Purpose

Commissioner College exists to improve the Commissioner Service in Southern California. It is our objective to provide education and training that allows our Commissioners to provide the highest level of unit service possible. To get the most out of the College, it is important for you to understand how the College is organized.

Structure

The Southern California Commissioner College is organized around one hour long segments which are referred to as classes. Typically there will be five to seven such segments in a day. Related segments are grouped together into tracks. Oversimplifying slightly, all the classes held in one room during one day are referred to as a track. Generally, each track has a Dean who coordinates the instructors. Typically there will be five to nine tracks on a given day. Students may move freely between tracks to meet their individual training objectives.

Schedule

7:00 am – 7:40am        Registration and breakfast, NST 3 mixer
7:45 am – 8:00 am       Opening Plenary Session for all Attendees
8:05 am – 8:55 am       First Session
9:00 am – 9:50 am       Second Session
9:55 am – 10:45 am      Third Session
10:50am – 11:40am       Fourth Session
11:45 am – 12:00 pm    Guest Introduction
12:00 pm – 12:55 pm    Lunch and Keynote Speaker
1:00 pm – 1:50 pm        Fifth Session
1:55 pm – 2:45 pm        Sixth Session
2:50 pm – 3:40 pm       Seventh Session
3:45 pm –4:15 pm         Closing

2023 Schedule for Specific Classes

New Commissioners

For new Commissioners, the most important thing to know is that there are tracks which are devoted to getting you trained and functioning as soon as possible. We generally offer Basic Training for Unit Commissioners; we also encourage you to consider participating in many of the classes in the Bachelor’s track. Consult your District or Council Commissioner for their recommendations.

Veteran Commissioners

As you get more experience as a Commissioner and attend additional Commissioner Colleges, we encourage you to participate in first the Bachelor’s track, then the Master’s track, and then the Doctoral track of classes. The culmination of your participation in the College of Commissioner Science involves the execution and writing of a doctoral project or thesis; you can consider examples here. We will also offer a Continuing Education track, Technology track, and other advanced topics for experienced Commissioners. We also invite Commissioner staff from the National Service Territory and National levels to come and present new information and encouragement for our Commissioners.

Course Numbering

All courses are numbered and named. Like most colleges, introductory courses have lower numbers. Our courses also have letter designators which show the level they are most appropriate to. BCS courses are primarily designed for people at the Bachelors level. MCS for Masters level. DCS for Doctoral level. See Course Suggestions.

Degrees

Commissioner’s College degrees are designed to help insure that you develop a comprehensive training plan for yourself. Bachelors Degrees focus on material which could prove useful to the Commissioner in their role of providing direct service to the Scouting Community. The Masters is designed to better prepare the Commissioner to be of assistance to his fellow Commissioners as an Administrator or Mentor. The Doctoral Degree should be sought by those who want to move the Commissioner Service to a higher level by first understanding deeply how the service is supposed to work and second training others in what they have learned. See Degree Requirements.

Residency

Although it is possible to earn the Bachelors degree by attending one Commissioner College, most people need to attend the College at least twice to earn a Bachelors. Most Masters candidates have attended at least three Colleges. Most Doctoral candidates have attended five or more. Our objective in granting degrees is to recognize those who have achieved a certain level of knowledge and experience.

Curriculum

It is our intention to regularly offer a core of courses, while rotating various courses in and out of the curriculum to allow us to offer the complete set of nationally designed courses as well as a selection of locally designed courses tailored to meet the needs of our attendees. It is our goal to always offer something new and particularly relevant.