On Jan. 23, 2026, National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)’s American Sign Language English Interpretation (ASLIE) program hosted a Bachelor’s of Science in Interpreting Town Hall to address community concerns and complaints.

The Town Hall

The town hall opened with Alesia Allen, the Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement and Services, leading the discussion alongside Jason Listman, the ASLIE program director. The town hall was held at the Student Development Center 1300/1310, near Lyndon Baines Johnson Hall, the program’s home building. More than 50 faculty and students attended the event, with many of the students being upperclassmen. The town hall was scheduled from 3 to 4 p.m. 

Before the town hall, the ASLIE program emailed students with a survey link to share questions and suggestions for the program on Jan. 14. Ultimately, the survey’s content was not shared during the town hall, to some participants’ disappointment. Hernan Barretto Guillermo, a third year Interpreting and Applied Modern Spanish Language and Culture student, shares his opinion, “I wish [the survey answers] were shown as [the topics] was hard to refer to and not having it gave me the impression that the slides were rushed and made it a struggle to understand what was being referenced or to follow along with what is being said.”

Before the town hall’s discussion segment began, Allen emphasized several ground rules, emphasizing respect, inclusion and confidentiality. The students who spoke during the town hall have their identities anonymized in this article to maintain the confidentiality agreement. She noted that the department was aware of the student body’s grievances with the current department policy. Allen also discussed the widespread desire to address racism within the ASLIE department, as the program has faced alleged issues with racism over the past few years.

 “NTID is one of the most diverse colleges on campus,” Allen remarked.   

Throughout the town hall, several topics resonated with ASLIE students. Several students complained about inconsistencies in instruction and teaching quality between courses. One fourth year student recalled learning a sign in his ASL 4 class, only for his ASL 5 teacher to tell him that the same sign was wrong. The student stressed that learning diverse ways to sign a word is important, but teachers’ signing instruction should be consistent across classrooms. Another fourth year student shared her struggles developing her ASL grammar skills, as there is a spectrum of grammar preferences between teachers in the program. One third year student expressed frustration with unpredictable grading standards within the program, where feedback is critical to improving their sign language skills. 

Students expressed that the program is not doing enough to prepare interpreting students for success. One third year interpreting student noted that the program didn’t teach STEM-related signs, which presents a challenge when student interpreters are sent to STEM-intensive courses. Another third year student stressed that the program failed to instill ethics in interpreting students. This student stated that many students in his ethics class were cheating in the course and neglecting their ethical obligations as interpreters. 

Many students lamented a lack of diverse voices and models within ASLIE. A third year student stressed that most of his learning materials came from signers who were white and able-bodied. A fourth year student noted that while NTID is diverse, the ASLIE program is not. According to the ASLIE program’s staff directory, there is only one Hispanic teacher and no Black teachers. A third year student mentioned that in her Linguistics of American Sign Language class, there was little mention of Black ASL, a dialect of ASL. 

There was also discussion about the lack of resources for BIPOC, transfer, older and disabled students. A fourth year student mentioned that many reported incidents are not resolved immediately, often not being resolved at all. A second year student shared that she found essential resources through peer networks, rather than from program faculty. Faculty knowledge of the resource exists, but is not disseminated effectively. This resulted in delayed communication and missed opportunities. 

A fourth year student shared her concerns with the increased use of artificial intelligence within her classrooms. 

“I asked my professor a simple question that all experienced interpreters should have already known. She replied by pulling up ChatGPT in front of the class and asked it her question. Why am I paying so much money to come here to be taught by ChatGPT?” the student shared with the audience. The audience responded with loud applause.

The town hall ended abruptly at 4:30 p.m., ending 30 minutes after the original end time of 4 p.m. Students were then encouraged to fill out a form reviewing the event.

 “The [ASLIE] town hall was definitely needed. I have personally experienced some frustrations with the program’s curriculum and professors,” Guillermo shares. 

Aftermath and Reflections

On Wednesday, Jan. 28, Listman issued an email to students in the ASLIE program entitled “Moving Forward Together: Reflections from the Town Hall”, responding to program criticisms offered during the town hall.

“What I’m hearing clearly is that we need more ongoing conversation about what we are doing within the program and where we are heading,” Listman shared.

Listman acknowledged that students want stronger cultural competency and intentional integration of diverse Deaf and hearing experiences, while emphasizing that racism and ableism are harmful and should be addressed in the program. 

While addressing complaints about the faculty, Listman responded by noting, “Our faculty come from a range of generations and training backgrounds, and while I believe in my heart that everyone is doing their best, racism and ableism should never be tolerated.”

This is not the first time that Listman and the ASLIE program had to face discussions regarding racism, ableism and discrimination in the program. On Nov. 28, 2024, a mass email was sent out to the ASLIE department, which was titled “Upholding Core Values and Support for All Students.” In the email, Listman shared that the department is committed to supporting all students, naming the student groups that voiced their grievances in the recent town hall.

“The town hall happened because there was so much frustration and anger amongst the students that they NEEDED a way to talk about it more than just one-on-one meetings with faculty, hoping their voices would be heard and their feedback would be implemented,” Guillermo says, “The town hall was helpful, but only serves as a band-aid to a wound that needs healing.” 

Despite Listman’s continued commitment to equity, the ASLIE program still struggles with program-wide discrimination. To successfully address discrimination and other issues, ASLIE will have to restructure the program and modify its hiring processes. This will ensure that students receive a diverse faculty body that better matches the diverse environment where future sign language interpreters will work.