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Upcoming
Event: Court Reporting Open House on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 7
p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Room 5190 of the University
and College Center (UCC).
Court
reporting is an interesting, challenging profession which offers a wide-open
job market, flexible work schedule, and excellent income potential ($64,672
average income). Sophisticated technology has created exciting work in
broadcast captioning and stenointerpreting. Broadcast captioners can earn
$70,000+ and work out of their homes. South Suburban College's NCRA-approved
program is the only court reporting program in the south suburban region!
- Get an overview of SSC's Court
Reporting/Verbatim Technology program
- View a video outlining career
opportunities in court reporting
- See a demonstration of realtime
writing
- Tour the court reporting facilities,
including our state-of-the art Computer-Aided Transcription lab
Refreshments will be served
Career
Opportunities
The
world of the professional court reporter is rapidly changing because of
the sophisticated equipment that today's reporter uses. These are some
of the areas in which reporters may work:
- Judicial
reporting
- Broadcast
captioning
- Stenointerpreting
- Webcasting
Reporting
is a profession which offers independence, flexibility, mobility, excellent
income, and challenging, exciting work environments. The Department of
Labor projects that job opportunities for reporters will grow as fast
as the average for all occupations through 2008. A recent ruling by the
FCC requiring that all television programs be captioned by 2006 is creating
a huge demand for broadcast captioners. The passage of the Americans with
Disabilities Act has created a tremendous need for stenointerpreters on
our campuses. The job market for traditional reporters, those who write
trials, depositions, village board meetings, etc., remains wide open.
In 2004 the average income for court reporters around the country was
$64,672. For more information about the profession of court reporting,
visit the National Court Reporters Association's websites at www.ncraonline.com
and www.bestfuture.com.
Income
The
following figures on income were supplied by the National Court Reporters
Association in February 2004:
- Court
reporters - $64,672
- Broadcast
captioners - from $35,000 to $75,000+
- Stenointerpreters,
or CART reporters - $35,000 to $65,000
- Webcasters
- $100 - $200 per hour
Admission
to the Program
Before
a student may begin the machine shorthand classes, he or she must (1)
type a minimum of 30 wpm and (2) place into the college level on the English
portion of the Asset Test, a diagnostic test administered to all incoming
students.
About the Program
Upon
completion of all the courses in the Court Reporting/Verbatim Technology
Program, the student will receive an Associate in Applied Science degree.
A major component of the curriculum is the development of conflict-free
machine shorthand speed to the graduation goal of 225 wpm. For the majority
of our students, three or more years of training are necessary to accomplish
this. The court reporting faculty is very dedicated and extremely positive
and supportive, which is very important given the demanding nature of
the program. Class sizes are small, from 15 to 25 students. The instructors
regularly address the emotional and motivational needs of the students
by arranging field trips, seminars, technology demonstrations, luncheons,
support groups, and achievement awards.
New
Class Starting Dates, Times & Locations
All reporting classes are held at SSC's University and College Center
in Oak Forest, Illinois, 16333 South Kilbourn. The program is offered
only during the day, with classes falling generally between 8 a.m. and
2 p.m. New groups begin in both the fall and spring semesters.
Rental
of Equipment
Students may rent standard steno machines from the South Holland bookstore
for two semesters, after which they are expected to purchase their own
machine. Rental is $75 per semester, which is applied to the purchase
price of the machine if the student chooses to buy the rental model. A
$100 deposit is required, which is refunded upon return of the machine.
Vocabulary
and Word Skills
As
the silent, "Keeper of the Record," the life of the court reporter
centers around words. The reporter takes testimony from people in all
walks of life - engineers, doctors, attorneys, scientists, tradesmen -
and every day new terminology is encountered. It is this aspect of reporting
that makes it challenging, interesting, and exciting. After a few years
of working, the reporter becomes well versed in many different areas of
life. To prepare for this challenge, students are encouraged to improve
their literacy. They should read newspapers, books, and magazines. They
should even read unusual items such as sewer covers and construction seals
on sidewalks because the names of the companies that manufacture those
items will come up someday.
