2008 Woodie Awards
Office of Student Services Offers Course on Sign Language
Bhavik Desai
This spring, the Office of Student Services continued offering an American Sign Language (ASL) course first started in fall 2007 and available to all registered UMB students. The classes, although non-accredited, have had enthusiastic participation from student all across campus, including from the Schools of Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry.
Erin McNamara, a second-year dental student, instructs the classes held Tuesday evenings at the Student Center. McNamara believes there are many benefits to learning ASL, from the ability to communicate with clients or patients on a professional level to the satisfaction of being able to learn a new language while helping out those in need.
A second-year pharmacy student enrolled in the class echoed McNamara sentiments. "Learning ASL is different from learning a new language," she said. "Foreign language speakers in the U.S. can at least make an effort to learn English, but the hearing-impaired have no choice," she said.
Jill Venezian, coordinator of student services at UMB, said that she is pleased with response to the ASL class. Her greatest challenge in coordinating the class has been finding a suitable day when the course instructor and the greatest number of interested students could meet.
While Venezian hopes that the course will continue to be offered, a decision will be based on the level of interest among students. One possibility is to offer an accredited ASL class for a fee, although this option is not currently being considered.