From the Executive Director
Walter Bacak, CAE
walter@atanet.org
The American Translators Association’s Board of Directors met April 9-10, 2022 in Alexandria, Virginia. The Board met in conjunction with the Certification Committee and Language Chairs meetings. (Each exam language combination has a language chair administering the passage selection and graders. ATA currently offers testing in 32 language combinations.) Here are some highlights from the Board meeting.
Working Budget: The Board approved the July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023 working budget and the 2023-24 draft budget. The approved working budget is $3 million. The working budget provides an interim financial framework. By using this interim budget, changes and revisions can be made based on the actual year-end figures. The final budget will be approved at the next Board meeting.
Elections Policy: The Board approved revisions to the Elections Policy to codify filling vacancies beyond the usual rotation of three directors’ positions. The Board will continue to approve the appointment of any vacancies between elections.
Certification: Certification Committee Chair David Stephenson updated the Board on the Certification Committee’s activities and the online on-demand certification exam. The Board approved adding English into Korean to the Certification Program. (Korean into English was added at the last Board meeting.) English into Korean practice tests and exams are available now.
Professional Development Committee: The Board approved the appointment of Nora Díaz as chair of the Professional Development Committee. The Board thanked outgoing Chair Veronika Demichelis for her work in dramatically growing the program. Veronika will remain on the committee.
Proposed Changes to Membership: The Board reviewed and discussed the latest version of proposed changes to the membership categories and benefits. This version incorporated the feedback received from members. The Board will review and approve the next version to be circulated to the membership for feedback. The final version will be part of a Bylaws revision vote by the membership—likely in 2023.
Certification-Machine Translation Post-Editing Study: The Board discussed the recently approved study to look at the correlation between performance on ATA’s certification exam and proficiency in machine translation post-editing. The principal investigators—Geoff Koby (Certification Committee member, former Certification Committee chair, and former ATA director) and Larry Bogoslaw (Certification Committee deputy chair)—answered the Board’s questions and elaborated on the study. The study gets underway this summer.
Special Interest Groups: The Board discussed formally establishing special interest groups (SIGs) for groups starting out that may or may not evolve into divisions or as subsets within a division, such as a Project Managers SIG within the Translation Company Division. An ad hoc committee will be established to investigate the options and submit their recommendations to the Board.
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 August 6-7, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. As always, the meeting is open to all members, and members are encouraged to attend.
Last Print Edition of The ATA Chronicle/Moving Fully Online
This issue marks the last print edition of The ATA Chronicle. The magazine will continue to be published, just only online. The format will look the same. Besides the environmental benefits and cost savings, the number of members opting for the digital version has grown over the years, leading to the decision to stop printing a physical copy of the magazine. The magazine is available as a flipbook (allowing you to view it on mobile devices, download, search, and add notes) or PDF, or you can also read the content directly on the Chronicle-Online website (www.ata-chronicle.online). You can find more info and timely updates online at www.atanet.org/news/the-ata-chronicle.