DI possesses native or near-native fluency in American Sign Language. The DI facilitates
communication between a person using sign language and a deafblind person or between
a qualified interpreter and D/DB/HH person when the communication between the
qualified interpreter and the D/DB/HH person is not effective.
(i) “Director” means the director of the division on deaf and hard of hearing or his or her
designee.
(j) “Division” means the division on deaf and hard of hearing in the Michigan
department of civil rights.
(k) “Division recognized certification” means a certificate that the division will accept
that indicates the person has passed an evaluation of his or her interpreting skills.
(l) “Effective communication” means that all involved parties understand each other for
the exchange of visual and audio information about ideas, attitudes, emotions, or
behavior that occurs between 2 or more persons, through a common system of language
that is equally and fully understood by a deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing person
(D/DB/HH) and hearing persons. The interpreter must possess sign language to English
– English to sign language skills and necessary vocabulary for the situation so that all
parties have access to the same information.
(m) “Exception” means a written agreement between the division and an appointing
authority, including, but not necessarily limited to, an educational program as described
in R 393.5027(3), in which the appointing authority describes and attests to its efforts to
provide a qualified interpreter, and in which the appointing authority asserts and the
division agrees that the unfeasibility of doing so necessitates a variance from these rules.
(n)“EIPA” or “educational interpreter performance assessment” means a credential
granted under the EIPA interpreter testing system that assesses the proficiency of
interpreters in elementary and secondary educational environments.
(o) "Formal complaint" means a document that states the charges of each alleged
violation and is prepared by the division after a complaint has been received.
(p) "Interpreter" means a person who engages in the practice of interpreting and meets
the definition of MCL 393.502(h).
(q) “Interpreting” means the process of listening, watching, understanding, and
analyzing signed, spoken, written word, facial expressions, and lip movements from a
source language and re-expressing that message faithfully, accurately, and objectively in
a target language, taking the social and cultural context into account. In the context of
these rules “interpreting” generally involves signing to a D/DB/HH person what is being
voiced by a hearing person, and voicing to a hearing person what is being signed by a
D/DB/HH person.
(r) “Listed” or “listing” means full name, address, type of certification, expiration, and
disciplinary actions appearing in the division interpreter database.
(s) “MI-BEI certification” means an interpreter certificate granted under the MI-BEI
interpreter testing system.
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