Standing from left: Directors Tony Guerra, Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo, Cristina Helmerichs, Meghan Konkol, Evelyn Yang Garland, Eve Lindemuth Bodeux, Melinda Gonzalez-Hibner, Elena Langdon, and
Geoff Koby.
Seated from left: Treasurer John Milan, President-Elect Ted Wozniak, President Corinne McKay, and Secretary Karen Tkaczyk.
The American Translators Association’s Board of Directors met February 2–3, 2019, in Austin, Texas. The meeting followed the Board’s Annual Strategy Day.
The Annual Strategy Day provides an opportunity for the Board to discuss in-depth aspects of the Association and the translation and interpreting professions. Strategy Day is coordinated and led by the ATA president-elect, who, by office, is the chair of the Governance and Communications Committee. This year, President-elect Ted Wozniak guided the Board discussions through various membership issues, including restructuring membership and possibly offering membership tiers with various levels of benefits. Treasurer John Milan and Director Evelyn Yang Garland then led the Board discussion on the future of the translation and interpreting professions. Treasurer Milan closed the day’s activities with an overview of ATA’s finances. Strategy Day discussions do not necessarily lead to concrete action plans, but they do help the Board come to a consensus on issues that serve as the foundation for working through complex options for ATA’s future.
Here are some highlights from the Board meeting.
Opening the Certification Exam to Nonmembers: The Board reaffirmed that the certification exam will be open to nonmembers starting January 1, 2020. (Nonmembers already have access to practice tests.) In addition, the Board discussed the possible impact on membership and the Association’s finances.
Grader Participation in Preparing Candidates: The Board discussed the involvement of graders in candidate coaching and prep sessions. A poll of the nearly 100 graders showed that few of them participate in this kind of training. Regardless, the Board is asking the Certification Committee to draft a policy for guidance for current and future graders. Related, the Board consensus was not to support exam prep courses outside the Association’s official Certification Exam Prep Workshops.
Division Administration: The Board discussed various issues internal to division administration, such as budgeting, delivering core services (e.g., newsletter/blog, online community, and website), managing volunteers, administering conference-related events, and more. With ATA now overseeing 22 divisions, there is a need to further standardize the administration of divisions. The Board will work with the Divisions Committee on these and other issues.
Nominating and Leadership Development Committee Appointment Approved: The Board approved the appointment of the members of the Nominating and Leadership Development Committee. They are Past President David Rumsey, who chairs the committee, Lucy Gunderson (Divisions Committee chair), David Stephenson (Certification Committee chair), Milena Waldron (a certified interpreter and advocate for interpreters), and Rosario (Charo) Welle (Spanish Language Division administrator). The committee reviews and selects the slate of candidates for the elections each fall. This year, we have elections for president-elect, secretary, treasurer, and three directors.
The Board meeting summary is posted online. The minutes will be posted once they are approved at the next Board meeting. Past meeting summaries and minutes are also posted online at www.atanet.org/membership/minutes.php. The next Board meeting is set for April 13–14, 2019 in Alexandria, Virginia. As always, the meeting is open to all members, and members are encouraged to attend.