OSU-OKC launches Bachelor of Technology in Sign Language Interpretation

Friday, July 23, 2010

The Oklahoma State University/A&M Board of Regents approved OSU-Oklahoma City’s request to launch a Bachelor of Technology in Sign Language Interpretation. The degree program will be unique to Oklahoma as there are currently no bachelor degrees offered in sign language interpretation and there are only two institutions offering associate degrees in interpretation. The program request will now go to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for approval.

The university began looking into developing a bachelor’s degree program after the majority of the Sign Language Interpretation associate program graduates expressed an interested in obtaining their bachelor’s degrees.

“Preparations for the program have been underway for several years,” said Dr. Larry Edwards, OSU-OKC Academic Affairs vice president. “During that time we have researched the need for the program, developed the curriculum and spent more than $100,000 upgrading the lab that supports the program.”

By 2012, interpreters will not be able to earn the highest level of national certification for sign language interpreters unless they have a bachelor’s degree. Currently, the associate’s program is 77 credit hours in length. By adding courses such as Technical Interpreting and general education courses, the program will fully meet the requirements for a bachelor’s degree.

“The Bachelor of Technology in Sign Language Interpretation program will continue the tradition of OSU-OKC’s focus on specialized, technical education—whether that education is to earn a certificate, an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree,” Dr. Edwards said. “I hope our program will become a model for Sign Language Interpretation programs for the rest of the country.”

Dr. Edwards says Interpreter Training Department Head Joni Bice and Human Services Division Head Lisa Dillon have been the driving force behind the development of this proposal. “It is their dedication to the students in the current program that have led them to propose this degree.”

For more information about the program, contact Dr. Edwards at (405) 945-3376 or edwarlg@osuokc.edu.