Sign language students earn 100 percent passage rate on state exam

Liberty University students practice their sign language during a class taught by Nicole Thorn, director of Liberty’s ASLI program.

Students from Liberty University’s inaugural B.A. in American Sign Language & Interpreting (ASLI) class recently completed the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening (VQAS) with a 100 percent passage rate.

The VQAS is administered by the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and is an assessment process designed to assist individuals in identifying their strengths, weaknesses, and knowledge of interpreting. The VQAS is administered in two parts, written and oral. Liberty students completed the written part before their junior year, and they completed the performance part earlier this semester, before starting their practicums.

Nicole Thorn, director of Liberty’s ASLI program, said that the VQAS is scored on a four-level basis. Students in Liberty’s program are required to earn a level two or higher in order to graduate.

“I have never been more proud of a group of students than I am of this inaugural class of the American Sign Language and Interpreting program,” she said. “This group of students have worked hard to navigate the rigors of a new program and a demanding profession. The fact that each and every one of them have passed the state exam with a level two or higher is evidence of their hard work, but it is also affirming that the program here at Liberty is effective in preparing students to be professional ASL interpreters.”

Students from the inaugural class will graduate this May. They are currently completing their required practicums in school systems, social services, and local community programs.

Only 39 other schools across the country offer an ASLI degree, and Liberty is the only school in Virginia to do so.

The program launched in Fall 2013 and prepares students with both the technical skills and educational credentials required to complete the National Interpreter Certification exam (administered by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf) and become professional sign language interpreters.