Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board gains efficiency and confidence in their reporting with more than half of all CE hours completed on CE Broker’s Learning Management System, aggregating completions into a centralized portal that’s easily accessible to the Board. 
Overview
In 2018, the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board (Board) contracted with CE Broker to provide a comprehensive tracking and compliance management program for continuing education (CE) required of the more than 100,000 individuals licensed by the Board.
The Board was in need of an affordable way to deliver their educational content to their licensees. After considering many options, they chose CE Broker’s Learning Management System (LMS) to host their courses because it offered a seamless learning experience for their licensees, as well as a wealth of benefits for the Board staff.
Challenge
In early 2020, the Board was trying to determine the best delivery mechanism for their courses to their licensees. At that time, the courses were hosted on the Board’s website, which was a free solution for the Board. However, embedding video content directly on their site was not the ideal solution because it offered limited functionality.
The Board staff had a decision to make – continue the status quo, build their own LMS, or look for an alternate solution. Building a Learning Management System would provide increased functionality and options for assessment, but it would also come with great financial cost to the Board.
Solution
CE Broker proposed to the Board they host their courses on the LMS, free of charge. This solution offered the best of both worlds – a robust system that produced a seamless learning experience for licensees and came at no cost to the Board.
“Our prior LMS was complicated to generate reports from and required lots of manual manipulation of the data. It was difficult for our licensees to use, with virtually no support. CE Broker’s LMS is the exact opposite,” recalled Lori Pearson, the Board’s Interim Executive Director.
Results
Working closely with the Board staff, the CE Broker team uploaded the Board’s courses onto their LMS and saw licensees recording completions the very next day.
“CE Broker’s LMS is an easy, user-friendly platform that’s helped to reduce the number of questions and calls we get from our licensees,” said Cathy Franklin, the Board’s Continuing Education Administrator.
From June to December of 2020, the Board’s courses were completed 57,664 times through the LMS. This accounted for 51% of the total CE completed by this population of licensees during this critical time leading up to their CE completion deadline.
The fact that more than half of all the Board’s CE requirements were met using the LMS during the first 6 months it was available, highlights the accessibility and convenience of this learning tool. Licensees are able to easily complete not only the Board’s courses, but also discover many more courses offered by leading accredited education providers without leaving their CE Broker account.
The Board benefited from a giant reduction in reporting time. Courses completed through the LMS were automatically reported to the Board within 4 hours. By contrast, courses taken outside the LMS took 19 days to report to the Board, on average. That difference of nearly 3 weeks often means late fees, lapsed licensees, added administrative complexities, and a host of other problems for both Board staff and licensees.
Considering many licensees complete CE close to the deadline, this significant reduction in reporting time helps prevent late license renewals, benefiting both Board staff and their licensees.
The Board and their licensees also greatly benefited from CE Broker’s U.S. based support team. Licensees were able to call, email, and live chat with a team of experts trained on their unique license renewal requirements. This fully-managed support by CE Broker was a great benefit that further alleviated the Board staff’s administrative workload.
Conclusion
The Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board needed an affordable, functional delivery mechanism for their courses and CE Broker’s Learning Management System was the right platform to meet this need. CE Broker allowed the Board to host their educational content on a system that was directly connected to their compliance tool at no cost to the Board. This connection delivered a seamless learning experience for their licensees and a real-time view of course completions to the Board. CE Broker’s world-class support team was able to help answer questions and guide the Board’s licensees to reach compliance on-time.
About the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board
The mission of the State Cosmetology and Barber Board is to protect and support the public through regulation and education while promoting the integrity of the cosmetology and barbering industry. The Board is a multi-dimensional agency that regulates individuals and businesses engaged in providing barbering, cosmetology, branches of cosmetology (e.g., esthetics, hair design, manicuring, and natural hair styling), boutique, and tanning services. Businesses regulated include barbershops and salons engaged in retail barbering and cosmetology services, tanning facilities, and barber and cosmetology schools. Learn more https://cos.ohio.gov/.
About CE Broker
Founded in 2003, CE Broker is the leading provider of Continuing Education management and compliance software for licensing and certification boards across the nation. CE Broker brings together state and national boards, education providers, and licensed professionals in one easy-to-use platform designed to increase compliance rates, encourage professional development, and streamline continuing education audits. Learn more https://cebroker.com/.