Sorenson VRS IEP Award of Excellence
for the Class of 2009

The Sorenson VRS® (SVRS) IEP Award of Excellence, presented by Sorenson Communications, recognizes outstanding Interpreter Education Programs (IEP). The annual award identifies programs incorporating VRS instruction into their curriculum and those that continually recognize and respond to the broadening communication needs of the deaf community.

Award Overview

Sorenson Communications is dedicated to supporting excellence in ASL English interpreter education in order to provide the highest-quality professional interpreters in the VRS industry. The SVRS IEP award will recognize outstanding IEPs that go above and beyond routine education, to ensure student outcomes that are commensurate with the entry level positions in the field.

The SVRS IEP Award of Excellence is open to all two and four-year degree-granting IEPs in North America and Puerto Rico. IEPs wishing to apply will respond to the criteria shown below and report on student outcomes for the graduating class of 2009. All applications will be reviewed and a panel of independent IEP industry experts will conduct final judging. One or two final winners will be chosen and all decisions regarding the winning applications are final.

Award

One or two IEPs meeting the criteria outlined below will each receive the following:
  • $10,000 to be reinvested in the IEP according to an approved spending plan
  • $1,500 credit to be used at SignMedia (donated by Sorenson Communications)
  • $4,000 credit to be used at DawnSignPress ($2,500 donated by Sorenson Communications, $1,500 donated by DawnSignPress)
  • A trip (airfare, transportation, accommodations, and conference registration) for two IEP directors or instructors from the winning programs to attend the 2010 Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT) Convention, to be held in San Antonio, Texas
  • IEP award recipient recognition at the 2010 CIT Convention
  • An award trophy

Award Submission Deadline

The online application is available below and must be completed and submitted by midnight MST Tuesday, April 14, 2010. To apply please email the application as an attachment to IEP@sorenson.com or mail the application to:
   SVRS IEP Award of Excellence, 4192 South Riverboat Road, Suite 100, Salt Lake City, Utah 84123

Award Notification of Winners

Winning IEPs will be notified in July 2010. Sorenson Communications will cover the 2010 CIT Convention registration and travel costs for two (2) IEP faculty members from each winning program to attend the convention.

Winners will be recognized publicly at the 2010 CIT Convention. Award funds will be distributed to award recipients by November 30, 2010.

Award Judges

  • Carol J. Patrie, Ph.D., CSC, SC: L, CI, CT
    Patrie is a national and international expert on interpretation and teaching interpretation. She is Director of Curriculum and Instruction for The Effective Interpreting Professional Education Series™, Language Matters, Inc. though which she offers credit courses for interpreters nationwide. She is a past president of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers and is a recipient of the Mary Stotler Award. In 1998 she was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Faculty award at Gallaudet University where she was professor and director of the MA in Interpretation. She was one of the founding commissioners on the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education. Patrie is the author of the seven-volume series, The Effective Interpreting Series and the video series, Interpreting in Medical, Legal, and Insurance Settings, all published by DawnSignPress. Her most recent release is The Effective Interpreting Series: Cognitive Processing in ASL. She is currently developing a multi-media package focusing on fingerspelled word recognition and the eighth volume in The EIS, Translating from ASL.

  • Leslie C. Greer, M.A., ASLTA: Professional Certificate
    Leslie C. Greer received her MA in Linguistics from the University of Rochester, New York. She holds Professional Certification from the American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA) and serves as ASLTA certification evaluator. Currently, Leslie is the ASL Department Chair at the Mt. San Jacinto College, Menifee, California. She has held the position of past president of ASLTA for two terms. She has served the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT) as Director of Public Relations and Outreach since 2007. She has presented numerous workshops on teaching sign language, Deaf culture, and linguistics. She also teaches and interprets on a national and international basis. She is fluent in Japanese Sign Language. She also has hosted a weekly TV talk show that uses ASL as the official language and was dubbed the "Deaf Oprah."

  • Sally Koziar, MA, CSC, OI: C, Illinois State License: Master
    Professor Koziar has over twenty years of instruction in ASL Studies and ASL Interpretation. Upon retiring as ASL Department Chair/Coordinator of Sign Language Interpreting Program and Assistant to the Dean of Academic Enrichment and Language Studies from William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, she was awarded Professor Emerita status. Since her early retirement she has stayed active in the field of interpreting and focuses primarily on legal, medical and video relay interpreting.

