**Training for Realtime Writers Program -- FY 2012 Project Abstracts**

**P116K120006 - College of Court Reporting, Inc.**

**Total Funding:  $300,000**

**Project Period:  10/01/2012 - 09/30/2014**

**Project Director:**  Jay Vettickal

111 W. Tenth Street

Suite 111

Hobart, IN  46342-0016

**Telephone:**  (219) 942-1459

**Fax:**  (219) 942-1631

**E-mail:**jay.vettickal@ccr.edu

There is current need to promote the training and the placement of individuals as realtime writers.  The goals and objectives of the College of Court Reporting (CCR) as it relates to this are to improve an existing program for mentoring and coaching students and significantly increase the number of English, Spanish, and students with disabilities for preparation of realtime and captioning jobs.  CCR will improve mentoring and coaching of its students by analyzing feedback and student progression rates of students participating in CCR’s Professional Mentor Program.  CCR will significantly increase the number of English, Spanish, and Americans with disabilities providing training in realtime writing through competitive scholarships for education related expenses; developing comprehensive public awareness and recruiting campaigns to be shared at no charge with NCRA-certified programs; and increasing the number of users who are provided free access to ev360 Infinity, a module of CCR’s ev360TM LMS technologies that allows user to enhance realtime skills.  All projects can be replicated to meet the overall objective of responding to the need for more realtime writers nationally.

Competitive Preference Priority 1:  Recruiting and public education plans will be shared at no charge to NCRA-certified schools.  Ev360 Infinity is available at no charge to all students at these schools and professionals for realtime writing development.

Competitive Preference Priority 2:  ev360 technologies have built-in reporting features that allow teachers and students to analyze every aspect of student learning and persistence.

Competitive Preference Priority 3:  Teachers use Elluminate and ev360 technologies to improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness.  Elluminate recordings are available 24/7 to students for review and are reviewed with teachers as part of faculty development.  Features in ev360 allow teachers to provide detailed text and audio feedback on assignments.

**P116K120001 - San Antonio College**

**Total Funding:  $214,878**

**Project Funding:  10/01/2012 - 09/30/2015**

**Project Director:**  Susan Espinoza

1300 San Pedro Avenue

San Antonio, TX  78212-4299

**Telephone:**  (210) 486-0748

**E-mail:**sespinoza@alamo.edu

To better serve the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, to help broadcasters and media distributors comply with FCC regulations, and to increase the number of realtime captioners in Texas and the United States, San Antonio College (SAC) Court Reporting faculty will use grant funds to expand and improve our current training program for realtime captioners.  Activities include:  (1) partnering with industry to update/improve captioning courses and to train Court Reporting faculty to teach in captioning; (2) partnering with community agencies, school districts and campus partners to increase student enrollment in SAC’s Court Reporting/Captioning program; (3) purchasing equipment and software to establish a realtime captioning laboratory; (4) implementing captioning internships and job placement for students and graduates; (5) establishing a captioning student mentorship program; and (6) sharing curricula and effective student recruitment and retention methods with other court reporting/realtime captioning training programs nationwide.

The project’s target area will be the city of San Antonio, and SAC’s application for the Realtime Writers Program addresses all three competitive preference priorities.  By the end of this three-year project:  (1) SAC’s Court Reporting program will have doubled enrollment of machine shorthand (court reporting) students and will be educating at least 20 captioning students each year; (2) at least 50 percent of all Court Reporting program graduates (approximately seven students) will be employed as realtime captioners within three months of graduating; (3) the Court Reporting program will have increased overall fall-to-fall retention by 10 percentage points; and (4) the Court Reporting program will have increased overall graduation rates by six percentage points.  We also expect that, by the end of this project, at least two realtime writing training programs will have reported using our dissemination materials to start or improve a captioning degree or certificate program.

**P116K120003 - MacCormac College**

**Total Funding:  $295,850**

**Project Funding:  10-/01/2012 - 09/30/2017**

**Project Director:**  Margaret Sokalski-Dorchack

29 E. Madison Street

Suite 200

Chicago, IL  60602-4404

**Telephone**:  (312) 922-1884

**Fax:**  (312) 922-4286

**E-mail**:  msokalski@maccormac.edu

MacCormac College’s Court Reporting program is the oldest in the nation and is certified by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA).  This grant will allow MacCormac to develop Computer Assisted Realtime Translation (CART) and Broadcast Captioning certificates while utilizing the strengths of its long-standing Judicial Court Reporting program.  The grant will provide integrated and comprehensive support services including workshops, online mentoring and the use of Realtime CoachTM.  Career development services as well as internship and job placement assistance will also be provided.

These support programs will be assessed annually to ensure they are meeting the needs of the students.  The evidence gathered from the assessment process will be used to make program improvements and will provide the data needed to develop these into model, replicable components that will strengthen the education of realtime writers at other institutions.  By the end of the grant period, MacCormac will be graduating eight new students each year with certificates in CART and/or Captioning.  Within six months of graduating, 100 percent of students who want professional jobs in the field will be employed.

The grant addresses Competitive Preference Priority 2 by systematically analyzing data on predictors of success and using the results for program improvement.  The grant addresses Competitive Preference Priority 3 by integrating and evaluating RealtimeCoachTM.

A total of $295,850 will be distributed throughout five years.  After two years of the grant, MacCormac will progressively cover more of the costs each year in order to integrate the program into the College budget and ensure that it continues after the grant funding has ended.

**P116K120007 - Green River Community College**

**Total Funding:  $298,141**

**Project Funding:  10/01/2012 - 09/30/2016**

**Project Director:**  Sidney Weldele-Wallace

12401 Southeast 320th Street

Auburn, WA  98092-3699

**Telephone:**  (253) 833-9111 ext. 4705

**Fax:**  (253) 288-3463

**E-mail:**sweldele@greenriver.edu

To meet the anticipated 25 percent growth in demand for realtime writers by 2016 predicted by the National  Court Reporters Association (NCRA), as well as employment needs within its service area, Green River Community College is requesting $298,141 to enhance recruitment and support its Computer Reporting Technologies (CRPT) program.

Green River Community College served 19,279 Students in 2010-2011.  Its service area is characterized by increasing diversity, as well as by a growing number of low-income residents escaping the rising cost of living in the nearby Seattle and Tacoma metropolitan areas.  Forty-two percent of the student body is of color.  Forty-nine percent of students in 2010 received federal financial aid.  Over 50 percent of students are the first in their families to attend college.

The CRPT program is an NCRA-approved program offering degrees in realtime judicial reporting and broadcast captioning, as well as certificate programs in scopist/text entry and retraining for court reporters transitioning to captioning careers.  The program employs four faculty members, enrolls an average of 123 students each fall, and enjoys robust institutional support in the form of high-quality assets such as new instructional facilities and live audiovisual streaming of classroom instruction.

Despite the esteem and success enjoyed by realtime writers, NCRA has identified the shortage of students as the profession’s #1 challenge in the next 15-20 years.  Proposed funding will increase Green River Community College’s capacity to train students and will improve student outcomes.  Funds will provide for four major activities:  increasing enrollment through marketing within local high schools and on campus; awarding 30 need-based scholarships to defray the $28,000-$30,000 total cost of a realtime writing degree; increasing student persistence via cohort-based instruction; and building program capacity through curricular redesign, technical support, and faculty professional development.

Proposed activities address all three competitive preferences of the TRTW Program.  Student performance will be monitored to track future completion and employability.  Faculty will actively share project information with other realtime writing programs to encourage adoption of best practices, thereby ensuring that project activities will not only benefit CRPT students and the college but the realtime writing profession as a whole.

January 2013