CIT News Volume 26 Issue 3
NCIEC Update

The NCIEC is excited to announce two important activities for the field. We are conducting a series of national needs assessments, including two designed to gather information about interpreter educators and interpreting programs. We will also be sponsoring pre-conference activities at the CIT convention in October, and offering several workshops during the week.

Needs Assessments

Since our first face-to-face meeting in January, the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC) has been, in the words of Dr. Bruce Tuckman, “forming, storming, norming, and performing!”  Far from being off in our respective regional corners, our six Centers have been exploring the nature of our new collaborative, actively interacting on Year 1 development projects.  We believe that the new Consortium structure – and the collaborations it fosters with others – has the potential to bring about far-reaching, measurable enhancements in interpreter education and professional development.  We would like to draw RID members’ attention to a major focus of NCIEC’s Year 1 activities, one in which we urge your collaboration. We have embarked on a mandated and much-needed national needs assessment.

Interpreter Educators and Programs: We need your input and perspectives! Each Interpreter Education Program has received a survey asking for important information about your program. Please respond and return the survey as soon as possible.   Interpreter educators—you will be contacted at the beginning of September, and we ask that you respond to our questions about your needs, and that you ensure that each of your faculty respond as well.

Interpreting Students: We will be contacting your programs in September, and asking that they disseminate a survey about your needs to you, so that we can gather your input as well.

The NCIEC is also beginning a multi-year process of gathering information from interpreting practitioners, Deaf and Deaf-blind consumers, VR service agencies, interpreting referral agencies, and other key stakeholders. If you see a survey with our logo as a convention, interpreting office, or event, please help us understand your needs by participating in the surveys. There will also be opportunities for online submissions, and in the future we will be conducting focus groups, and interviews.

The purpose of the needs assessment process is to ultimately collect essential information not just from interpreters, but also from consumers, educators, and service providers about the current state of interpreting, interpreting education, and consumer involvement in the U.S.  We are pleased to be working in collaboration with RID, CSUN, and University of Tennessee on this project. A formidable undertaking, the needs assessment will be conducted throughout the next four years, in a variety of venues and settings. The results of the needs assessment this year will inform future assessments and the direction of NCIEC activities. Please be sure to contact the NCIEC www.asl.neu.edu/nciec for more information.

CIT Participation

We are pleased to announce that the NCIEC Centers will be offering both pre-conference activities and presentation during the week. Although we do not have a final schedule of activities, we will be sponsoring at least 3 pre-conference sessions, including a focus group with interpreting program administrators about the impending RID requirements for a BA degree prior to certification; an exploration of current accessibility challenges for Deaf people and for linguistically and culturally diverse groups who are part of the interpreting and education fields; and a leadership training activity for those who want to develop or enhance their leadership abilities. NCIEC members are also presenting a variety of workshops during CIT, many in the Administrator track of the program. We look forward to seeing you there, and invite you to contact us for more information about any of or upcoming activities and events.

Reference: Tuckman, Bruce. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-399.

The National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers is funded from 2005 – 2010 by the U.S. Department of Education RSA CFDA #84.160A and B, Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind.

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