Arkansas Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf has created opportunity for all!
ARID encourages professional growth and development, community engagement, and leadership opportunities. We do this by offering scholarships and awards.
Scholarships
The ARID Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ad Hoc Committee (DEIC) was formed by the June 6, 2020 GMM Motion which states that the committee is established in order to: “determine what actions ARID can take to leverage the inclusion of and support the success of interpreters of color in our field. The committee is empowered to determine its own title, description, and recommendations of actions for ARID which will be presented to the ARID membership.” At the July 21, 2020 DEIC meeting, the committee initiated the Ella Irby Professional Development Scholarship in honor of our cherished Ella Irby who has worked for decades with UA Little Rock interpreting students, the interpreting community and the Deaf community. A motion to establish the Ella Irby Professional Development Scholarship was presented and passed at the September 5, 2020 GM meeting.
Purpose:
The Ella Irby Professional Development Scholarship was established for individual ARID members (organizational members are not eligible). These funds are used to send any two (2) ARID members to a national or regional conference hosted by NBDA, NAOBI, or a similar BIPOC national or regional organization.
*Member Only Benefit – Become a Current Member or log into Your Account to Apply*
Must have paid for at least 2 years of membership to qualify for scholarships.
In 1991, ARID established the Scholarship Fund to assist individual ARID members defray the costs of RID certification testing. In 2010, the Scholarship Committee updated the scholarship criteria and procedures to reflect current tests, terminology and the ability to submit materials electronically. Approved by the ARID membership at the 12/4/10 GM Meeting, and printed starting with the ARIDian News & Views, 26(2) December 2010 Winter Holiday issue. In 2011, the Scholarship Committee renamed the scholarship and revised the eligibility criteria to expand the availability of funds to ARID members for any national and state certification tests. Approved by the ARID membership at the 12/3/11 GM Meeting, and printed starting with the ARIDian News & Views, 27(2) December 2011 Winter Holiday issue. In 2018, the ARID membership approved submission revisions at the 9/15/18 GM Meeting, and printed starting with the ARIDian News & Views, 34(1) September 2018 Fall issue. In 2020, the ARID membership approved adding Betty Steed, who passed away Jan. 14, 2020, to the title at the 3/7/20 GM Meeting, and printed starting with the ARIDian News & Views, 35(3) March 2020 Spring issue. In 2022, the ARID membership approved increasing the reimbursement up to $225 at the 12/3/22 GM Meeting, and printed starting with the ARIDian News & Views, 39(3) March 2023 Spring issue.
Purpose:
Scholarship funds are available to all ARID members in good standing for any national or state certification, or performance tests/assessments/screenings that include, but are not limited to: 1) the RID Performance Tests [NIC, CDI], 2) the EIPA Performance Assessment, 3) the Arkansas QAST Screening Tests [Levels 1-3 and Levels 4-5], and 4) the Board for Evaluation of Interpreters Certification Program (BEI), hereafter referred to as “tests.”
*Member Only Benefit – Become a Current Member or log into Your Account to Apply*
Awards
This Arkansas Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (ARID) award honors an interpreter who demonstrates outstanding community involvement in the Deaf and/or Deafblind Communities of Arkansas.
*Must be a current member to nominate individuals for Awards – Become a Current Member or log into Your Account to Apply*
This Arkansas Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (ARID) award honors an interpreter whose talent, efforts, and body of work has, in a fundamental way, advanced the field of interpreting; whose accomplishments have been acknowledged by professional peers and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community; and whose work has and will continue to have a lasting influence on interpreters, the profession, and society. The Shirley T. Herald Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes outstanding interpreters whose pioneering spirit, excellent work, and unswerving dedication to the field of interpretation throughout their career has improved society and inspired others.