by Garth Meyer
Southern California Regional Occupational Center (SoCal ROC) held its annual advisory night Feb. 1, with industry representatives giving their input on classes for the year to come.
The event is part of Career and Technical Education Month, held each February.
About 60 people took part, including professionals from healthcare (hospital, private practice, dental), EMT, architectural design, cosmetology, and automotive (body and mechanical).
“One of the keys to our program quality, and being relevant out there in the world are these partnerships,” said SoCAL ROC superintendent Julian Rodriguez.
“Just like the high schools keep in touch with the colleges, we do it with the workforce. If they are involved, they are more confident in hiring our students.”
The advisors first gathered for dinner in the SoCal ROC boardroom.
“Local hair salon owners talking to metal fabrication shop owners,” Rodriguez said.
Individuals then went to breakout sessions by industry. Subjects included labor market data, equipment, course outlines, career pathways and trends.
Questions asked included; ‘What changes are affecting industries right now?’
Among the changes identified were medical offices moving to online appointment scheduling. A message is sent to a patient’s phone and patients click on open dates.
“I’m not Doomsday about it, in any way, shape, or form, but AI does change our jobs,” Rodriguez said. “We just have to respond to it.”
Many SoCal ROC teachers work in the industry they teach. Instructors stay in contact with the advisors, a roster which is required for the center to receive federal funding.
SoCal ROC has 540 students, who started the spring semester Feb. 5.
Rodriguez reports a three percent increase over last year. The students are a mix of 55% high school and 45% adults. Some are career-changers, while others are workers looking to add to or burnish skills.
“Let’s say you’re a dental assistant and you don’t need to take the whole course again, you just want to brush up — pun intended — you just need one module,” Rodriguez said.
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Veteran salon owner advises on new state rules
Michael Light has been a SoCal ROC advisor for the past 10 years. He is the owner of Salon Vivace in Torrance. He also co-owns three salons in Virginia and two in Pennsylvania, where Light first got into the business as a 16-year-old with a GED taking two buses to the downtown Pittsburgh Beauty Academy.
This year he was unavailable for advisory night, so SoCAL ROC teacher Shawn DeMoss met with him at the salon the following week.
The meeting came at a time of change for California’s state requirements in cosmetology and barbering. Since 2022, students are only required to have 1,000 hours — down from 1,600 — of training before taking a written test for a license. A state bill also eliminated the former hands-on demonstration test.
Light suggests SoCal ROC is navigating the new environment well.
“My verdict is (the State) is making a lot of changes. You can only do so much in 1,000 hours,” he said. “Now you’ve got to do more education in less time. A test that is only written tests sanitation, disinfecting and sterilization. You can legally do hair, but it doesn’t mean you’re a good hairdresser. In my opinion, when you come out of beauty school, you can do hair, but that’s just the beginning.”
In his meeting with DeMoss, they talked about the new SoCal ROC curriculum at 1,000 hours.
“I think they are right on target,” Light said. “I was impressed with how they broke down the thousand hours.”
His first salon job was in Pittsburgh in 1978, in a department store.
“I think, if you start off young, it’s a career, it’s what you make of it, if you work hard and keep learning you can make enough to buy a home in California.” ER
