Note: This blog is more than just a transcript for the vlog above.
Last week, it was announced here in Michigan that the top Interpreter Training Program [ITP], located at the Lansing Community College [LCC], was being considered for suspension and reduced to an one year program. Not only is LCC the top ranked ITP in the state, it is ranked number 5 in the United States. LCC’s rationale for this suspension is due to almost no ITP graduates passing the Board for Evaluation of Interpreters [BEI].
The fact is, almost none of any ITP graduates in the entire state are passing the BEI. It is exceedingly difficult to pass the BEI due to several reasons:
The BEI was only very recently implemented, in the last year and half. The BEI replaced the Michigan Quality Assurance [QA] test.
The BEI itself is notoriously exceedingly difficult to pass. It was developed in Texas, and even the interpreters in Texas have difficulty passing it. As of 2009, according to the BEI’s website , only 39% passed the basic level, and it was even worse in the previous years before 2009.
There is a lack of 4 year ITPs here in Michigan. 2 years is simply just not enough to produce well-educated, fully-rounded and competent interpreters upon graduation.
The Division on Deafness and Hard of Hearing [DODHH] has one of the most strict rules in the country about how and where the ITP students can practice their skills in the community. At this time of writing, their ability to do so, is functionally non-existent. This is part of the reason why there is currently a bitter, profound divide between the DODHH and interpreters, ITPs and the deaf service providers.
This is on top of the Michigan State University closing its Deaf Education program, leaving no future Deaf Education teachers in the state that will be able to use American Sign Language with deaf students here in Michigan. Not only that, but also recently the Michigan School of the Deaf’s property was sold to private developers for $1.3 million. No appraisal or assessment was done on the property or buildings to see the true value or how much it would cost to renovate the buildings. The property was labeled as a brownfield, meaning it is considered to be vacant or polluted. That obviously is not the case.
Furthermore, the lease the private developers now have, requires the State of Michigan to pay rent to them for $2 million per year, for 7 years. After 7 years, the private developers can either sell back the land to the State, or sell it to someone else. For these reasons, the Deaf Community considers the sale to be very suspicious and disturbing. And needless to say, the odds of MSD existing after 7 years aren’t very good. The future of deaf children’s education here in Michigan is very, very bleak.
As people can imagine, the announcement of the LCC ITP potential’s closure (because let’s face reality – once you suspend a program, it’s exceedingly difficult to get it back up and running again), has caused a deep upheaval with the state Deaf Community. The LCC ITP provides 51% of the interpreters in the state, and many of them work in the public schools interpreting for deaf children. If the LCC ITP goes, what’s left for us and our future?
Mind you, the LCC ITP graduates are passing the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment [EIPA] just fine. And that is a national certification test with a solid research basis to it. It is my understanding that the EIPA has not met with heavy criticism as the BEI has.
I find this whole thing disturbing on many levels, because I have noticed a trend of things beginning here in Michigan, then spreading to the rest of the country. So I would be watchful for problems in other states with their ITPs. The national Deaf Community should be concerned about this issue. I understand the State Schools of the Deaf crises is taking precedent, but I think this is also very important.
Now, last Monday I attended the LCC Board of Trustees meeting, along with dozens of other Deaf Community members, interpreters, ITP faculty and students. Approximately 10-12 of us spoke to the Board, and we did make a positive impact on them. The media was extremely interested, and covered this event very well. And during the break, the Provost approached someone who was there. The provost was very nervous, basically saying she didn’t expect this kind of pressure, and emphasized that she did not want to do this, but was only doing this because of the DODHH and BEI situation.That situations is a convoluted and heavily political situation. So I’m not going to go in-depth here in this blog post, and many of you in Michigan already know about this anyway.
So I think it is very important for the Michigan Deaf Community, and other stakeholders such as RID, NAD and state interpreters, etc., to continue sending emails to the LCC president and provost. They are listening to us, and I, along with others, are cautiously hopeful that the LCC ITP will not be closed. But only if we keep up the pressure on LCC and start a meaningful dialogue with DODHH regarding the BEI. Because it is clear that the BEI is not helping the interpreter crisis, and is the main rationale of why LCC is deciding on whether to suspend the ITP. I hope the Deaf Community and interpreters can come together to have a conversation about how to approach this with the DODHH.
