UMTIA is a chapter of the American Translators Association. It's core membership is based in Minnesota, but it also represents areas of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. UMTIA seeks to emulate in the fields of spoken language interpreting and translating the accomplishments of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (http://www.rid.org), in education, standards, and excellence in the field of ASL interpreting. UMTIA is dedicated to improving language access and the quality of language services by providing educational opportunities for interpreters and translators, by supporting the development of qualifications and regulatory practices for the field, by helping to create training standards and best practices, by bringing together interpreters from a variety of language backgrounds, and by engaging in language development activities in new immigrant langauges, especially languages of lesser diffusion. UMTIA's formation began in 2002 when Deb Kramasz brought together many area translators to create a local venue for offering the ATA translators certification exam and to organize local educational opportunities for translators and interpreters. The group formalized the organization as a chapter of the ATA in 2004. The first board of directors consisted of Deb Kramasz, Larry Bogoslow, Nadia Smith, Giselle Niles, and Gail Tanaka. At the 2003 UMTIA conference, 30 area interpreting stakeholders met and formed an ad hoc committee of UMTIA, the Interpreting Stakeholder Group (ISG) which met as an outreach committee until 2010 when it spun off as its own organization. In 2008 UMTIA formalized its committee structure. UMTIA's energy comes from its committees who plan talks and trainings, and identify needs in the field, such as the development of glossaries in languages of lesser diffusion, or Best Practice Guidelines for Hiring Interpreters in Rural Settings. UMTIA also provides expertise to legislators and industry leaders working on language access policy across the country. UMTIA has been contacted to provide expertise and information on lessons learned to the New York mayor's office when it adopted its langauge access policy, and by the Washington State Coalition for Language Access. Board meetings are usually held on the second Friday of the month from 6-8pm |
Barriers to better language access and higher quality spoken language interpreting and translating in all languages which we are seeking to overcome:
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To promote quality and professionalism in the field of translating and interpreting in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota.
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