DoIT Practical Experience
Gallaudet University seniors and second-year graduate interpretation and translation students need low-impact, low-profile translation, and small group assignments to satisfy course requirements during the fall and spring semesters.
Appropriate Requests
Not all assignments are appropriate for student interpreters/translators. A few traditionally successful experiences include (but are not limited to) the following:
§ Neighborhood/Non-profit organizations
§ Weekly morning meeting at a local elementary charter school (announcements)
§ short skit
§ Social events between family, friends, or neighbors
§ Game nights, support groups, or casual information sharing
§ Networking event for a local entrepreneur's club
§ Routine meeting between a homeowner and their landscaper
§ Exercise class (e.g., yoga, Pilates, workout coach)
§ Condo association meeting
§ Social activism discussion group
§ Activities that already have a certified interpreter scheduled
Interactive situations are preferred (e.g. student can manage turn-taking and apply controls). The more information provided in the request, the easier it is to determine if the assignment is appropriate to offer to students, “The best interpreter is a prepared one” (Pamela Collins).
*Professional interpreters and translators are available through local community interpreting agencies if you are an employer seeking accommodation for your employees please seek professional outlets.
Appropriate translation requests:
§ English voice-overs or transcripts for short ASL vlogs less than 10 minutes
§ English voice-overs or free translation transcripts of a video (HTML tagging)
§ English voice-overs or free translation transcripts Informative videos.
Not appropriate for students
We receive a high volume of requests for conferences and professional training events, the majority of which are unsuitable for student participation. Additionally, engagements related to legal, medical, and mental health matters are not deemed appropriate. Events held on the Gallaudet campus are generally unsuitable, as the university is responsible for providing professional interpreting services for its faculty, staff, and students. Furthermore, events involving recorded interpreters are not conducive to student interpreters and, consequently, will not be accommodated.
Deaf Centric Service Provision
Ensure Deaf participants are comfortable having a student interpreter provide the pro-bono services. DoIT considers Deaf-centric and student-centric opportunities.
Certified Interpreters
It is also preferable to have an RID certified professional interpreter working with the student. The list of acceptable interactions expands greatly if the professional interpreter agrees to team with, support, and supervise the student interpreter. The professional interpreter must agree in advance to working with a student and agree to pre-conference and debriefing sessions.
Request Process
By submitting a request, you are agreeing to meet with the student interpreters/translators before and after the assignment to discuss how it went. This is an important contribution to the student's development as interpreters and translators.
Include as much information as you can including the agenda, slides, posters, flyers, presenter bios, and names/roles of people involved in the virtual event or ASL video. This information helps our students prepare and anticipate the topics that will arise during the interpretation and translation.
We prefer to receive requests two weeks in advance although we will try to fill requests with less notice. We keep our students very busy and are unable to fill last-minute requests. The request will be screened and if appropriate sent out to our seniors and second-year graduate students.
We review all requests, however submitting a request does not mean student interpreters or translators will be provided and there is no guarantee that students will be interested and available. If you do not receive contact from a student within two days of being informed that your request was approved and sent out, you may want to follow up with the student scheduler. Students generally accept requests quickly, so if two or three days have passed it usually means that no one is available. If this happens, you should attempt to hire a professional interpreter or translator.
Please send questions to studentscheduling@gallaudet.edu.
Updated December 18, 2024