Today is September 10, 2010		The Alberta Shorthand Reporters Association (ASRA) is a professional association of verbatim shorthand reporters founded in 1958 primarily composed of verbatim shorthand reporters in the Province of Alberta. However, we also have members in various other Canadian provinces, the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and several states of the United States of America. The Association is managed by eight working reporters elected by the general membership and one public member appointed by the Minister of Labour who volunteer their time and talents for the betterment of the Association and the profession.  The Alberta Shorthand Reporters Association is an affiliate member of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) which is headquartered outside of Washington, D.C. The National Court Reporters Association has approximately 60 affiliate member associations with a total worldwide membership of approximately 30,000 members.
Spirit of Humanity ASRA Fall Convention and Annual General Meeting September 10 - 12, 2010 Red Deer, Alberta Click here to download the Convention/Hotel Brochure Click here for Online Registration Click here for the 2010 Annual General Meeting Agenda   The Situation at NAIT with the Captioning and Court Reporting Program In the first week of April, NAIT Administration proposed suspending 13 programs, which included the Captioning and Court Reporting Program.  Some membes at this meeting felt they did not have enough information to make an informed decision, so the vote on this motion was postponed until Friday, April 16, 2010.  During the week of April 12-16, 2010, ASRA initiated a letter writing campaign in support of the program. News of the possible closure of the only publicly-funded court reporting/captioning school in Canada spread quickly across Canada, North America, and worldwide.  Over 400 letters were received in support of the program from lawyers, judges, CART and captioning consumers, members of the hard of hearing and Deaf communities, court reporters, NAIT program alumni, firm owners, Disability Offices, other provincial professional court reporting associations, the National Court Reporters Association, to name a few. On Friday, April 16, a peaceful support rally was organized by ASRA and CHHA (Canadian Hard of Hearing Association) outside the NAIT Governors Boardroom where the vote at the NAIT Administration Meeting was taking place on whether NAIT would suspend the 13 programs. This vote was turned down at that time, and each proposed program to be cut will be evaluated over the next six months on its own merits. The program will continue in September and the present first year students will continue into second year.  There is presently a full quota and a waiting list of prospective students registered to begin their first year in the program starting in September. As a result of NAIT’s restructuring, the program will have a new chair. The NAIT Advisory Board Meeting originally scheduled for Friday, May 28 was postponed until the fall. As a result of this, ASRA scheduled a meeting of concerned program stakeholders for Friday, May 28 at an off-NAIT location.  Members shared information, made recommendations, and planned further actions.  Presently ASRA is awaiting further information before deciding its next course of action. ASRA has offered to assist NAIT in any way to help in the restructuring transition, in program changes, and improvements for future success of the program. ASRA will continue to keep its members updated as to the status of the NAIT Captioning and Court Reporting Program.
Download the May 2010 Edition of e-Vade Mecum   Cindy Gordon Receives Ewen Nelson Award for Self-Advocacy    On Thursday, May 20, the annual ABSPD Mayor's Awards were held at Central Lions Seniors Centre.  In attendance were Mayor Stephen Mandel, Councillors Amarjeet Sohi, Ed Gibbons and Ben Henderson, as well as MP for Edmonton-Strathcona Linda Duncan.  MCs for the even were Ryan Jespersen of City TV and Elise Cerny of Shaw TV.  Shaw TV also broadcast the event and compiled vignettes of all nominees.  In the coming weeks, the video profiles of all winners will be posted to edmonton.ca/disability.  The event was a huge success, and ABSPD members and staff were honoured to recognize the amazing work being done in our citiy to serve people with disabilities.  Cindy Gordon Cindy manages a hearing loss prevention program which is distributed throughout Alberta to elementary schools. As well, she runs another program to educate hearing aid users and their partners. In her nomination letter, Susanne Martin tells us that Cindy's warmth, sense of humor, and empathy leaves participants in her programs feeling enlightened, understood, and armed with the skills to manage their lives. She also says that Cindy models a positive attitude for all, and that her passion at work reflects her passion for life. In recognition of her outstanding commitment and dedication, in 2004, Cindy was awarded the Gary McPherson Award of Excellence, only awarded to those who go well beyond the call of duty towards establishing accessibility and equitable treatment for people with disabilities in Alberta and Canada.
