American Sign Language (ASL)

A student named Garrick asked: Is ASL University Accredited?
Bill Vicars' Response: My wife tells me I'm "certifiable."
Heh. (That's an old reference to being "certifiably crazy" for those of you who missed it).
Um...no. ASL University is not accredited by any government agency that I know of.
I am a certified ASL teacher (ASLTA). I hold a doctorate from an accredited university (Lamar U, in Beaumont, TX).
Quite honestly, I'm not seeking "accreditation" for ASLU. Maybe someday. For now this site is simply an online curriculum resource. ASLU derives its credibility from me, not some outside source.
Here's how things work around here:

Documentation:
To receive college credit from a recognized accredited educational institution you must contact that institution and make arrangements with them. Get it in writing.

ASL University can provide documentation of your having completed a certain amount of work or having demonstrated a certain level of proficiency but that takes time and effort on our part and thus requires registration and fee payment. Otherwise, if you are simply using this site for self-study or as a curriculum for an in-person class there is no reason to register or pay anything.

Many students do register and pay me tuition to take my online courses and then receive credit from their local school. Some colleges and high schools that have accepted the ASLU (Lifeprint) course for credit toward graduation or foreign language requirements are listed below. Note, this is only a partial list. Also, some are ongoing programs.

Ballard Memorial High School (2005)
Belhaven College, 1500 Peachtree Street, Jackson, MS 39202, (C.M. Poe, 2006)
California State University, Sacramento (2005 program)
Emerson College, 180 Tremont St. Boston MA 02116 (2005)
Indiana University (Doug Haskins 2006)
Lamar University, Beaumont Texas (2003)
Portland Christian High School, (Michelle Weber, 2007)
United Middle School, United Independent School District, Laredo, Texas (Christian Escamilla 2007)
Pusch Ridge Christian Academy 9500 N. Oracle Rd. Tucson, AZ 85704 (Jessica McGlynn 2007)
St. Bonaventure High School, 3167 Telegraph Road, Ventura, CA 93003, (Cody Ricewood, Oct. 2006)
St. Thomas Aquinas College 125 Route 340 Sparkill, NY 10976 (Erin Simon, Jan 2007)
Southwest Christian High School (2005) 103 Peavey Road, Chaska Minnesota 55318 -2323 (multiple students)
Utah Electronic High School (SLC Utah, 2005 program)
Webster County High School 1922 US HWY 41 A South Dixon Kentucky 42409 (Matthew Perriard 2005)
Plus many more.

Constance,
ASLU (Lifeprint.com) is a curriculum that is used by a number of programs including: Sac State, Utah Electronic High School, various school districts throughout the U.S., and various instructors and organizations throughout the world in addition to the private online classes I offer directly.
Several of those programs are indeed regionally accredited (such as Sac State.)
The private online classes I offer directly to students are not regionally accredited.
What typically happens is the student contacts the local institution and asks them if they will take Dr. William Vicars' "say so" that the student has demonstrated performance equivalent to that attained by a student successfully completing a level 1 college course.
The next question is typically, "Who is this "Dr. Vicars" fellow?"
Then the student points out that he is a full time instructor at California State University, Sacramento and he holds an earned doctorate in Deaf Education, and he is certified by the American Sign Language Teacher's Association. (See http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/instructor.htm)
He provides an independent study program via the same online curriculum that he uses for the classes he teaches at Sac State.
Then the student askes the LOCAL college to provide credit for participation in the private study program. Thus credit is not "transferred" to the local college. Rather it is generated at the local college.
Cordially,
Dr. V

There are a number of certifications available related to ASL that are issued by various organizations:

Interpreter Certification: There are a number of interpreter certifications available. Many states have their own system of certifying interpreters. There are also national certifications available from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and the National Association of the Deaf.

Teacher of the Deaf Certification: For people who want to teach deaf children in the public school system or at a residential school for the deaf. This certification is provided by state departments of education.

ASLTA Certification: This certification is for people who want to teach ASL. ASLTA stands for American Sign Language Teachers Association.

Public School Student Certification: This type of certification is offered by some state systems to their high school students who complete a course of study and pass a comprehensive final.

ASLPI: The American Sign Language Proficiency Interview is a test that many employers use to determine if job applicants are have the ASL skills necessary to do the job for which they are interviewing. It is also used to determine ASL proficiency for placement in some education programs.

SCPI: Sign Communication Proficiency Interview: This test is used by employers and others to determine if job applicants are able to communication in sign language.

Notes:
In a message dated 4/16/2005 3:58:15 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, school4asl@ writes:

A typical in-person first semester language course will generally help the students achieve an ACTFL proficiency level of “novice high” for listening/speaking, and “novice mid” for reading/writing.

A second semester language course will generally help the students achieve an ACTFL proficiency level of “intermediate low” for listening/speaking and “novice high” for reading/writing.

What about an online ASL class?
I'm finding that my students, after two semesters are achieving an ACTFL proficiency level of “intermediate low” for receptive skills and a "novice high" for expressive skills. This corresponds to the increased emphasis on receptive skills during the instruction process.
To legitimately interpret ASL, I would recommend at least a level of "Advanced-High." This would require several years of study (around 600 instructional contact hours) and many hundreds of hours of practice.

As far as the ASL U certificate of completion goes it is simply a piece of paper that states you have successfully completed a formal course of study. Go here for an example: transcript.
What I suggest you do if you want to become an interpreter is to enroll in an actual Interpreter Training Program.
Cordially,
Dr. Vicars

Also see: Equivalency: Classroom Contact Hours

Accreditation: