## FY 2010 Award Abstracts for 

## 84.116K Training for Realtime Writers

**P116K100007 - Clark State Community College**

**Creating Flexible Access to Realtime Writer Training**

**Project Period: 01/01/2011 – 12/31/2013**

**Total Funding: $268,454**

Project Director: Robin Hennigan, Instructor, Realtime Reporting

570 East Leffel Lane

Springfield, OH 45501

Phone: (937) 328-8080

Fax: (937) 328-6077

E-mail: Henniganr@clarkstate.edu

**Abstract:**

The United States is experiencing a severe shortage of realtime writers (RTW), a shortage that will worsen as FCC requirements for broadcast captioning take effect. The regions of west central and southwest Ohio suffer a shortage of RTWs and affordable RTW training.  

Clark State Community College has an outstanding RTW program that has demonstrated 100 percent placement of its graduates for the last 39 years, and has now placed the entire program online. However, to keep up with the demand for RTWs in the region and state, Clark State needs to make RTW training accessible to many more students. Through the project, Creating Flexible Access to Realtime Writer Training, we will partner with a career technology school district that serves the greater Cincinnati and tri-state area, to offer the RTW program at their site. Clark State will maintain the program at its own main campus and expand it to its site in Greene County. The program will also continue to be available online. Students can select one or more of the course delivery types to suit their needs. 

Clark State has also identified several target markets that are strong prospects for an RTW career, including spouses of military personnel and also veterans who have suffered a disability during their service. Clark State’s Greene County site’s proximity to Wright Patterson Air Force Base will make the program very accessible to these cohorts. 

To increase the number of RTWs, we must increase awareness of its opportunities; marketing and recruitment are an important component of this project.    

Grant funding would purchase the equipment necessary to set up the onsite program near Cincinnati; to implement an extensive marketing campaign; pay the personnel costs for the initial program implementation; and provide scholarships to ensure access to underserved populations. 

Clark State will sustain the program after the funding period is completed.  

**P116K10009 - College of Court Reporting, Inc.**

**Promoting the Training and the Placement of Individuals as Realtime Writers in order to Meet the Requirements for Closed Captioning of Video Programming**

**Project Period: 01/01/2011 – 12/31/2011**

**Total Funding: $238,075**

Project Director: Jay T. Vettickal, Executive Director, College of Court Reporting

111 West Tenth Street, Suite 111

Hobart, IN 46342

Phone: (219) 942-1459

Fax: (219) 942-1631

E-mail: Jay.Vettickal@ccr.edu

**Abstract:**

There is a current need to promote the training and the placement of individuals as realtime writers in order to meet the mandates for closed captioning of video programming addressed in section 713 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613).  The goals and objectives of the College of Court Reporting (CCR) as it relates to this are to improve mentoring and coaching of students; to significantly increase the number of realtime writing and captioning students for preparation of realtime and captioning jobs; and to significantly increase the number of captioning and realtime job opportunities for graduates.  

 The College of Court Reporting will improve mentoring and coaching of its students by hiring part-time realtime writers as mentors with defined goals and providing these mentors with continuing education opportunities.  CCR will significantly increase the number of realtime writing and captioning students by offering competitive scholarships, implementing a proprietary Student Alert system, beginning a Spanish realtime writing and captioning program, and implementing a Voice Captioning program.  CCR will significantly increasing the number of captioning and realtime job opportunities for graduates by increasing the number of captioning companies that CCR works with to place graduates and increasing the number of realtime writing and captioning Advisory Board members.  It is expected that enrollment numbers will increase; progression, retention, graduation, and placement rates will increase; graduates will have a better selection of job placement opportunities; and students will receive the most up-to-date curriculum improvements to prepare them for the professions.

Besides proprietary software developed by CCR, all methods and outcomes can be replicated to meet the overall objective of increasing enrollments of all realtime writing programs to meet the needs of increasing the number of realtime writers nationally.  

**P116K100017 - Midstate College**

**Midstate College Application for Grants under the Training for Realtime Writers Program**

**Project Period: 01/01/2011 – 12/31/2016**

**Total Funding: $220,754**

Project Director: Teresa D. Ozuna, Realtime Reporting Program Coordinator

411 W. Northmoor Road

Peoria, IL 61614

Phone: (800) 251-4299

Fax: (309) 692-3893

E-mail: Tozuna@midstate.edu

**Abstract:**

Midstate College in Peoria, Illinois, was established in 1888 and has been offering an education in court reporting since the mid-1970s.  This private, four-year college with over 700 students offers a Bachelor of Science Degree in Realtime Reporting with concentrations in Broadcast Captioning, CART Reporting, and Judicial Reporting and an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Judicial Reporting, both of which are certified through the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA).

Training realtime writers is a priority goal for Midstate College, and a grant award would increase the capability to fulfill that commitment with an even greater level of success.  The Realtime Reporting programs is a quality program; but the expanded training and retraining that could be realized from the grant would certainly benefit both current and future students, especially those students hoping to further their education in broadcast captioning.

The main goals of Midstate College’s Project Design are the following:

1.  Develop and implement marketing and recruitment strategies to increase enrollment in the Realtime Reporting Program by 20 percent each year for the five years of the project.

2.  Meet a graduation rate of 100 percent in the Realtime Reporting Program, 25 percent of which are in the broadcast captioning concentration, each year for the five years of the project through the expansion of the Realtime Reporting Program and the support of its students.

3.  Meet a placement rate of 50 percent for Realtime Reporting graduates, 25 percent of which will be placed in the broadcast captioning field for the five years of the project. 

While Midstate College has a history of success in its work to develop, refine, implement, accredit, certify, and develop a Web-based environment for its Realtime Reporting programs, federal funding would provide many additional opportunities for training future realtime writers. 

**116K100012 - West Valley Community College District**

**Promote Training and Placement of Individuals as Realtime Writers in order to Meet the Requirements for Closed Captioning of Video Programming**

**Project Period: 01/02/2011 – 12/31/2015**

**Total Funding: $262,838**

Project Director: Linda E. Lawson, Instructor, Court Reporting and Related Technologies

14000 Fruitvale Avenue

Saratoga, CA 95070

Phone: (408) 741-2439

Fax: (408) 741-2127

E-mail: Linda.Lawson@wvm.edu

**Abstract:**

West Valley College, established in 1963, is a public community college located in Saratoga, CA, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The college is committed to lifelong learning, embracing diversity, and advancing California’s economic development by creating economic opportunities in the communities it serves. College enrollment is 11,873 and the Court Reporting and Captioning (CTRC) department enrollment is 153 students for the 2009/2010 academic year. 

The CTRC program is the only one in Northern California certified by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) and the only public program offering both day and evening classes. CTRC students provide CART services to Stanford, UC Berkeley, state universities, community colleges, and deaf and hard-of-hearing associations. On this 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is gratifying to note that two blind students who completed the West Valley College CTRC program are working as official reporters. One of them continues to provide CART services as well. The department has also provided captioning services to hearing-impaired elementary and high school students to improve language development and plans to expand these services.

Hispanics make up 36.6 percent of California’s population and 26 percent of the population in Santa Clara County (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008) where the college is located. One of the CTRC instructors is fluent in Spanish and Hispanic students currently make up 15 percent of the program’s population. Offering a Spanish realtime curriculum should attract qualified individuals to meet the growing demand for Spanish-language CART and captioning services. The department currently operates with six part-time instructors. It is expected that a full-time instructor position will be secured for the 2011/2012 academic year and will be funded by the college.

Funds from the Training for Realtime Writers Program (TRTW) will make it possible to develop a captioning certificate program and courses in Spanish-language realtime writing for captioning and CART, increase enrollment by at least 85 students between the on-site and online programs, and provide incentive scholarships to disadvantaged and underrepresented students. Funds to participate in captioning seminars and to contract with consultants experienced in broadcast captioning and Spanish-language realtime writing will facilitate these goals. The resulting academics, curriculum, skills and tools will be shared with other institutions through faculty links on the CTRC web page, inquiry responses, and professional seminars.  

Additional equipment is required to facilitate increased enrollment and a captioning curriculum. This includes additional steno writers and captioning peripherals to increase lab capacity by 50 percent, from 30 to 45 workstations in the first year with ten additional workstations in the second year. 

The college’s instructional technology center will be utilized to produce online theory classes and a wide variety of practice dictation on video to meet the needs of distance learners. These resources can also be made available to other schools. 

Outcomes from the TRTW program will be substantially expanded career opportunities and employment for a greater number of students, realtime Spanish, captioning and online curricula that can be used as models for other programs, and better service to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

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