State Boards: They Serve & Protect

They are, perhaps, the most influen­tial members of the beauty indus­try, making recommenda­tions and decisions that af­fect all aspects of your career — how long you attend school and what you learn, your continuing education requirements, and whether you can use a drill. They are the members of the state boards of cosmetology.

While their specific re­sponsibilities are legislatively mandated and vary by state, the primary role of the state board is to protect salon customers. To this end, they provide the administrative staffs with technical expertise, doing everything from formulating rules and regu­lations to overseeing discipli­nary hearings, administering practical examinations, and inspecting schools.

Of the many questions raised in recent years about state boards of cosmetology, a few have focused on the industry-member boards. Namely, can industry mem­bers put consumers' inter­ests before their own? Just a few years ago a number of states seemed to think not, introducing legislation to disband the state boards. However, the bills failed in all but California, and even there the Department of Consumer Affairs quickly replaced the policy-making board with an advisory council made of members from all facets of the indus­try.

While the structure of the, boards has been questioned, no one denies the importance of industry input to the ad­ministrative staffs that oversee licensing and regulatory enforcement. After all, who better understands the risks to consumers' health and safety from a poorly regulated industry than the people who perform the ser vices and know just what can go wrong?

"We don't really get that many com­plaints from the general public," admits Brenda Hoxsey, chairperson of the Ore­gon State Board. "But in testifying be­fore legislators I see that what we do is extremely important because legislators don't understand what we do and they don't realize the potential dangers con­sumers face. We treat the practitioner as a consumer, too, in terms of issues like ventilation and the use of methyl methacrylate."

Here, NAILS talks to current and for­mer board members from a number of states about their backgrounds and how they got appointed, why they feel industry representation on the boards is impor­tant, and the challenges they think state boards face in the future.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Dedication

Most boards consist of licensed cos­metologists and members of the pub­lic. In some states it's mandated that other industry segments, such as nails and esthetics, be represented, while in others the type of license isn't speci­fied, and membership is open to any­one in the industry. State board mem­bers almost always are appointed by their governor, usually based on their application and letters of recommen­dation from people in the industry.

"I applied to the state board when one of the inspectors, who knew of my activities with the NCA, said I'd be good for the job," explains Nilsene Privette, a nail technician in Phoenix who served on the Arizona board for seven years. "I put together my resume and got letters of recommendation from some people in my community."

Cynthia Stramecky, owner of Taylortown School of Beauty in Taylor, Mich., applied for a position on the Michigan State Board when board members who knew her from her at­tendance at meetings recommended she apply for an opening. Stramecky has been in the industry for 37 years, most of which she has spent involved in various associations. Before becom­ing a board member she had worked with the state's testing office to develop tests and qualify examiners'.

Their motives for joining range from a desire to learn more about the state board and its processes to a desire to impact the industry. Linda Zesiger, owner of Salon Orleans in Las Vegas, for example, applied to the board in January after observing the rapid and huge growth in her native city. "It's my industry and I knew it needed change. Complaining doesn't do anything, you have to be willing to act. So I applied," she explains. "We need to keep up with all the new things coming in, like the increased use of drills."

Lucia Coito, on the other hand, served on the Nevada State Board for more than seven years, partly as a way to repay the state for having helped her when she needed a career. "I applied for a state program and the Southern Nevada Employment Agency gave me the opportunity to get my manicuring license," she remembers. Just four months after graduating she had a full appointment book at one of the most expensive salons in town and she's never looked back. When she applied to the state board five years later, she immediately was appointed.

Regardless of their motivations, all these board members have one thing in common: a passion for their careers. Board members volunteer an average of one to two days a month adminis­tering exams, reviewing case histories, evaluating policies and procedures, at­tending disciplinary hearings and pub­lic board meetings, and doing whatev­er else the position requires.

Industry Representation Vital

"A lack of industry representation would be very bad because many of the people who work in the adminis­tration are not licensed in cosmetology; they are just employees of the state. Because the board members work in the industry, we understand best what it takes to protect customers' health and safety," says Carol Martin, chair for the Idaho State Board.

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Shelia Ferguson, a Tennessee State Board member, agrees. "It prevents the board from having to go through the legislative process for every little thing because as a board appointed by the governor, we can settle so many is­sues," she says. "And you have nine people knowledgeable about the industry looking at every issue, instead of one or two people in administra­tion who have never themselves faced these problems. Of the nine of us, at least a few of us have come across just about everything that comes up. And we have two public members who give us their input s customers."

The issues they tackle range from MMA to drill usage, hair braiding to chemical services, body piercing to skin peels, sanitation to unlicensed activity. For example, the Oregon State Board is wrestling with the question of whether to regulate electric files. "We saw a news show where women had lost the ends of their fingers, so we asked our compli­ance officers to note if they saw schools teaching the proper use of drills," Hoxsey says. "They said they weren't, so we turned it over to our product safety committee, and they've been studying it ever since."

Many state boards form committees for large projects or specialty areas. For instance, several years ago the Oregon State Board formed a committee of 22 industry members who met monthly to develop minimum curriculum stan­dards for the Oregon Department of Ed­ucation, which regulates beauty schools. "Then the board put in their examina­tion things that test those minimum re­quirements, so for the first time in years we have consistency," Hoxsey says.

