The Clark State College Judicial Court Reporting program has earned American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (AAERT) Educational Partners Approval Program (EPAP) status. Clark State’s program has demonstrated commitment to maintaining high standards for reporting and transcribing educational programs, and the classes can be used to prepare for AAERT Certification Testing as well as AAERT’s Continuing Education (CE) Program.
“The two digital certificate programs (PDR and PDE) are important because they will help fill an overwhelming need for reporters across the country and allow students to get a short-term certificate (16 weeks) that provides AAERT certification opportunities and employment opportunities upon achieving the certificate,” said Robyn Hennigan, program coordinator/senior technical instructor of Judicial Court Reporting at Clark State.
Hennigan said both certificates are completely online, providing educational opportunities across the globe, and are approved by the Ohio Department of Education (ODHE) and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
“Having a specific accrediting body of a program helps lend credence to the program by establishing industry-specific skill needs for the program and providing program recognition,” she said. “Program accreditation is the key to maintaining high standards and providing Best Practices developed by AAERT’s Educational Partners Approval Program (EPAP).”
Hennigan said both certificates provide students with quick pathways to a career in the court reporting industry, provide students with coursework to achieve the skills to prepare for the industry-recognized certification tests through AAERT, and allow students to utilize financial aid.
Approval of AAERT’s Educational Partners Approval Program (EPAP) gives the program access to services and advice from this important association. The program (both certificates) will be included on the AAERT website, and both certificates fall under the State of Ohio initiative.
Clark State with partner Stark State have offered the joint National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) approved Judicial Court Reporting (JCR) online degree program since June of 2016. The joint program has successfully worked in conjunction with OCRA to offer an eight-week program created by NCRA called A to Z that introduces steno machine writing to individuals wanting to explore a possible career in court reporting, closed captioning, CART captioning or webcasting. The A to Z program can also be taken online through NCRA. The next online offering begins February 10 with registration available at www.ncra.com.
The Clark State/Stark State program has also partnered with Project Steno, which promotes the stenographic court reporting/captioning profession through social media and community outreach, with the goal of building a robust pipeline of students into school and graduating them in two years. Project Steno relies exclusively on contributions from the court reporting community on a national level for its operations. The Project Steno partnership allows the Clark State/Stark State program to offer Project Steno’s tuition assistance to students who complete the NCRA free A to Z program prior to enrolling in the Judicial Court Reporting program.
“Both the Professional Digital Reporter (PDR) and Professional Digital Editor (PDE) short-term certificates being offered in the joint Clark State/Stark State shared program provide a skill-based curriculum that allows students to earn certificates that lead them directly into professional employment in the reporting industry with good earning potential,” said Hennigan. “The PDR and PDE certificates are both recognized by the State of Ohio’s initiative for short-term certificates for in-demand careers, and both are eligible for financial aid assistance.”