Please email the LCC President and Provost to share why keeping the ITP open is so crucial to the future of the Deaf Community here in Michigan. Their emails are: knightb4@lcc.edu and shanbls@lcc.edu.
Thank you for your support, and let’s fight for our rights, so we all can have a better future!
Note: This blog is more than just a transcript for the vlog above.
Last week, it was announced here in Michigan that the top Interpreter Training Program [ITP], located at the Lansing Community College [LCC], was being considered for suspension and reduced to an one year program. Not only is LCC the top ranked ITP in the state, it is ranked number 5 in the United States. LCC’s rationale for this suspension is due to almost no ITP graduates passing the Board for Evaluation of Interpreters [BEI].
The fact is, almost none of any ITP graduates in the entire state are passing the BEI. It is exceedingly difficult to pass the BEI due to several reasons:
This is on top of the Michigan State University closing its Deaf Education program, leaving no future Deaf Education teachers in the state that will be able to use American Sign Language with deaf students here in Michigan. Not only that, but also recently the Michigan School of the Deaf’s property was sold to private developers for $1.3 million. No appraisal or assessment was done on the property or buildings to see the true value or how much it would cost to renovate the buildings. The property was labeled as a brownfield, meaning it is considered to be vacant or polluted. That obviously is not the case.
Furthermore, the lease the private developers now have, requires the State of Michigan to pay rent to them for $2 million per year, for 7 years. After 7 years, the private developers can either sell back the land to the State, or sell it to someone else. For these reasons, the Deaf Community considers the sale to be very suspicious and disturbing. And needless to say, the odds of MSD existing after 7 years aren’t very good. The future of deaf children’s education here in Michigan is very, very bleak.
As people can imagine, the announcement of the LCC ITP potential’s closure (because let’s face reality – once you suspend a program, it’s exceedingly difficult to get it back up and running again), has caused a deep upheaval with the state Deaf Community. The LCC ITP provides 51% of the interpreters in the state, and many of them work in the public schools interpreting for deaf children. If the LCC ITP goes, what’s left for us and our future?
Mind you, the LCC ITP graduates are passing the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment [EIPA] just fine. And that is a national certification test with a solid research basis to it. It is my understanding that the EIPA has not met with heavy criticism as the BEI has.
I find this whole thing disturbing on many levels, because I have noticed a trend of things beginning here in Michigan, then spreading to the rest of the country. So I would be watchful for problems in other states with their ITPs. The national Deaf Community should be concerned about this issue. I understand the State Schools of the Deaf crises is taking precedent, but I think this is also very important.
Now, last Monday I attended the LCC Board of Trustees meeting, along with dozens of other Deaf Community members, interpreters, ITP faculty and students. Approximately 10-12 of us spoke to the Board, and we did make a positive impact on them. The media was extremely interested, and covered this event very well. And during the break, the Provost approached someone who was there. The provost was very nervous, basically saying she didn’t expect this kind of pressure, and emphasized that she did not want to do this, but was only doing this because of the DODHH and BEI situation.That situations is a convoluted and heavily political situation. So I’m not going to go in-depth here in this blog post, and many of you in Michigan already know about this anyway.
So I think it is very important for the Michigan Deaf Community, and other stakeholders such as RID, NAD and state interpreters, etc., to continue sending emails to the LCC president and provost. They are listening to us, and I, along with others, are cautiously hopeful that the LCC ITP will not be closed. But only if we keep up the pressure on LCC and start a meaningful dialogue with DODHH regarding the BEI. Because it is clear that the BEI is not helping the interpreter crisis, and is the main rationale of why LCC is deciding on whether to suspend the ITP. I hope the Deaf Community and interpreters can come together to have a conversation about how to approach this with the DODHH.
Please email the LCC President and Provost to share why keeping the ITP open is so crucial to the future of the Deaf Community here in Michigan. Their emails are: knightb4@lcc.edu and shanbls@lcc.edu.
Thank you for your support, and let’s fight for our rights, so we all can have a better future!