Changes to OA Lodge Chartering Process Coming Soon
September 5, 2014
At the May 2014 BSA national annual meeting, the national Order of the Arrow committee accepted a resolution that OA LodgeMaster (OALM) become the sole means of submitting lodge charter and Journey to Excellence (JTE) petitions. In order to receive a 2016 charter, lodges will need to have all of their membership information migrated to OALM by September 1, 2015.
The decision to make this move was driven by a number of factors, primarily the expansion of the JTE program. Integrating JTE with OALM will result in lodges having access to real-time data and progress on their JTE goals, will allow for the use of more advanced metrics in the JTE process, and give sections and regions access to tools that can help lodges improve throughout the year, not just after recharter. More than 97 percent of lodges are currently on OALM; this move represents an evolution, not a major shift in policy.
To support lodges in this move, the JTE and OALM committees have worked together to develop an implementation timeline and resources for lodges. These resources will be available to all lodges, from long-time OALM users, who need some data cleanup before the final move, to the remaining handful of lodges that are not yet utilizing OALM.
Here are some key points for all lodge leaders to be aware of:
- September 1, 2015 is the final day for lodges to have all their information up to date in OALM. If your lodge needs assistance migrating, updating old records, or requires any additional support from the OALM team, it must be completed by this date.
- Lodges are encouraged to submit their 2014 JTE and 2015 charter petition through OALM. The module for submission will be available on October 1, 2014.
- The 2015 JTE module will be available on January 1, 2015. Lodges will have the entire year to work with that module and verify their current information.
- The membership module will be the only required module for OALM. Event information, service hours, and other non-membership related fields will still allow for manual entry.
- Historical data (2012, 2013, and 2014) will be collected from previous years’ petitions, and will not be available to update after September 1, 2015. Please confirm that all of your historical information is correct on your 2014 JTE petition!
- The OALM team will have a workshop at the 2015 National OA Conference to assist lodges with any final data issues or user questions. The JTE team will also be available at both the National Council Of Chiefs, and JTE-specific training session, to answer questions and assist in the migration.
As a final point of support, lodges will begin receiving a quarterly JTE report, beginning in September 2014. These reports will only pull information from OALM, and can be used as a barometer of your lodge’s progress in getting their information updated. After 2015 (or as soon as your lodge’s information is accurate!) these reports will be tools to help your lodge achieve its JTE objectives.
Both the OALM and JTE teams are committed to making sure every lodge has the support and resources it needs prior to September 1, 2015, to complete this project. If your lodge has questions or needs support, please email jte@oa-bsa.org.
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