Philmont Council Contingents

Duty Roster

It is strongly recommended that each crew prepare a duty roster prior to arrival at Philmont. Philmont will provide a blank one that is available in Logistics during Day 1 check-in (see below) but little time to prepare it! This blank form will also be printed on the back of the Crew Leader Copy form.

Having a duty roster not only helps keep your crew organized and minimizes the amount of time spent on campsite chores but also makes a measurable difference in crewmember attitudes.

Hints:

Try to avoid assigning duties to tentmates that will keep the tent from being set up/struck. If possible, insure that one tentmate has a duty and the other can set up/strike the tent when arriving at a campsite.
Where possible, assign an experienced crewmember with an new crewmember and make sure everyone understands the job descriptions.
Try to avoid assigning adult leaders clean-up duties on the evenings in staffed camps. After dinner on these nights, adults will go to Advisor Coffee at the staff area leaving the youth participants in the campsites.
It is up to the individual crew to decide whether to include adults in the duty roster or not. The Contingent Advisor recommends that all crew members (youth and adults) participate equally.
It is also up to the individual crew to decide whether or not the Crew Leader should be included in the duty roster. The Crew Leader is responsible for insuring that all jobs are performed, checking into campsites, and other tasks other than what are on the duty roster. Because of the responsibilities of the Crew Leader, the Contingent Advisor usually recommends that they not be assigned specific duties.
After preparing the duty roster, copies should be made (and laminated) for each crew member. This way everyone knows what their jobs are every day.
Duties are everyone's responsibility. The people named for a specific duty on a given day are formally responsible for being sure the job gets done. Other crewmembers should pitch in an help.

Because of these considerations, it takes some effort and thought to develop an effective, balanced Duty Roster. For this reason, it should be done before departing for Philmont while the Crew Leader has time to incorporate these.

Click on the button below to open an Excel spreadsheet that may be used to create a duty roster for your crew. This duty roster is specific to a Philmont Trek and may be used for any number of participants (up to the maximum crew size of 12).

The names of the crew members are entered into the "roster" section along with trek information and duty assignments. The duty roster can then be printed. The Crew Advisor may want to print a copy for each crew member and have them laminated prior to leaving for Philmont. This duty roster form has been updated to reflect 2011 itineraries. It may be customized to better fit the needs of your crew by changing "crewmember #" in the job assignment table.

Philmont provides a duty roster form. It is available in Logistics and the Logistics person doing the Trip Plan with the Crew Leader and Crew Advisor can provide the crew with copies. Starting in 2011 it is also printed on the back of the Crew Leader Copy form that the Crew Leader carries on the trail. It is a good Duty Roster but, because it is not distributed until the Crew Leader and Crew Advisor go through Logistics during check-in at Philmont, it is not often used. There are simply too many things to accomplish that day for people to deal with the duty roster. You may download a Microsoft Word copy of it by clicking on the button below so that it may be completed prior to departing for Philmont. It could then be copied to the Crew Leader Copy form so the Crew Leader doesn't have to keep track of multiple pieces of paper.

NOTE: The duty roster spreadsheet was modified after the summer of 2004. It was originally developed years ago when hot breakfast's were prepared. The modified version reflects the change in Philmont's menus that have only the dinner meal cooked. The old versions are still available (and may be useful for other activities).

There were four versions of the old duty roster spreadsheet for crew sizes of 9 to 12 members. These are still available. Click on the appropriate button below to open a spreadsheet that you may use to create a duty roster. Change it to fit the needs of your crew.