roundtable of the year in September, the Chapter should give a report and ask Units to schedule their Visitation that night.

The Unit Visitation team should consist of 3-4 youth and 1-2 advisers. This will help give a good balance of people who can speak and bring different perspectives. If possible each of these people should be from outside of the unit, but at a minimum 1 youth and 1 adult must be from a different unit.

To carry out a successful Visitation, the team must prepare do some preparation ahead of time as well as bring items to the election.

• Prior to election:
  • Confirmation Email to unit leaders with attachments (linked below)
• For election:
  • Script
  • Unit Election Report
  • Candidate Information Form
  • Ballots (which should be prefilled if possible)

Virtual Unit Elections and Visitations are permitted until further notice. These should be conducted the same way an in person visitation would be. Some best practices for Virtual Elections are:

• Have a list of candidates ahead of time
• Have them familiar with the meeting software
• A google form is the easiest way to tabulate election results