Editors' Note
A Message from the WAVLI President
Support the AVLIC 2010 Conference
AVLIC AGM - Halifax, NS
AVLIC Strategic Plan
Douglas College Distinguished Alumni Award
Puerto Rico
Blast from the Past
Editors' Note
by Wanda Sinclair & Suzie Giroux
Welcome to the new Ripple Blog. While there seems to be two camps when it comes to the permeation of technology into every avenue of our lives, you either love it or you hate it, most of you seem to enjoy access to The Ripple through this new format. In fact, 17 of 17 of you who who replied to the survey question on the Blog said you like it.
The Ripple will run four times a year; July, October, January and April.
As always, The Ripple will endeavour to provide a forum for sharing the myriad of perspectives that exist in our community and for promoting intriguing discussion. Our newsletter is a valuable tool for sharing our field and supporting each other as we continually strive to become the best we can be in our work.
We encourage all readers to submit articles relating to our profession for your colleagues to consider. Everyone has something to contribute - so get inspired and share your ideas through the newsletter Blog.
Hope you enjoy this edition!
Hello Members,
Seems like now we are just waiting for the sunny weather to remain consistent and then we'll be back to the hectic nature of fall before we know it! Things have been moving slow and steady with Title Protection which is my main focus for this term. Currently we have an Ad-hoc committee working on overseeing the process and right now we're just making sure we've got everything covered. Expect to hear more information soon on some areas where we will need member feedback on how to continue the move towards Title Protection for BC.
I attended the AVLIC AGM in Nova Scotia mid-June. It was a beautiful place (despite the fog!). At the Presidents' meeting there were some concerns about retaining membership for other chapters. Some other Provinces were struggling to recruit and/or keep members. I was proud to speak about our membership being almost 200 members strong! With recent changes over the last few years in our community, it's really supported WAVLI by growing into the largest chapter in Canada at this point, which leads me to the next part...
As many of you know the AVLIC 2010 Conference will be held in Ottawa. They have suggested a "Chapter Challenge" selling water bottles and air fresheners. The chapter that sells the most will get a free conference registration for one of its members. If you are not planning on attending the conference, please support AVLIC by buying a water bottle. We'll be posting more information about how you can get your bottle or air freshener soon and with our 200 members, there is a good chance we can win this challenge and a free conference registration for one of our members!
I'm really excited to move into the next term; we have a really energetic group of board members with many ideas for their terms. Some things we'd like to see happen are more information on how to proceed with our application for Title Protection which has been ongoing for many years, the possibility of a degree program for interpreting is finally coming to the table for discussion with various stakeholders and program review committees, a dedication to figuring out how we can make our business meetings and workshops more accessible for members outside of the Lower Mainland and continuing to streamline communications so that WAVLI continues to be an efficient and effective organization. The board will be meeting throughout the summer so we can continue to work on coordinating a busy fall.
My term will be complete in March 2010 at our next AGM, so I encourage members to start thinking about how they want to become involved on the WAVLI Board - it is only 8 months away! I'm looking forward to those next 8 months and hope to accomplish many of the goals I've set out to do before the end of my term.
On a personal note, I've finally graduated with my BPA which is a Bachelor of Professional Arts and my 2-years at Douglas counted towards the degree as block credit. If you are considering further Post-Secondary, don't forget that the 2-year diploma from Douglas does count at many universities for a block credit so for many Douglas grads, you're half-way through a degree if you choose to go that route. There are several WAVLI members that have already done this and if you're considering it, feel free to contact me and I can connect you with others that have graduated here in BC or through other universities.
Look forward to seeing members at upcoming professional development opportunities and for sure at the WAVLI Western Night November 4th!
Have a wonderful summer!
Susi Bolender, BPA, COI
WAVLI President
Hi Members! SLINC who is hosting the AVLIC 2010 Conference in Ottawa has challenged all AVLIC Chapters to a contest to see who can sell the most water bottles for their fundraiser. If we win, WAVLI will receive a free conference registration that we will raffle at the Spring AGM. Especially if you are not able to attend the conference in 2010, please show your support and click the link to BUY YOUR WATER BOTTLE
AVLIC AGM - Halifax, NS
by Susi Bolender
What can be said about the AGM in Halifax - short and sweet? The business meeting ended around lunch time and there were a few motions that needed discussion. Many of them were regarding specifics for bylaws and some "tidying up" that needed to be done.
There were two motions that took some more time to discuss: one about the WTK and one proposing an investigation into RID certification as an American Standard versus the TOI as a Canadian Standard. Unfortunately the movers and seconders of both these motions were not able to attend and it's always hard to discuss motions at non-conference AGM's because there are less members in attendance and it's hard to understand the motivations behind the motions without the people there to speak to them. The members in attendance shared lots of perspectives on both these motions and unfortunately for the people that made these motions, they were defeated.
There was lots of good discussion and perspectives that were raised and the AVLIC board was privy to all of those representations which they will probably be taking under consideration as they move through the phases of the Strategic Plan. From what was explained at the AGM, it sounds like an exciting direction for AVLIC and it will be great to get our west coast voice into the future directions by participating in any surveys, focus groups or online discussions that come as a result of the research and development phase of the Strategic Plan. Suzie Giroux will share more about it here, but to really get a sense of how AVLIC will be changing over the next several years, make sure you are saving up those Airmiles for the AVLIC 2010 Conference & AGM in Ottawa next summer!
AVLIC’s Strategic Plan
by Suzie Giroux
In Halifax, a motion was put forth for the AVLIC Board to participate in a Strategic Plan. The motion passed and as such, AVLIC has started the process of hiring Nathan Garber & Associates to guide it through a strategic planning process.
The end goal of the strategic plan is to improve operation and delivery of AVLIC’s programs to the membership and the communities that AVLIC serves. Through this, AVLIC will develop a more transparent approach to doing business and will establish a concrete direction towards achieving goals for continued success.
This strategic plan should include the following elements:
1. Recommendations for changes to AVLIC’s mission statement if necessary.
2. Recommendations for changes to AVLIC’s objectives if necessary.
3. Recommendations regarding the programs and activities that AVLIC
undertakes.
4. Recommendations regarding the division of responsibilities between
volunteers (including Board and committee members) and paid staff.
5. Recommendations for a staffing model.
6. Recommendations regarding financial measures to ensure that AVLIC has
sufficient funds to support the staffing model.
This would be developed as result of undertaking a strategic planning process which
includes the following activities:
1. Review AVLIC’s mission statement
2. Review AVLIC’s objectives
3. Review programs, projects and activities
4. Review current staff and volunteer deployment
5. Recommend reorganization of responsibilities among volunteers and staff
6. Determine job description of paid staff and other paid workers
7. Determine qualifications needed for paid staff
8. Determine costs for new staff
9. Recommend measures to raise the revenue necessary to pay for proposed
staffing
The motion in Halifax was approved to adopt the strategic plan with a cost limited to $25,000.
Budget Item Projected cost
Professional Planner consultant fees (1) $11,000
Strategic planning meeting with AVLIC Board and Planner (2) $5,000
ASL Interpretation and Translation costs (3) $7,000
Membership outreach such as mailings, meetings,
web based collaboration, administrative manager’s time (4) $2,000
Total $25,000
June 8, 2009
Distinguished Alumni Award recipient sets standard for sign language interpreters
Mission’s Marna Arnell was drawn to sign language interpretation by empathy and curiosity. Now a driving force in the field, the Douglas College Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is committed to making a difference in the interpreting community.
“Watching young Deaf people sign and interact was the most amazing unanswered puzzle I had ever seen,” says Arnell, whose curiosity was first sparked as a volunteer in an elementary school. Initially, she came to the Program of Sign Language Interpretation as a means to learn more about Deaf communication. Intrigued by the challenge of matching visual and spoken languages, she was hooked.
Arnell graduated from Douglas in 1991. Since then, she has been active with the provincial and national professional associations for sign language interpreters, including the Westcoast Association of Visual Language Interpreters and the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC). At AVLIC, she has put numerous hours into revising the interpreter certification process. She also played an integral role in establishing pre-testing workshops to help interpreters improve their skills.
Today, Arnell works as a community interpreter, mainly in post secondary schools and via video relay, a service that allows Deaf people and those with hearing or speech impairments to communicate over the phone with hearing people in real-time. Last year, she was granted the Celebration of Excellence Award by the Disability Resource Network of BC.
Arnell continues to support her alma mater as a regular guest speaker in Sign Language Interpretation classes. “Her desire to see continued improvements in the field is infectious and she promotes high standards of professionalism to students. She has also mentored numerous alumni in their positions,” notes Cheryl Palmer, coordinator of the Sign Language Interpretation Department at Douglas.
After 18 years in the field, Arnell’s passion for the job remains intense. “Every day is new and the work energizes me. As a new field, interpreting requires each of us to be a researcher, a teacher and a student on the job. There are absolutely no limits to what we can achieve.”
Despite her accomplishments, Arnell is humble about receiving the award at the commencement ceremony on June 3.
“If anyone had told me when I graduated that I would one day receive this wonderful award, I would have had a good laugh at the thought. But I did have a dream and I was in the right place at the right time. I got to play a part in establishing interpreting services in the post secondary system in BC. Does this make me a Distinguished Alumna? I am not sure, but I treasure my years at Douglas College and I am deeply honoured to be this year’s recipient.”
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes the quality of Douglas College graduates and their contributions to the community. Past recipients include Vince Tomassetti of Assistive Technology BC, poet Liz Bachinsky and Olympic Gold Medal wrestler Daniel Igali.
MISSION: Puerto Rico - Evangelical School for the Deaf
by Rudy Unger
Several people have asked me to write a report on our trip to Puerto Rico over Spring Break, so here it is.... If you'd rather just see the pictures, you can go straight to my web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/rudyunger/PuertoRico09?authkey=Gv1sRgCM3z4uu5moXJVQ&feat=directlink
This spring break (March 12-19, 2009) Vicki and I travelled with a group of 15 people to volunteer at the Evangelical School for the Deaf in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. We had seen the school last year when we were on vacation in the Caribbean and thought that it would be a great place to bring some of the teens and young adults in our weekly Bible Study. When we asked if anyone was interested in spending about $1000 to work for a week in a Deaf school in beautiful tropical location, it didn't take long to sign up our maximum number of 15 people. We had 7 high school and college students, and 8 adults, including some parents.
Since it was far cheaper to fly out of Seattle, we had to leave home at 2 am to catch our 8 am flight. Lynch Bus lines donated a bus which Fernando (from Victory Hill) volunteered to drive to Seattle. A Deaf church in Renton brought "bag breakfasts" for us at the airport, before we boarded our flight to Houston. Continental airlines treated us like VIP's. Since their safety protocols require them to "flag" Deaf passengers (11 out of our group of 15) for "special service", we were greeted at the gate in Houston with 3 large golf carts to take us to our connecting flight. We arrived in San Juan at 9 pm, and rented a van for the 1 1/2 hour drive to the little town of Luquillo, on the northeast corner of the island. Everyone was pretty tired after being awake nearly 24 hours, and the dorm beds looked very inviting!
The next morning breakfast was served at 7 am, followed by chapel at 8. By 8:30 we got started on our work assignments. A couple of the men started with fixing the lawn tractor, while most of the teens got started on clearing weeds with machetes or weed-eaters. The school is out in the country, mostly surrounded by jungle. Plants grow very quickly in the tropical sunshine, and there's always plenty of yard work to be done. The warm, moist climate also means that things rust very quickly, so there was lots of scraping and wire-brushing needed to prepare the iron security bars for painting. (There are no glass panes on any windows or doors, just screens, shutters and the security bars.) Our group painted almost all of the bars, except for a few second storey windows. One of the men in our group is a skilled cabinet maker, and he resurfaced most of the student desks, and turned several blackboards into whiteboards.
Even though we all worked hard every day, we did manage a trip to the beach most afternoons. It was incredible to jump in the huge waves. The bay at Luquillo Beach is like something you'd see on a postcard - lined with huge coconut palms, and sand the colour and texture of coarse brown sugar. Since we were away from any major tourist areas, we usually had the entire beach to ourselves.
All week we alternated work, play, and visiting with the staff and students at the school. Since all but one of the school's 15 students go home every evening, we were able to use the dorms for our accomodations. The rooms were simple, and the mattresses thin, but after all the hard labour, we all slept well!
Puerto Ricans do eat different foods than what we're used to, and while they import a lot of items, those tend to be much more expensive. Vicki was in charge of our meals and faced her biggest challenge doing the grocery shopping with a Deaf Interpreter. This Deaf woman is the school's volunteer cook and she is only partially fluent in ASL and Spanish. I didn't witness it, but we all had a good laugh at both of their descriptions of their shopping trip! Even though Puerto Rico is a US territory, the main language is Spanish, and English is not that common in the rural areas. The good news is that the Deaf people use ASL, and the school teaches both written English and Spanish!