In Georgia, the state board was inte­gral to saving licensing for nail techni­cians and estheticians in 1997 when legislators proposed abolishing it. "We gathered as much information as we could to demonstrate how important li­censing was because of the risk to the public," says Georgia State Board mem­ber Debra Adams-Harden. "We gath­ered information from magazines and dermatologists, and we had consumers in who gave reports. We used whatever publicity vehicles like newspapers and distributors that we could to make peo­ple aware of the issue. We were fortunate that some state senators held public hearings on the issue to find out what the people thought." In reality, however, the downfall of the legislation probably had much more to do with the board's efforts to publicize the proposal and the resulting potential harm than it did with simple good fortune.

While the nail technicians who serve on state boards assert that they bring great value in their depth of knowledge of both the industry's techniques and its issues, their importance isn't necessarily generally accepted. "When issues come up, we create committees and make sure those areas are covered," says Stramecky. "When skin care comes up, for exam­ple, we write to skin care professionals and invite them to attend committee meetings so that they are represented."

Lakaye Reddick, chairperson of the Florida State Board, on the other hand, perceives a need for representation of each aspect of the beauty industry on the state board. "It's hard to speak for nail technicians when you don't do nails," she says. "Just like it's hard to speak for hair braiders when I don't know how to braid hair."

Zesiger, herself a nail technician, views it this way. "I have been a mani­curist for 20 years and 1 better under­stand the problems we [nail technicians] come across, but I don't know that my contribution toward nails is any greater than a cosmetologist's because a rule is a rule and a law is a law," she says. She cites as an example a disciplinary action against a not-yet-licensed nail technician who performed a pedicure as part of a job interview. "An inspector happened to walk in, and the nail technician and the owner were fined. The owner just paid the fine and went on, but here's this poor manicurist who has to appear to find out if she'll get a license. I could see her side a little better than others, but she broke the law. What do you do?"

What, indeed? Dealing with discipli­nary actions is often hardest for board members regardless of the services they perform in the salon. "It's very hard when you're up there acting as a judge, and you can't let your feelings guide you," Coito notes. "It's hard, but you do what you have to when the evidence is there. We're here to make sure everyone is protected."

A New Outlook

While state board members give of their time and energy, they say the pay­back is generous in terms of increased knowledge, a heightened awareness of industry issues, and a sense of giving back to the industry where they've made their profession.

"I have learned so much from being on the board and I have a new awareness of issues," Ferguson says. "For example, 1 never realized sanitation was not being taken as seriously as it should be. I've al­ways taken my job very seriously, but I take it even more seriously now."

"I understand both sides now," Coito adds. "At one point a salon owner told me the state board was picking on her because they come too often. I can un­derstand that frustration, but my frus­tration is that everybody thinks inspec­tions are just to hassle salons, when they're really about protecting con­sumers and the licensees."

Hoxsey says, "I would encourage everyone to be more knowledgeable about the issues and what their state board is doing. People get busy with their work and their family, but there's a handful of people making rules that affect their jobs. They don't know the process behind the laws and rules, yet they're following ones developed by less than 10 people. For example, I would guess most nail technicians in Oregon don't know that there are people dis­cussing if they should be allowed to use drills, and all of the sudden there will be a rule they will have to live by."

While state board members them­selves are often not individually accessi­ble to licensees, they urge practitioners to attend the board meetings, which are open to the public. Individuals also can address the state boards directly at these meetings simply by calling the state board office and requesting to be added to the meeting's agenda. "We are always looking to the industry for support and informa­tion," Reddick notes. "It's very easy to reach the board; all you have to do is write a letter or just call the office. But the first time I ever heard from nail technicians was when MMA came up this spring."

"Everyone thinks the state board is like the Gestapo," Coito adds with a laugh. "We're here to make sure every­one is protected, to help people."

Alabama Struggles With State Board’s Role and Power

In early 1997 The Alabama State Board of Cosmetology was sunsetted in a deliberate move by the legislature to replace the board member and at the same time I educe then power I guess you would call it a power struggle and the board was sunsettted says Lola Hill former state board member and now executive director of the board The bill said all board members would cease to serve and the governor would appoint new members

However, it took more than six months for the state legislature to confirm those new appointments.

In the meantime the state board administration was in chaos and almost went bankrupt. "Because the board does all the testing, we went seven months without any tests, and the former executive director was just left on her own," notes Hill, herself a licensed cosmetologist.

"No state should ever sunset the entire board," she continues. "You always need some experience, and no office should ever be left to run without someone in charge. Where I have a problem is with the political aspect. I would like to see every state go with the national written and practical exams and all boards become advisory boards to the profession and the office. It would take out some of the po­litical play

"When our board was sunsetted, the legislation took away all their power. Now all they can do is ex­amine students and disci­pline licensees," observes Hill. "Before, the board had complete control. There needs to be a bal­ance between the two ex­tremes. By going with the national exams, I think that would free the board to focus on what's really important for consumers and the profession.