NAIT slammed over proposal to chop court-reporting program

EDMONTON — The local hard-of-hearing community is worried they will be cut out of the conversation again if NAIT cancels the only public program in Canada training people to transcribe meetings in real time.

"This really isn't our frill," said Cindy Gordon, who reads lips to follow one-on-one conversations. Only a real-time stenographer lets her participate in group discussions or meetings.

"I know they have to decide which programs to cut, but they can't stop our access like this. We were given this (technology) 15 years ago. Now they want to take it away from us?"

Gordon is also a founder of the local chapter of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. Hearing loss is the most common disability in Canada.

NAIT administrators hope to cut 13 certificate and diploma programs to save $2.8 million a year. They face a $12.3-million budget shortfall, mainly due to provincial cuts.

According to NAIT statistics, the captioning and court reporting diploma costs $26,000 per student to run, compared to the average cost of $15,000 per student.

Students in the program are taught to use a shorthand stenography machine with 16 keys.

They learn to type 225 words per minute, and those who succeed go on to work as court reporters, providing closed captioning for television programs, or real-time captioning in corporate meetings, events or classrooms.

Enrolment is capped at 25 students and there is a waiting list for next year.

A well-trained stenographer can turn what's said in a meeting into type and have it projected on a screen with a one-second delay and 98-per-cent accuracy.

NAIT currently trains students from across the country and its records indicate all graduates get jobs in the field. If the program closes, students will have to go online for training, or to the Canadian Centre for Verbatim Studies, a for-profit college in Toronto.

"Their skill is amazing," said Gordon. "There's always such a shortage (of trained people) already. They're stretched to the limit."

NAIT staff were told the programs were threatened last Thursday. A vote went to the academic council last Friday, but it postponed a decision until this Friday. The board of governors and Doug Horner, minister of Advanced Education and Technology, will also have to approve the cuts.

NAIT administrators were unavailable for comment. Rayne Kuntz, a spokeswoman, said the captioning and court-reporting program has been on a watch list for suspension since 1999, and those in the program have been trying to make it viable ever since.

"No one is taking this lightly by any means," she said. "There are honest reasons behind each (proposal)."

But Betty Anne Ross, president of the NAIT staff association, said the program has changed and become more focused on helping people overcome hearing challenges, which is a growing industry.

"Now they even have a waiting list," she said. "You're on a watch list, you change. That's what we call program growth."

Ross said some programs might need to be closed. Programs to train television-repair people and those who look after turf grass were suspended years ago because industries were no longer demanding graduates.

But the timeline for a decision on these 13 programs is too short and normal policies haven't been followed, she said. The subcommittee of the academic council that normally recommends program suspensions hasn't met all year.

Instead, these suspensions came from senior administration. She said she was told the change was due to urgent budget problems. The budget is scheduled to be presented to the board of governors on May 10.

The captioning and court reporting two-year diploma would be the most contentious suspension, but industry members who count on the programs to train future employees should have a say, Ross said. "Everything is just coming so fast. (Basic consultation) will take more than a few weeks. All that we're asking is that due process be followed."

The suspensions would affect about 700 students, many of whom have already been accepted into programs for September.

Provincial officials sent NAIT an initial letter of support that included a page-long list of criteria to satisfy, the minister said. He'll look at costs to run each program, industry demand for graduates, student demand for the program, and how each fits with offerings across the province. "We can't be all things to all people. We want our institutions to be reviewing the programs we're offering."

As for the captioning and court-reporting program, he said, "nothing is done as of yet."

estolte@thejournal.canwest.com

This article was published in the Edmonton Journal on April 14, 2010. Read the full article on the EdmontonJournal.com website.