    She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri. While completing her master's degree, she worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the deaf, covering 64 counties in western Missouri. Before transitioning into interpreter education, she began her professional career as a counselor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf where she was responsible for facilitating the persona and social transition for incoming students during the Summer Vestibule Program.

    She is nationally certified by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and has been active in professional organizations at the local, state and national level. She served as CIT Treasurer and served on the CIT Educational Standards Committee as a rater for the ITP accreditation pilot project. She also served as a curriculum rater for the National Interpreter Education Project, a test developer for the current RID NIC certification, and served on the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Task Force on Interpreter Licensure.

Award Criteria

Section 1: Executive Summary

Submit a 500-word summary of your program that highlights the ways in which it demonstrates excellence in interpreter education.

Section 2: Curriculum

  1. VRS Instruction Offered
    Summarize the ways in which the program addresses VRS instruction. Include approximate number of contact hours in the curriculum that address VRS. Sample topics could include but are not limited to:
    • What a Video Relay Service (VRS) call is and how an interpreter facilitates these types of calls
    • Using VRS technology in an interpreting environment
    • Handling various VRS call scenarios
    • Benefits of working in a VRS environment
    • Hands-on lab environment in which mock VRS calls are conducted with volunteers from local deaf centers
    Please provide course descriptions for each video relay-related course currently offered along with the educational objectives.

  2. Language Mentorship Opportunities
    Submit a summary of language mentoring opportunities for students. The summary should answer questions, such as:
    • When was the language mentorship program established?
    • What are the components of the language mentorship program?
    • Does the program address both ASL and English?
    • How many times do language mentorship opportunities appear in the program?
    • How many language mentors are included in the program?

  3. Supervised Practicum
    Submit a summary of supervised student practicum opportunities and processes. See below for a sample outline that shows processes including, but not limited to, the following:
    • Qualifications
    • Interview
    • Observation
    • Training
    • Goal setting
    • Progress assessment
    • Completion guidelines

  4. Internship
    Provide an executive summary of the internship portion of the curriculum and attach internship requirements and guidelines.

  5. Post-Graduate Mentorship Opportunities
    Does the IEP offer mentorship opportunities with schools, agencies, private organizations, or VRS programs? If so, briefly describe the mentorship program.

  6. Hallmarks of Excellence
    Describe the ways in which your IEP distinguishes itself from other IEPs and why it should receive the SVRS IEP Award of Excellence.

Section 3: Accreditation

If the program has applied for Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education (CCIE) accreditation or other form of program accreditation, please furnish proof of application for accreditation, admission to candidacy, or accreditation.

Section 4: Intended Use of Award Funds

Intended Use of SVRS IEP Award of Excellence Funds
Submit an explanation and budget detailing how funds would be used to improve your IEP should it receive the SVRS IEP Award of Excellence. For example, summaries might include, but would not be limited to, purchases of the following:
  • Additional IEP library books and DVDs — please list book and DVD titles
  • ELMO projector(s)
  • Video recording equipment
  • Computers equipped with Web cameras
  • Lab equipment
  • Testing tools
Additional uses of funds could include, but would not be limited to, the following:
  • Curriculum revision
  • Practicum enhancement
  • Mentorship enhancement
  • CCIE application and accreditation process, including preparation of the SSR
  • Development of intraprogram evaluation and assessment tools

Section 5: Post Graduation Results for the Class of 2009

Submit the following information:
  1. The total number of graduates in 2009.
  2. The number of 2009 graduates that have either NAD-RID-National Certification tested or have received state quality assurance screening or certification at an advanced or higher level within six months of program completion. Provide separate numbers on those who have taken the test, but are awaiting results.
  3. Include details on the processes the IEP uses to track all graduate's certification attempts or achievements after program completion.
  4. The number of graduates that were gainfully employed in the field of interpreting by November 1, 2009.
  5. Detail the types of employment settings for the 2009 graduates and indicate which are full-time or
    part-time.
  6. Include details on the processes the IEP uses to track all program graduates (from inception of the program to the present) to gainful employment.


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