Realtime
Writing, Flexible Work Schedule, Mobility
The
Realtime Reporter
As
was previously mentioned, the sophisticated computerized steno machine
that reporters use today allows them to perform realtime translation;
that is, instant translation of their steno notes. With this technology,
they can write court proceedings for a hearing-impaired witness, a classroom
lecture for a hearing-impaired student, the broadcast captioning for television
shows, and corporate stockholders' meetings for webcasting purposes. Those
reporters who perform realtime writing are highly skilled individuals
who must write at speeds upwards of 200 wpm at 98 percent accuracy for
hours at a time. Consider the court reporters who caption the Olympic
telecasts. Before the telecasts they have to program their computer translation
dictionaries with the names of every country, athlete, and coach participating
in the games, along with any other words that may come up during the shows.
This is a task that takes months to complete. Then during the telecast,
the reporter must write all of these difficult words instantly. Obviously
this can be a very stressful assignment, but one that is also extremely
interesting, exciting, and financially rewarding. And the majority of
broadcast captioners are working out of their homes - tremendous flexibility.
Will
Reporters be replaced by electronic recording?
Given the state of our high-tech society and the great strides we have
made in developing electronic and computer technology, one might think
that court reporters could be easily replaced by an electronic recording
system. However, electronic recording has been attempted in many areas
of the country for as long as reporters have existed, and the results
have always been the same: No system has been developed that is as effective
and efficient as the court reporter who uses our sophisticated computerized
steno machine. First of all, attorneys want a written record to review;
and producing a written record from a tape-recorded or videotaped version
of a proceeding presents many problems. Identifying multiple speakers
in a large courtroom is difficult. Extraneous noises such as coughing
or shuffling of papers cause speech to become inaudible. When speakers
overlap, those words are inaudible and lost forever. When people speak
unreasonably fast or mumble or speak with heavy accents, those words are
lost forever. In each of these situations, however, the court reporter
takes control and cautions people to slow down, to speak one at a time,
to repeat testimony, etc. If the recording equipment malfunctions or is
not turned on, entire sections of testimony are lost. In addition, only
the court reporter using computer-aided transcription can effectively
offer instant translation for hearing-impaired individuals in courtrooms,
depositions, classrooms, and elsewhere. The need for court reporters to
provide realtime translation has increased tremendously with the passage
of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Education
Students should pursue an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Court
Reporting/Verbatim Technology. The degree program is designed to present
a conflict-free theory and to develop the necessary machine shorthand
skills leading to an eventual 225 words per minute writing speed. A major
component of the program is the development of English grammar, punctuation,
and vocabulary skills. Legal Terminology, Medical Terminology, and Court
Practicum are among the other courses that will prepare the student to
function as a professional court reporter. The curriculum is designed
to prepare the student to take the Illinois Certified Shorthand Reporter
Examination, which is the professional certifying exam for the State of
Illinois.
Flexibility,
Mobility
One
of the very attractive aspects of freelance court reporting is the flexibility
of schedule which it offers. Many reporters work on a part-time basis
and produce their transcripts in the comfort of their homes, which is
particularly attractive for the working mother.
There is an extreme shortage of court reporters all around the United
States and abroad, which gives the reporter excellent mobility.
| NCRA
Program Approval
The
Court Reporting/Verbatim Technology Program of South Suburban College
is approved by the National Court Reporters Association, which is
based in Vienna, Virginia. |
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Is
Court Reporting/Verbatim Reporting for you?
The
education and training are stressful, yet rewarding. Prospective students
should be intelligent, disciplined, motivated, and they should possess
above-average language skills, along with computer literacy. If you are
interested in becoming a vital part of the judicial system or performing
any of the many applications of realtime reporting, then court reporting
may be the profession for you.
For
more information contact: Don Dalton,
Court Reporting Coordinator, South Suburban College Telephone: (708) 596-2000,
ext. 3216
E-mail: ddalton@southsuburbancollege.edu
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