In many areas of the country, there is a huge need for judicial court reporters. Courthouses and firms that hire reporters to take depositions in law firms frequently can’t fill all the open positions they have. Writing at high speed on a steno machine is a skill that requires focus and commitment and hours of daily practice to master. Once it’s mastered, however, there are almost unlimited ways to use those skills in a variety of career options.

The court reporting pilot program came about after the National Court Reporter Association’s Reporter Education Commission did a study examining court reporting training and the length of time it was taking for students to graduate and to get out into the workforce. NCRA’s Board of Directors charged a task force of innovative educators with developing methods for streamlining the training, and this pilot program is the result of their creative analysis and brainstorming.

This program is hosted by NCRF, the National Court Reporters Foundation, which focuses on research and education issues in the profession. It will be taught online by Robert McCormick, an educator with a high level of experience in online instruction. Mr. McCormick was a professor at the State University of New York-College of Technology at Alfred for 24 years and has created and taught online courses for over 10 years. His degrees include an Associate in Applied Science/Court Reporting, and both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Business Education. He has written several articles and textbooks and has programmed and developed several CD-ROMs. In 2004, Mr. McCormick was the recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award from NCRA as well as the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for the State University of New York.

Students will not be charged tuition, but you will be required to dedicate yourselves fully to this training in order to remain in the program. So if you can commit to a minimum of a year’s worth of time spending eight hours per day training (plus homework), please keep reading!

Steno machines and theory textbooks will be provided for you. You may not participate if you are currently attending court reporting school or have done any prior court reporting training. The training will focus initially on learning the theory that the task force has written and building speed on the steno machine. You will strive to meet the required speed benchmarks each quarter. Legal and medical terminology, grammar and vocabulary building, court procedures, and the how-to instruction for putting a transcript together will come further along in the training process. For information on the technology background needed for participation in this pilot, click here.