College of Education Health and Human Services
School of Lifespan Development and Educational Services
www.kent.edu/ehhs/ldes

About This Program

The Bachelor of Science in American Sign Language/English Interpreting equips you with the skills needed to communicate between deaf and hearing individuals in a variety of settings. With experienced faculty, a state-of-the-art interpreting lab, and opportunities for hands-on experience, you'll gain the expertise needed to succeed in this rewarding field. Read more...

Contact Information

• Program Coordinator: Jamie McCartney, Ph.D. | jmccar15@kent.edu | 330-672-0708
• Speak with an Advisor
• Chat with an Admissions Counselor

Program Delivery

• Delivery:
  • In person
• Location:
  • Kent Campus

Examples of Possible Careers

• American Sign Language/English Interpreter 
• Sign Language Interpreter

Admission Requirements

Admission to this major is selective. Freshmen students must have a minimum 2.75 high school GPA— for direct admission into the major. Transfer students must have a minimum 2.75 overall GPA for admission.

Students who do not meet the GPA requirement at the time of admission for this major will be admitted to the EHHS General non-degree program until which time they have established a 2.750 Kent State GPA. They may then submit a change of program to declare this major.

Current Kent State and Transfer Students: Active Kent State students who wish to change their major must have attempted a minimum 12 credit hours at Kent State and meet all admission criteria listed above to be admitted. Students who have not attempted 12 credit hours at Kent State will be evaluated for admission based on their high school GPA for new students or transfer GPA for transfer students. Transfer students who have not attempted 12 credit hours of college-level coursework at Kent State and/or other institutions will be evaluated based on both their high school GPA and college GPA.

International Students: All international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning a minimum 525 TOEFL score (71 on the Internet-based version), minimum 75 MELAB score, minimum 6.0 IELTS score or minimum 48 PTE score or minimum 100 Duolingo English score, or by completing the ELS level 112 Intensive Program. For more information on international admission visit the admissions website for international students.

Program Requirements

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Professional Phase coursework.

²

For field experiences, residential practicum and advanced practicum that require candidates to be placed within a school or agency setting, the college requires candidates to complete the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification (BCII) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks and submit the results to authorized personnel at their assigned school/agency before the beginning of the field experience or the first day of the semester in which the field experience or practicum will take place. Authorized school/agency personnel will determine whether a candidate may participate in fieldwork in that setting. The BCII and FBI background checks are good for one year and are mandatory for licensure application. Electronic fingerprinting is available for BCII and FBI in 221 White Hall and should be completed at least two months prior to field experience residential practicum/advanced practicum. Regional campus students should contact their Regional Campus coordinator to identify fingerprinting availability at each campus. Candidates are responsible for fees incurred for this requirement. For more information on this policy, contact the Director of Clinical Field Experience in 304 White Hall. Visit the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) website at https://education.ohio.gov for more information about background check requirements in Ohio. Contact the Office of Professional Conduct at the ODE for specific information about the results of the background check. Due to the length of time that a student participates in the variety of work experiences within the ASL/English Interpreting program, the student may need to complete a minimum of two background checks. Also, if a student is placed out of state, they may need to get a background check completed in that respective state according to the requirements of that state.

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Students who are not pursuing licensure may take an elective in place of PSYC 20651 with special approval only.

Additional Requirements for Students Not Declaring a Concentration

¹

Professional Phase coursework

²

For field experiences, residential practicum, and advanced practicum that require candidates to be placed within a school or agency setting, the college requires candidates to complete the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification (BCII) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks and submit the results to authorized personnel at their assigned school/agency before the beginning of the field experience or the first day of the semester in which the field experience or practicum will take place. Authorized school/agency personnel will determine whether a candidate may participate in fieldwork in that setting. The BCII and FBI background checks are good for one year and are mandatory for licensure application. Electronic fingerprinting is available for BCII and FBI in 221 White Hall and should be completed at least two months prior to field experience residential practicum/advanced practicum. Regional campus students should contact their Regional Campus coordinator to identify fingerprinting availability at each campus. Candidates are responsible for fees incurred for this requirement. For more information on this policy, contact the Director of Clinical Field Experience in 304 White Hall. Visit the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) website at https://education.ohio.gov for more information about background check requirements in Ohio. Contact the Office of Professional Conduct at the ODE for specific information about the results of the background check. Due to the length of time that a student participates in the variety of work experiences within the ASL/English Interpreting program, the student may need to complete a minimum of two background checks.  Also, if a student is placed out of state, they may need to get a background check completed in that respective state according to the requirements of that state.

Community Setting Interpreting Concentration Requirements

¹

Professional Phase coursework

Progression Requirements

• To be able to continue in the program, students must be accepted to the professional phase, comprised of ASEI 43092, ASEI 43103, ASEI 43105, ASEI 43107, ASEI 43110, ASEI 43111, ASEI 43112, ASEI 43192 or ASEI 40092,  and ASEI 49625. Typically, students must apply for the professional phase by the end of the second week of the fourth semester. To be eligible for the professional phase, students must have the following:
• Minimum 3.000 major GPA¹
• Minimum 2.750 overall GPA¹
• Minimum C grade in ASEI 43102, ASL 19201, ASL 19202, ENG 11011 and ENG 21011 (or their equivalents)
• Minimum B- grade in ASEI 43100. Students need a B- in the course before continuing on in the program.
• Passing score on the entrance assessment prior to ASEI 43103 (students who are placed directly into an advanced ASL course are not required to complete the entrance assessment)

Students who are not able to advance into the professional phase or are not able to pass the entrance assessment will receive a warning and will be required to meet with their faculty and professional advisors to develop a plan of continuation. The plan will include all actions necessary to continue in current program, the opportunity to declare a different program, a timeline of when actions should occur and next steps if actions are not followed. Students who have received a warning the previous term will be reviewed during end-of-term processing to determine their status regarding continuation in the major.

