Robyn Hennigan, program coordinator and senior technical instructor at Clark State, said the two digital certificate programs are important.
“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 American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers certification opportunities and employment opportunities upon achieving the certificate,” she said.
Rene Eneix, department chair of administrative services and office applications at Stark State, said the field of realtime reporting is an exciting, vital and rewarding career that offers a variety of career opportunities to employ realtime skills.
“Both certificates are recognized by Ohio’s initiative for short-term certificates for in-demand careers, and both are eligible for financial aid assistance,” she said. “Our shared curriculum will provide students with technical training and understanding of the digital court reporting software, legal proceedings and ethical standards to capture and preserve the verbatim records digitally.”
The college’s combined program, approved by the National Court Reporters Association, maintains a 100% job placement rate.
Janet Harris, vice president of enterprise sales at Stenograph, said they are invested in building partnerships with schools to help build a workforce that is proficient in the new software and certified.
“This is a great career opportunity for students of all ages to enter the court reporting field and our customers are hiring graduates upon completion of Stark State/Clark State’s programs,” she said.
The two colleges have partnered for the last seven years to provide shared programming and opportunities.
Students in the program learn to write realtime using a computerized machine and prepare transcripts using a computer-aided software. They perfect their writing skills by using a realtime learning practice, testing web environment, specialized drills as well as access to an on-campus mock courtroom and realtime labs. Students are required to complete an internship before graduating to get exposure to the judicial court reporting field in a real-world environment.
To learn more about this program, visit clarkstate.edu, starkstate.edu, or contact Eneix at reneix@starkstate.edu or Hennigan at henniganr@clarkstate.edu.
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