IRIS: Alternative Pathway Program
Joshua Beckman presents information about the Alternative Pathway Program in American Sign Language.
The journey to national certification presents challenges for several reasons, particularly for interpreters in rural areas. The absence of formalized interpreter education in rural regions and gaps in organizational support are significant issues.
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) recognizes these challenges and collaborated to provide the Alternative Pathway Program (APP) via the IRIS Project. Together, we addressed this gap and provided a supportive IRIS-based environment that offered an alternative pathway toward national certification.
This program was designed for individuals who: (1) work as interpreters, (2) are not RID certified, and (3) do not have a bachelor’s degree, a requirement by RID to take the CASLI Generalist Performance exam for national certification.
Throughout the IRIS: Alternative Pathway Program, participants experienced the following:
- Producing verification of one’s completed college coursework;
- Producing verification of one’s interpreting work experiences;
- Producing verification of one’s interpreting professional development;
- Compiling verification to satisfy the requirements of the RID Alternative Pathway;
and
- Submitting required documentation to RID for APP approval.
Upon completion of this program, participants were able to:
- Identify systematic barriers that rural interpreters face in the RID Alternative Pathway process;
- Locate documentation of alternative lived experiences that satisfy the RID Alternative Pathway process;
- Collate documented experiences in the format as required by the RID Alternative Pathway process;
- Articulate short and long-term goals for obtaining RID national certification; and
- Submit a completed application for the RID Alternative Pathway Program.
IRIS: APP Curriculum
Feel free to review and use this Canvas course and curriculum materials!
Curriculum materials are in a read-only format. Do you want to use this content in a Learning Management System (LMS)? Learn how to import it! Should you download the cartridge, you will need to create assignments and quizzes manually.
The University of Northern Colorado and the IRIS Project are not offering Continuing Education Units (CEU) processing for the content presented here. Should you be interested in RID CEUs, please contact any RID CMP Sponsor to inquire about a participant-initiated learning activity.
Please note that these resources are being made available to you as they were presented during the 2021-2026 grant cycle. Permission is granted to copy and disseminate this product for noncommercial educational purposes, provided UNC-IRIS is credited as the source and referenced appropriately on any such copies. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Suggested citation: UNC-IRIS. (2024). Name of Resource. URL (if applicable).
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