American Sign Language Studies Associate Degree

Career Paths

• Full-time or part-time Interpreting in a variety of settings
  • Colleges and Universities
  • Public Schools
  • State Agencies
  • Hospitals and other medical/mental health institutions
• Freelance Interpreting

Transferring to a 4 year College or University

NECC provides an excellent starting point for students interested in pursuing Deaf Studies or Interpreting.

Some college websites for students likely to transfer:

• Boston University for a bachelor’s degree in Deaf Studies or master’s degree in Deaf Education.
• College of the Holy Cross for a bachelor’s degree in ASL and Deaf Studies.
• Northeastern University for a bachelor’s degree in ASL/ Deaf Studies or ASL/English Interpretation.
• University of Southern Maine for a bachelor’s degree concentration in ASL/English Interpreting.
• Gallaudet University for a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Interpretation or a bachelor’s degree in American Sign Language or Deaf Studies
• University of New Hampshire at Manchester for a bachelor’s degree in Sign Language Interpretation.
• National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute for Technology for a bachelor’s degree in ASL/English Interpretation

Upon completion of a degree, interpreters take the Massachusetts Interpreting Screening exam in order to qualify to work in the state of MA and NH.

After a few years of experience, national certification may be pursued through the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

Student Learning Outcomes – American Sign Language Studies Associate Degree

Program Coordinator

Kevin Fleese, M.Ed., ASLTA-Master

M.Ed Professor, Program Coordinator

Phone: VP 978-241-7049
Email: kfleese@necc.mass.edu

Faculty

Kevin Fleese

M.Ed Professor, Program Coordinator

Phone: VP 978-241-7049
Email: kfleese@necc.mass.edu

Erik Bailey

American Sign Language Studies Program Assistant

Phone: 978-556-3667
Email: ebailey1@necc.mass.edu

Kevin J. Fleese, M.Ed.

Faculty Member, American Sign Language Studies Program

Kevin Fleese is a Professor and Coordinator under American Sign Language Studies Program at Northern Essex Community College. He has been teaching in the American Sign Language Studies program since Fall 1994. He is the second Deaf professor to receive his tenure but his first tenure in ASL Studies in New England.

Prior to becoming a faculty member at NECC, he was a software specialist and taught computer classes at Digital Equipment Corp in Santa Clara, CA and Marlborough, MA.

Kevin’s first experience teaching in American Sign Language was at Vista College in Berkeley, CA. He was a part of the implementation of the nationally acclaimed “Signing Naturally” ASL immersion curriculum which is widely used across the US today, serving as one of the first ASL instructors to field test that program. He now supports wide-opening to True Way ASL which is currently using in the program at NECC.

His educational and professional credentials include:

• Masters of Education in Deaf Studies; Boston University
• Bachelors of Arts in Communication Arts; Gallaudet University
• Bachelors of Science in Business Administration; Gallaudet University
• Seasoned presenter of workshops and trainings relating to Deaf Studies, ASL curriculums, ASL Linguistics, and Deaf Culture
• Implemented state screening for interpreters for the state of New Hampshire
• Served as a member of the New Hampshire Interpreting Licensure Board by appointment of the Governor of NH – 2003-2005

Aimee Stevens, BS, M.Ed

Aimee Stevens graduated from the University of New Hampshire at Manchester in 2000 with a BS in Communications, in 2002 with a BS in Sign Language Interpretation and from Framingham State University in 2015 with M.Ed. in Educational Technology. Aimee has worked in the dDeaf community for 17 years as an interpreter and 12 years as adjunct faculty in the American Sign Language/English Interpreting Program at UNH-Manchester and is a recent addition to the adjunct team at Northern Essex Community College. She continues to work as an interpreter in NH, doing mostly emergency medical work. She works at the Gallaudet University Regional Center at Northern Essex Community College since 2009 as a Project Coordinator and as the Massachusetts Family Sign Language Program Coordinator, since November 2017.

Dr. LeWana Clark, CSC, CI/CT/SC:L/Master Mentor, MEd, PhD

LeWana Clark (CSC, CI/CT/SC:L/Master Mentor, MEd, PhD) works as a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter specializing in court/legal settings, teaches interpreter education and professional development workshops, and mentors new and experienced interpreters. Adding to her many accomplishments, she has completed the Master Mentorship Program in 2005 then graduated from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her Master’s Degree in 2011: Independent Degree Study Program, Specialization: Transformative Learning for ASL/English Interpreters; Thesis: “Beyond ASL Vocabulary: Towards Bicultural and Bilingual Proficiencies for ASL/English Interpreters. She completed her doctorate studies at Gallaudet University in 2018 with a dual concentration of Pedagogy and Research from the Interpretation and Translation Department. Her doctorate focused on the effects of teaming on the identification of speakers during a court proceeding – “The interactive courtroom: The Deaf defendant watches how the speaker is identified for each turn-at-talk during a team interpreted event.”

Tracy Shorter (NAD Level 4, RID NIC)

Tracy Shorter (NAD Level 4, RID NIC) primarily works as a Video Relay Interpreter for a variety of national and international calls, providing support for co-workers through teaming situations, discussing problem-solving solutions with colleagues, and attending in-house meetings, trainings, and workshops. Before becoming a nationally certified interpreter, Tracy studied and completed the Northern Essex Community College Program in 1991. In addition to her interpreting work, she also is a financial coach. She leads classes on different topics including budgeting principles, retirement planning, buying insurance, and saving for college. Tracy loves to work with individual clients to develop a budget to track their income and learn how to avoid and eliminate debt.