Guiding Principles and Memorandum of Understanding among the three major participants in the American Sign Language Program

Principle 1.	DISTRIBUTION OF ASL COURSE OFFERINGS

 A.  Three programs will continue to be responsible for the American Sign Language program:  Department of English (College of Humanities), Department of Speech and Hearing Science (College of Social and Behavioral Sciences), and the School of Teaching and Learning (College of Education).  All three programs may offer courses at each of the 4 levels (101-104).  However, the Department of English will not increase the total number of sections beyond 27 sections/year (AU-SU).  The Department of Speech and Hearing and EDU T & L will also agree to hold their total course offerings to no more than 24 per year, each.

B.  	The distribution of course offerings among the three programs will be carefully discussed by all three coordinators (in consultation with the associate coordinator, the 3 assistant coordinators, and the appropriate Department Chairs/School Directors and Deans) each year (in the late Winter or early Spring) as a full plan for the offering of the next year’s ASL courses is created.  The coordinators will also consult at least quarterly to review the offerings in total number and distribution across the three departments/colleges.

Principle 2.	DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND RELATED COURSES.

These three “corners” of the ASL program may develop new ASL/sign communication systems/Deaf Studies related courses in addition to these “core” ASL courses.  When new courses are developed, the program creating the new offering will consult with the other two programs and will ask for concurrence and general advice.

Principle 3.	STUDENT MOVEMENT ACROSS THE 3 CORNERS OF THE PROGRAM.

In completing the ASL-GEC sequence, a student may complete a maximum of two courses from any one unit.  For example, a student placed into the first level of the ASL sequence might take English 101 and 102 and then Sp/Hrng 103 and 104 or EDU T&L 113 and 114.  A student placed into level two might take Sp/Hrng 102, English 103, and EDUC T&L 114. 

Principle 4.	HIRING AND INSTRUCTOR POOL

A.	Decisions concerning hiring of instructors will be the responsibility of the coordinators in conjunction with their program/department/school heads.  During the hiring process, units may utilize the expertise of other units to locate and evaluate job candidates (e.g., ask members of other units to serve on search committees).

B.	However, the programs will seek to “share” instructors across the three programs and will be committed to make instructional costs similar across all programs.

C.	To the extent that the annual budget of the each department or school allows, each of the three corners of the program will endeavor to employ at least one full-time staff/instructor/A & P or program manager (depending on the terms and kinds of full-time appointments used in their home program areas).  However, as noted in Section 4A (above), it is the responsibility of each unit to hire and to provide qualified instructors for its courses in a manner appropriate to that unit (as approved by its College).  

Principle 5.	PROGRAM COORDINATION

A.	Program Coordinators

	The three current faculty coordinators (Dr. Brenda Brueggemann, Dr. Robert Fox, Dr. Peter Paul) will remain in charge of the ASL program (and the development of the Deaf Studies Minor) and are committed to meeting at least twice each quarter.  The associate and/or assistant coordinators will attend these meetings as appropriate.

B. 	Associate Program Coordinator

The College of Arts and Sciences (ASC) will provide the funding and oversight for a full-time A & P associate coordinator.   This individual will—following regular consultations with the three program coorodinators (in EDU T&L, English, Speech and Hearing Sciences)—be responsible for the following:

•	coordinating the course offerings across the three units
•	meeting with the 3 assistant coordinators regularly
•	organizing and attending ASL instructor (monthly) meetings
•	teaching three (3) courses annually, preferably one in each area/unit of the ASL offerings
•	coordinating the meetings of an advisory group for the ASL program that includes both campus and community members
•	overseeing training, evaluation, and professional development of all ASL teachers
•	coordinating curricular development within the ASL-GEC offerings
•	serving as Ombudsman for the ASL-GEC program
•	insuring routine assessment of the ASL program
•	overlooking the content and needed changes for the ASL program website
•	coordinating the interpreting for ASL program teachers and events
•	identifying grant and other funding/development opportunities for the overall ASL program and providing support for proposal development

C.	Assistant Program Coordinators

Each department/unit offering ASL will also designate an assistant coordinator
who will work with and provide support for the program coordinator from that unit.   

D.	Unit Coordination

	The Program coordinator in each unit, in consultation with his/her assistant coordinator and with the ASL instructors, will ensure that the primary language content taught contained in each of the courses in the ASL-GEC sequences (levels I-IV) is equivalent. 

Principle 6.  RESOURCES

Each unit will be responsible for providing resources to support ASL instruction.  These resources may include:  office space, videotaping equipment and professional development opportunities

Principle 7.	FURTHER LOCATION/DEVELOPMENT OF ASL COURSES IN OTHER AREAS.

There will be no ASL courses (from 1 to 4) offered under the ASC “label.”  This is critical for these three programs to project accurately the number of sections/courses each can expect to offer each year.  It is also important to the overall quality and health of the ASL program that it not be further divided into yet another “area.”

Principle 8.	SP/HRNG 714/716 AND THE ASL-GEC SEQUENCE.

Students who complete SpHrng 714 and 716 with a grade of B or higher will be allowed to enroll in SpHrng 102 , but they must complete the ASL sequence by taking levels 3 and 4 in one of the other two departments (English or EDU T & L) to complete their language requirement..  Speech and Hearing Science, in consultation with the other two units, will insure that the ASL content of SpHrng 714 and 716 includes the basic ASL content provided in the level I ASL courses.