Download the Winter 2009 edition of eVade Mecum   Renew your ASRA dues online
Find Us Fast Position General Duties Name                     Email Address President All general inquiries Sandra German sandragerman@asraonline.com Registrar Membership questions/address updates Jeff Weigl jeffweigl@asraonline.com Treasurer Membership dues renewal/seminar and convention registration Donna Gerbrandt donnagerbrandt@asraonline.com Secretary Records all minutes Diana Halvorsen dianahalvorsen@asraonline.com Practice Review Chairman All continuing education inquiries Lori Baert loribaert@asraonline.com Newsletter Editor All newsletter submissions Cindy James cindyjames@asraonline.com Events Coordinator Organizes all details for ASRA internal events Roxanne Johanson roxannejohanson@asraonline.com Public Relations Organizes all details for external events Shannon Wiebe shannonwiebe@asraonline.com Public Member Advisor (Appointed by the Minister of Employment and Immigration) Brenda Sauve brendasauve@asraonline.com
Congratulations, Jeff Weigl ASRA Speed Contest Winner Jeff was our first place winner with an overall score of 99.505% accuracy   Download the May 2009 edition of eVade Mecum here For the Love of Good Food ASRA Cookbook 2008 Compiled by Cindy James for the occasion of ASRA's 50th Anniversary Click on the picture to access the file Many thanks to all those who helped to make the 50th Anniversary Convention such a wonderful success.  Photographs are now posted here. Download Keith Lemons' presentations Computers 101 Computer Viruses
Court Reporting Videos Carol Burnett's School of Court Reporting Court Reporters on Candid Camera Court Reporting Job Description Hotjobs Superbowl Commercial and commentary - 2002 ASRA Certified Member Joyce Herceg gets some desperately needed court reporting help from her daughter Shayla! Submit your funny court reporting photos to asra@asraonline.com
What's new ?  Read the latest ASRA-sent e-mail communications here Michelle Edwards receives ASRA Scholarship - Congratulations to Michelle Edwards, 2010 recipient of the ASRA Scholarship.  Read Michelle's comments here. Amanda Frank receives Wendy-Egbert Swann Memorial Award - Congratulations to Amanda Frank, 2010 recipient of the Wendy Egbert-Swann Memorial Award.  Read Amanda's comments here. NCRA Certification Testing Changes - Beginning in November, the NCRA Certification Written Knowledge Tests will be administered at professional testing centres through Pearson VUE and its associates.  Many of your questions can be answered by clicking here. ASRA members will be able to test in Calgary and Edmonton.  For exact locations, access the Pearson VUE website and click "Locate a Test Center".  For testing dates and more specific information, click here. NAIT receives recognition from CHHA - NAIT's Legal and Realtime Reporting Program was recognized on May 26, 2007, for its support to the Hard of Hearing Community through its training of Realtime Reporting students who work as Realtime and Broadcast Captioners of live events.  Court of Appeal formatting changes - To help the court to locate the volume number they are looking for more quickly, please follow these amended guidelines: On the title page of all appeal books: 1. Use normal or ASCII type numbers (e.g. 1, 2, etc.) instead of roman numerals (e.g. I, II, etc.) and 2. Change the word "VOLUME" and the number associated with the volume number to 18 pt. font (e.g. VOLUME 1). Click here to see a sample title page Joint Project CD and website announced - ASRA is pleased to have been working together with the Legal and Realtime Reporting Program at NAIT and the Edmonton Chapter of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association in promoting the court reporting profession to those who use our services and also those who might wish to join our profession.  A promotional CD has been created and will be distributed to ASRA members.  Please give this promotional CD to someone you think may be interested in joining us.  www.helptohear.com is a new website created to promote this joint project.  This website provides links to CHHA-ED, ASRA, and NAIT Legal and Realtime Reporting program.  ASRA Website/E-mail policy - In an effort to keep members well informed, ASRA Council has determined that all court-reporting related advertising will be placed in the ASRA online newsletter, E-Vade Mecum, free of charge.  Any non-court reporting related advertising will be subject to a fee of $25 per online issue or $50 per year.  All classified ads will continue to be placed on the ASRA website free of charge.  Periodic e-mails will be sent to ASRA members.  It is not our intention to inundate members with unnecessary e-mail communication, but to keep members informed of what is happening locally and in the world of court reporting. ASRA member featured - Joanne Mankow, ASRA member and NAIT instructor, is featured in an AlumNAIT article.  Joanne shares her thoughts about court reporting profession.  To view the advertisement, click here.  To view the complete article, click here, download using Adobe, and then read about Joanne on pages 14 and 15. City of Edmonton captioning pilot project - The City of Edmonton is a nationwide leader in providing access to deaf and hard of hearing residents!  Mayor Stephen Mandel has been instrumental in instituting closed-captioning at public events in the City of Champions.  Read his letter to ASRA here.  Thanks, Mayor Mandel and City Council! E-mail Mayor Mandel and express your appreciation for his foresight and leadership in this most important pilot project.   stephen.mandel@edmonton.ca Steno Swap results - Thanks to everyone who participated in the Spring Seminar held in Red Deer on April 1, 2006.  During our afternoon Town Hall Meeting, may good ideas were exchanged in the steno swap sessions.  Download the list here. Chief Justice issues direction - Chief Justice Wachowich has issued direction to all court reporters regarding off record discussions.  Download the letter here.  Print a copy and carry it with you to be shown to counsel if the need arises.
The Alberta Shorthand Reporters Association is an affiliate of         National Court Reporters Association