 "Photo: Amy Simpson")
With too many students flooding too few classes, senior Ashley Miller finds herself in search of a new minor due to the suspension of the American Sign Language minor and certificate.
"It is very discouraging to me, to know that I won't be rightfully accredited a minor from UCF in ASL as much as I enjoy learning the language and customs of deaf culture," Miller, a creative writing major, said.
The Department of Communicative Disorders has suspended the American Sign Language certificate and minor for the first time since its commencement in 2004. The suspension was a departmental decision based on insufficiency of resources according to Jane Lieberman, chair of the department, in an e-mail interview.
As space in courses allows, students can still complete the requirements for either the ASL certificate or the ASL/deaf studies minor; however, they do not receive the certificate or minor designation on their transcripts.
"When students apply for advanced study or a job, they can still demonstrate that they have taken course-work in ASL and Deaf Studies," Lieberman said. "And, this is what counts."
According to Lieberman, the suspension is temporary. The department is currently putting in the paperwork to remove the suspension this spring, but it will probably not take effect until this summer.
When the program is removed from suspension, the department will likely move to an application and approval process, so that it may control the numbers of students in both the minor and the certificate.
As far as future goals for improvement and rehabilitation of the program, Joseph Murray, the American Sign Language coordinator, said in an e-mail interview that there is a goal to try to educate the various departments within the university about how ASL is a language of its own.
Murray said that because UCF emphasizes diversity as part of its creed, ideally it would be in the best interest of the university to provide students with the ability to choose the language they want to learn and that will benefit them the most career-wise.
The department still offers the same number of courses in ASL and deaf studies as it always has, which typically includes five sections of ASL I, five sections of ASL II and two sections each of ASL III and IV, with an additional yearly course in Issues in Deafness and Educational Implications of Deafness.
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