New Mexico Register / Volume XXXIII, Issue 24 / December 27, 2022

This is an amendment to 16.34.8 NMAC, Section 13, effective 12/27/2022.

16.34.8.13 REGULATIONS CONCERNING STUDENTS:

A. Student registration

(1) When a school receives an application from a prospective student, it shall promptly notify the student of the registration requirements of the board.

(2) It shall constitute a violation of the rules, within the meaning of the act, for a school to engage in failure to transmit student registration documents and fees in a timely fashion to the board pursuant to Subsection G of 16.34.15.8 NMAC, wherein fines will be imposed.

(3) It shall be the responsibility of the prospective student to comply with the registration requirements by the first day [he/she] the student attends class for credit. Failure to do so may result in loss of hours earned prior to proper registration.

(4) No school shall allow a student to attend class for credit until the student has complied with the registration requirements:

(a) Applicants for the barber, cosmetology, hairstylist, manicure/pedicure, esthetician, electrologist, and manicure/esthetician courses must be at least 16 years of age [and have successfully completed two years of high school or the equivalent.]

(b) Applicants for the instructor course for barbers must be at least 17 years of age and have successfully completed four years of high school or the equivalent.

(5) Acceptable proof of age and education requirements as follows:

(a) Proof of age includes a copy of a birth certificate, a driver's license or a state issued identification card, or a baptismal certificate.

(b) Proof of two years of secondary education includes a high school diploma, a G.E.D. certificate or transcript of G.E.D. test scores, a sealed letter from the high school attended, a copy of the high school transcript showing all required grades have been passed, a letter from the G.E.D. testing facility stating that the G.E.D. test has been passed, or any other test approved by the United States department of education for the purpose of determining an applicant's ability to benefit, providing that documentation of grade equivalency is established by the test publisher and the required grade level for the course of study has been achieved.

(c) The board, or its executive director, may accept as proof of secondary education the applicant's notarized statement that the applicant has completed the required secondary education, but has been unable to obtain documentary proof of that from a foreign nation. A notarized statement will not be accepted for students who have completed the secondary education in the United States.

(6) Evidence of compliance with the foregoing requirements shall accompany the application for registration form provided by the board.

(7) Upon receipt of a complete student registration form and applicable fee, which shall be received in the board office within 15 days of the date of registration, the board office will then issue a student permit and a permit number. The student permit authorizes the holder to practice course related skills in an approved school on the public only after successful completion of fifteen percent of the program. In addition, the student permit also authorizes the student to participate in the student externship program pursuant to 16.34.8.17 NMAC of these rules. A photograph of the student (front view, head only, at least one and one-half inches by one and one-half inches) shall be attached to the permit. The permit shall be displayed in a binder in the school in which the student is enrolled and open to review by the state inspector or other board designee. Student permits are the property of the board and must be returned to the board by the school upon termination of the student's enrollment.

(8) If inspection of the student permits and school records determines that students are attending class without being properly registered with the board, the student may be denied the hours previously accrued and the school will be reported to the board for disciplinary action.

B. Student transfers/re-entries

(1) Any previously registered student desiring to transfer to another school, or re-enter the previous school shall submit a new registration form and required fees to the board. Students transferring schools as a result of a school closure shall submit a new registration form but are not required to pay a re-registration fee. Students attending a school, which undergoes a change of ownership, are not required to re-register with the board.

(2) Any student desiring to re-enter school must submit proof of the successfully completed previous training in order to receive credit for it.

(3) A student enrolled in any course may withdraw and transfer hours or equivalent credit acquired to another course not to exceed the amount of hours or equivalent credit of each subject within the new course curriculum requirements. Appropriate termination notices and course registration documents must be submitted to the board office when a student transfers to another course.

(4) Students enrolled in the cosmetology curriculum may take the examination for one of the specialty courses at which time the school certifies that the student has completed the requirements for the course in which the student seeks licensure. All other requirements for examination must also be met. The student may continue to attend classes in the cosmetology course. However, if licensure is obtained in any specialty course and the student continues attending classes in the cosmetology course, [he/she] students cannot perform any services on the public in the school for which the individual is now licensed.

C. Records of student academic progress

(1) Schools shall keep records of academic progress for each student and these records shall be open for inspection by members of the board or its designees.