The purpose of the professional phase is to ensure that students in the major have adequate preparation necessary to successfully complete upper-division curriculum, including a senior-level practicum, which provides students with professional training in the field of interpreting.

Students must earn a minimum C grade in all ASL and ASEI courses in order to register for the subsequent ASL course, with the exception of ASEI 43100 and ASEI 43104 in which a minimum B- grade is required.

Students must earn a minimum C grade in ASEI 43102 and ASEI 43103 in order to progress to ASEI 43104. Students must earn a minimum B- grade in ASEI 43104 to progress to the final semester.

Before students are approved for ASEI 43192, they must do the following:

• Complete all coursework, with the exception of ASEI 43192 and ASEI 49625
• Possess a 2.750 overall GPA and a 3.000 major GPA
• Complete the prescribed number of clinical application hours
• Candidates seeking Ohio interpreting licensure from the Ohio Department of Education are required to have passed the entrance assessment and the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (Intermediate level or higher) or the American Sign Language Proficiency Interview (minimum 2.0 level). The Sign Language Proficiency Interview must be taken at the Ohio School for the Deaf. An attempt must be made before the start of semester six. If students fail, they may continue progressing but students must develop a professional development plan. A passing score must be obtained before entering semester seven (fall semester of their senior year) and it will be a prerequisite for ASEI 43104, ASEI 43112 and ASEI 43118.
• An Interpreting Readiness Assessment will be conducted in lieu of a midterm exam in ASEI 43104. If students fail, they are given a professional development plan. All students, regardless of a passing or failing score on the readiness assessment, must pass ASEI 43104 with a minimum B- grade in order to register for ASEI 40092 or ASEI 43192.

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Undergraduate students who have not completed a minimum of 12 Kent State University credit hours will be evaluated for advanced study and professional phase based on their high school GPA for new freshmen or transfer GPA for transfer students.

Graduation Requirements

• A satisfactory (S) grade in ASEI 43192 for licensure students or ASEI 40092 for students in the Community Setting Interpreting concentration.
• Students who do not choose the non-licensure concentration may apply for licensure from the State of Ohio to interpret from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. If this is the case, they must take ASEI 43106 and ASEI 43192 and complete 300 practicum hours at an educational placement.

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

University Requirements

All students in a bachelor's degree program at Kent State University must complete the following university requirements for graduation.

NOTE: University requirements may be fulfilled in this program by specific course requirements. Please see Program Requirements for details.

Kent Core Requirements

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the program will be able to do the following:

1. Demonstrate native or near-native fluency in spoken and written English (80% of the time as per the NCIEC), American Sign Language, Deaf and non-Deaf cultures
2. Effectively interpret audio and video texts, as well as live presentations, across a variety of genres and be able to adapt interpretations to consumer modality preferences
3. Demonstrate appropriate interpersonal skills and professionalism across all classroom/program-related settings, while interacting with others, with an awareness of linguistic, cultural, contextual and personality differences
4. Make appropriate and effective ethical decisions, both in practical and authentic interpreting situations in alignment with RID's Code of Professional Conduct and Kent State University's Code of Student Conduct
5. Demonstrate adaptability and teachability
6. Articulate the impact of interpreting models, theories and best practices and how they inform one's work
7. Recognize substantive linguistic and paralinguistic cues from others from a distance of three-to-10 feet in a variety of environments

Full Description

The Bachelor of Science degree in American Sign Language/English Interpreting prepares students to work with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in both educational and community settings, including schools and universities, businesses, medical and mental health agencies and social service offices, among others.

The coursework and nationally certified instructors guide students in developing interpreting expertise, sign language fluency and professional ethics. Coursework encompasses interpreting process models and their application; analytical approaches to professional and ethical decision-making; and interpreting comparative analyses of English and American Sign Language through the study of linguistics, discourse structures and features, pragmatics and sociolinguistics. Students learn self-assessment strategies for lifelong learning and gain roughly 400 clinical or practical hours. They also experience working with interpreter mentors. They also have preparation toward the National Interpreter Certification (NIC) and the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA).

The American Sign Language/English Interpreting major includes the following optional concentration:

• The Community Setting Interpreting optional concentration is for students who are not seeking licensure to interpret in Ohio schools. Students in the concentration complete 400 hours at a community agency.

Students who do not choose the optional concentration may apply for licensure from the State of Ohio to interpret from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. Students complete 300 practicum hours at an educational placement.

Professional Licensure Disclosure

This program is designed to prepare students to sit for applicable licensure or certification in Ohio. If you plan to pursue licensure or certification in a state other than Ohio, please review state educational requirements for licensure or certification and contact information for state licensing boards at Kent State's website for professional licensure disclosure.