by Steven Timmons, DTM
Are you humming along in Pathways and your reporting does not match your activity? This can and does happen. In other words, you have completed projects where you have not even given speeches.
It is entirely possible in Base Camp to set and complete an entire Level in a single evening without giving a single speech or evaluation. You don’t want to do this.
If you are a Base Camp manager, you can even approve the completion of a level for yourself. Again, repeat after me… Don’t Do It!
Base Camp does not enforce the checks that you would associate with a regular computer program. As Greg Pick (District 25 Pathways Coordinator 2018-2019) described, it depends on integrity – integrity from you and integrity from your Base Camp Managers.
Every project has before and after assessments. The after-assessment in each case will mark the project as complete. So do not take the after-assessment until you have completed the project.
You need to carefully work through each project. Make sure you are completing the assignment before and after you give a speech to complete the project. Take both assessments – don’t skip them. (Hint: On the assignment page of each project is a “Project Checklist.” We recommend that you download or print this to keep track of what is exactly needed for that project.)
When you have completed a level by doing the required and elective projects pertinent to that level, you will need to submit a request for approval. This request goes to a special screen used by your club’s Base Camp Manager.
Each club has three Base Camp Managers, Vice President Education, President, and Secretary. The Vice President Education is primary and should handle all approvals except for themselves.
The President and Secretary are secondary and can handle approvals in the absence of the Vice President Education and approvals for the completion of levels specific to the Vice President VP-Education themselves. Do not approve your own levels.
If you have jumped ahead because of your confusion with Base Camp, do not worry. You will not be the first to do this. You will need to track your progress outside of Base Camp until you catch up with what you have actually done.
In the end, it is the Base Camp Managers’ responsibility to assure that you have completed all the projects to sign off a level. They may need to communicate with you to make sure you did what was required, especially if you did some speeches or projects external to the club.
Be sure to submit the evaluation as documentation and be patient with your Base Camp Managers. The task is a little daunting and they just want to make sure to give credit where credit is deserved.
Note: Approving a Level is not the same as awarding a Level. You have not completed a Level for credit until it is awarded. An officer, preferably your VP-Education will have to go into Club Central to award your Level. Only then is it official.
Remember: Have Integrity. It is at the top of our Core Values.
