Region II Report Jason Hurdich, M.Ed., CDI Region II Representative
1. We had our third President’s Council meeting on February 24, 2022. Topics discussed included: a. Discussing doing a mini Region II conference later this year and a possible Region II Conference in 2024. b. Region II AC Leaders expressed their interest in leadership training, especially advocating for licensure. c. Some affiliate chapters gave their presentations- MSRID, SCRID, and FRID. d. We discussed briefly from FRID’s perspective on the University of South Florida interpreting training program situation. https://handsonusf.usf.edu/aboutUs.cfm To-Dos: • Photos from affiliate chapters (e.g., conf.) for the VIEWS • AC’s shared calendar to share events within Region II • Mentor/Mentee partnership ideas/townhall/member engagement activity. • Next RID Region II meeting: March 31st- 7 - 8:30 pm EST FYIs that I shared with Region II AC Officers: • RID BOD meeting in Alexandria (hybrid) March, strategic planning 2023-2026 • March 1st - RID new Communications Director begins • February’s Town Hall: Interpreters Working in Rural Areas • Deaf Caucus inactive currently - Town Hall- Asked ACs to spread the word 2. Have met PCRID,VRID, SCRID, GARID, MSRID, ALRID, FRID, NCRID. Representative Hurdich and AC Liaison Dr. Ball hope to meet with TRID shortly after VIEWS publication. REGION II AFFILIATE CHAPTER REPORTS: ALRID (Alabama RID)- We have had several virtual workshops and one face-to-face workshop over the past year. People are very tired of Zoom meetings and want to attend a workshop or conference in person. Therefore, we plan our biennial conference for June 1-3, 2022, in Mobile, AL, face-to-face offering 2.0 CEUs. FRID (Florida RID)- Our Board started the year by meeting with our Board and Committee chairs to review last year’s success and begin planning for 2022. We have many newly elected Board members and Committee Chairpersons and are thankful for their volunteer spirit. In the last quarter of 2021, we assembled a task force of various stakeholders in Florida, focusing on Licensure/Regulation. GaRID- (Georgia RID) is working tirelessly to provide its yearly Membership Appreciation Day workshop on April 23rd. In addition, our current goals are to reach out and communicate more. To that end, we are working on improving our current website, adding an ASL version of our bylaws to our webpage. We are also offering monthly ASL chat meetings through virtual settings to try to reach some of our more rural areas and also interpreters who are working solo with little to no support. Another current endeavor is the work that is happening with the GA commission for the Deaf/HH, the Georgia Association of the Deaf, and NAOBI-ATLANTA to create a Georgia Interpreter Licensure Bill. GaRID is trying to create stronger ties to GSU and Valdosta’s interpreter programs. 11