In addition to all our work at the school, we also got to do some sightseeing. We drove up to the El Yunque National Forest and climbed the observation tower for a spectacular view of the island. On Sunday we visited the Deaf Church in San Juan and also took some time to go shopping in Old San Juan, and to visit the fortresses around the oldest walled city in the Americas. Driving our extended 15 passenger van on the narrow cobblestone streets was quite a challenge. I learned to follow the routes that the tour bus drivers used, and drove over the same curbs that they did, in order to navigate the tight corners.
Another first for most of our group was the opportunity to use Video Relay Service to call home. Since internet connections in Puerto Rico tend to be quite unreliable, when we finally got an interpreter on the screen, we kept them on line while everyone took turns calling home. Most of the parents and spouses back home had not experienced VRS either, so it was a real treat for all of us. It was especially fun one night to see some familiar interpreters from Vancouver! ("Hey that's the person who interprets at my school!")
The highlight for many of us was our catamaran/snorkeling trip on the last day. We sailed out to a tiny unpopulated island with nothing but palm trees and white sandy beaches. It was amazing to snorkel along the reef that divides the Caribbean from the Atlantic - there were so many fish all around us, eating out of our hands. It felt like we were swimming in a tropical aquarium. Several people even saw stingrays and sea turtles! Many of our group got sunburned, but everyone felt that it was worth the pain!
A lot of people have asked when we will be going back. At this point we don't have any definite plans, but I would love to go back -- let me know if you're interested in joining us next time!
By the way, don't forget to look at the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/rudyunger/PuertoRico09?authkey=Gv1sRgCM3z4uu5moXJVQ&feat=directlink
A Blast From the Past!
by Suzie Giroux
My how times have changed! Or... have they? In this feature of The Ripple, we'll go back in time and publish an article from the past. For this issue, it's interesting how history can often repeat itself. Is the current perceived shortage of interpreters really new? Maybe not. Read on...
The Ripple
February 2000
by Marna Arnell
Post-Secondary Interpreter Shortage: What is the Answer?
In British Columbia, as in most of North America, there is currently a shortage of qualified interpreters. There is also an increasing number of students who are deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing attending post-secondary institutions.
In response to the need to promote qualitative service, the Interpreting Services Project has developed a system to advertise available interpreting positions in BC. Interpreters deemed “competent” on the Post-Secondary Screen receive automatic notification of every opportunity posted by a college or university via the British Columbia Institute of Technology “Jobsline.”
Should the job not be filled, ISP then resends the posting to a secondary list of interpreters who have not yet taken the Screen but have training, experience, and who have demonstrated professionalism in the post-secondary system. If there is still no response, the job is sent to interpreters outside of the province via professional interpreting associations. Despite our best efforts, postings still remain unfilled.
One answer suggested by some students is to hire individuals who are not professional interpreters. Often students will request to attend class with a friend or family member who can sign and who works in the interpreter role. Unfortunately, this form of service can lead to problems around the role of the interpreter, the quality of the interpretation, and educational success.
Other students decide they do not want to wait to attend college or university until an interpreter is available. Colleges and universities in BC strive to provide the most educationally sound service possible, however, they also face the need to provide access to the students. This situation has resulted in the need for some creative solutions.
One approach is to offer an alternate service should interpreting not be available. Electronic note-taking and captioning can be an effective solution for some students. It is important, however, to consider the student’s literacy level and course content when evaluating these alternatives. A trial of the new service should be carefully evaluated by the student, service provider, and coordinator.
The Interpreting Services Project, in conjunction with the field, has developed a draft “Alternate Service Form for Student Who Use Interpreting” which outlines the conditions regarding the provision of alternate services and explains the specific steps a coordinator has taken to retain a qualified interpreter on the student’s behalf. There is an emphasis on the student’s role within the educational team and the evaluation process of the alternate service provided. The student and coordinator sign the form, indicating the student is accepting the access alternative. Should the alternative service not be successful, coordinators make every effort to hire qualified interpreters.
This process has been implemented to:
Communicate clearly to students the effort made by the college or university to secure interpreting services.
Encourage self-advocacy on the part of students in determining services that result in educational success.
Meet legal access requirements for students who are deaf, deaf-blind, and hard of hearing.
We are expecting to incorporate feedback regarding the process and form by the end of February and would be happy to share it with you at that time. If you have any further suggestions to help resolve the interpreters shortage, please contact us at…
