By Jim Cook Published: September 29, 2009
The Alabama Dual Party Relay Board
will give Troy University $1.5 million over five years to fund its
training program for interpreters for the deaf. The program allows Troy students to get a bachelor’s degree in
education for interpreters for the deaf. The university hopes to
eventually establish a center on deafness at the Troy campus. The program was started last year with a $250,000 grant from the
Alabama Department of Education. State funding dried up when the
recession hit, so the new funding was a lifesaver for the program. “What you have done is to give second life,” Chancellor Jack Hawkins
Jr. said. “Without your commitment this wouldn’t be possible.” There are about 40,000 deaf people in Alabama and only 204 licensed
interpreters. In 2012, all interpreters will need a four-year degree
to obtain licensure. “There is an acute need there, and this addresses the problem,” Hawkins said. About 100 students are enrolled in the bachelor’s program for
interpreters for the deaf, up from 25 the previous year. Lance Tatum,
Troy University dean of education, said Troy would be able to deliver
the program via distance education, allowing students at its satellite
campuses around the world to enroll in the program.
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