Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Licensing And Exams topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Executive officer reports improved exam pass rates, heavy renewal season and staff vacancies
Summary
The board’s executive officer reported higher exam passing rates, a surge in license applications and renewals in June, staffing changes and progress on occupational analysis and specialist hiring lists.
The Structural Pest Control Board’s executive officer delivered several operational updates to the board, covering licensing statistics, examination development, staffing and continuing education coordination with the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).
The executive officer said exam passing rates have ‘‘dramatically improved’’ compared with the prior year and that licensing staff processed a significantly higher volume of applications in June. She gave examples from staff: in May a field representative issued 184 field‑rep licenses and in June issued over 300; applicator licenses were 162 in May and 155 in June for another staff member. The report noted June is the board’s busiest month due to renewals and that a live‑scan background check requirement (CCR section 1960) that took effect July 1, 2016, applied to individuals licensed before July 1, 2004; staff said 48,100 individuals fell into the notification category and 22,100 had completed live scan at the time of the report.
On examinations, the board contracted with the Office of Professional Examination Services to update occupational analyses for field rep and operator categories; field rep branch 2 occupational analysis was completed in April and operator branch 2 and field rep branch 3 analyses are underway, with operator branch 3 scheduled to start in August. The board noted it had 60 valid applications for the specialist exam after 30 applications were rejected and would establish an eligibility list for future hiring.
The executive officer listed recent CAC (county agricultural commissioner) training dates and scheduled Northern California CAC training for October; Perissa Neff of DPR stood up during the meeting and identified herself as senior environmental scientist supervisor and DPR contact on the training. The executive officer also described several recent staffing departures and one new half‑time hire placed in the complaints unit; interviews were in progress to fill further vacancies.
Board members thanked staff for the workload handling and asked clarifying questions about turnaround times for exam results and the live‑scan process; staff said PSI, the exam vendor, provides test seats within five days and that candidates receive results on site, while license issuance typically occurs within two weeks after receiving the completed application and fee, with temporary delays in June due to renewals and live‑scan processing.