(2) Schools will designate in the enrollment contract and other consumer information, all requirements for withdrawal or graduation. When all requirements have been met, the school must return the student's permit to the board, and submit a sealed official transcript of training to the board and to the student showing that course requirements for graduation have been met. The board recognizes for transfer, hours or equivalent credits reported on the official transcript of training. Circumstances regarding transfer of or approval of student hours may be brought to the board on an individual basis for special consideration by the board. The board may, in its discretion, recognize hours or equivalent credit or partial hours or partial credit for transfer when an official transcript of training has not been submitted by the school.

(3) If a student terminates his/her enrollment status without meeting all withdrawal or graduation requirements, the school in which [he/she] the student was enrolled shall notify the board of termination in writing within 30 days of the student's formal termination date using the format prescribed by the board, and return the student's permit.

(3) If a student terminates [he/she] their enrollment status without meeting all withdrawal or graduation requirements, the school in which [he/she] student was enrolled shall notify the board of termination in writing within thirty days of the student's formal termination date using the format prescribed by the board, and return the student's permit.

(4) Schools offering clock hour training shall define its attendance requirements to include one hundred percent attendance for the course length for licensure or may allow excused absences for no more than ten percent of the course length for satisfactory course completion.

(a) student attendance policies are applied uniformly and fairly;

(b) attendance policies give appropriate credit for all hours attended;

(c) schools shall not adjust attendance hours of students whether hours are added, as a reward, or deducted, as a penalty;

(d) the school shall report actual hours attended by the student or shall round the hours to the nearest half hour (i.e. if a student attended 44 minutes past the hour, the school would report the previous half hour; if a student attended 45 minutes past the hour, the school would report the next hour);

(e) the school must maintain attendance records for each student to verify that the minimum attendance standard set forth by the board is being met; and

(f) in cases where schools are authorized to offer training via distance learning methods, the school establish standards for converting competencies achieved to clock or credit hours.

(5) To be considered a graduate, a student must have completed the course scheduled for completion and met the minimum attendance standard (or ninety percent) of the established course of study and all other academic and evaluation factors established by the school. Therefore, in addition to completion of the required hours, the student must have satisfactorily completed the practical and theoretical curriculum requirements set forth by the school. Those requirements must include documentation that the student has satisfactorily completed each unit of study prescribed by the board in the applicable course of study. The excused absences do not allow a student to accelerate in their course of study. Even though they may limit excused absences, they will not be allowed to sit for the state licensing examination until the number of hours, prescribed by the board for the applicable course of study, have elapsed.

(6) If a student is required OR allowed by the school to train more than the scheduled hours in a class day, [he/she] students must be given credit for the additional time in the appropriate subject. Schools have full discretion in setting forth class schedules for each course offered as long as minimum requirements for graduation meet the board standards.

(7) Students may not be called from a scheduled theory class to perform services on the public.

(8) Schools expressing academic measurement in terms of credit hours shall set forth requirements for each unit of study within a course or program which ensures that required levels of competency or skills ability have been met. Such schools must award appropriate credit for each unit of study completed satisfactorily. Records of the students’ academic progress within the course of study must be maintained for all students.

(9) The school shall provide a catalog to prospective students containing enough information to permit an informed choice among training opportunities and institutions. Catalogs which comply with the school's accrediting agency will be deemed to comply with this rule.

(10) Schools must comply with the Family Education Right to Privacy Act and must guarantee the rights of students to have access to their cumulative records and provide for proper supervision and interpretation of student records when reviewed.

(11) Schools and students shall enter into a signed written agreement which fully and accurately reflects the contractual rights and obligations of the parties, particularly with regard to suspension, expulsion, refunds, tuition and fees, withdrawal and graduation requirements. Contracts which comply with the school's accrediting agency will be deemed in compliance with this rule.

D. Records regarding state board examinations: Each school shall disclose to prospective students its annual statistics regarding the school's state examination pass rate. The board or its designee will send a letter to each school after each examination containing the result information on each student, which will serve as the source documentation for calculating the disclosed statistics.

[16.34.8.13 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 34.8.13, 6/16/2001; A, 7/16/2004; A, 10/4/2007; A, 12/17/2015; A, 7/14/2018; A, 12/27/2022]