Managing Service Providers
Sign Language Interpreters & Captionists
Ensuring access for deaf students involves more than simply hiring service providers—it requires a comprehensive, sustainable approach to managing the people who provide these services. This includes interpreters, speech-to-text providers, and other communication access specialists who must be qualified, dependable, and ethical to ensure consistent access for deaf students.
Managing service providers is a highly specialized and nuanced profession that requires extensive expertise and cannot be mastered overnight; one must be familiar with the profession and its unique elements. By intentionally managing in-house, contracted service providers, or both, institutions can foster sustainable systems that deliver high-quality, effective communication access—ensuring deaf students are fully included in all aspects of campus life.
Delivering Ethical, Student-Centered Services
Providers should not only be qualified—they must also adhere to professional and ethical standards. Understanding the Code of Ethics for each provider type allows institutions and students to recognize when professional boundaries or standards are not being met. Make ethics a regular conversation with service providers and students–not just when there’s a problem. Keep an eye out for red flags, such as:
- Service providers placed in settings beyond their scope/skill level
- Personal relationships that may cloud professionalism
- Concerns ignored by the service provider or left unresolved
Institutions play a key role in ensuring that interpreters and captionists are vetted, licensed (where applicable), and trained to support deaf students in a wide range of classroom and campus environments. Sharing this information with deaf students is also a great way to help them advocate for themselves and provide detailed feedback when needed.
Service Provider Qualifications
While all service providers have minimum qualifications required for their field, these can vary significantly. Knowing what the qualifications are for each specific service is important to ensure that the right person is hired.
Even well-credentialed providers may not be the right fit for every class or event. Collect a service provider ‘portfolio’ before hire that includes a video sample (interpreter) or transcript (speech-to-text provider), certifications, and experience with postsecondary coursework. Some basic questions to start with:
- Have you worked in a college setting? If yes, how long?
- What is your experience with different course subjects? How about technical subjects such as STEM, health science, law, and upper-level courses?
- Are you able to work in various environments (e.g., lecture and interactive classes, labs, and formal events)?
- What hours and days of the week are you available? To preserve consistency, are you available for the full semester or start-end dates? How about last-minute requests?
- Interpreters: Do you have experience working with Deaf Interpreters, providing services for deafblind, deafdisabled, and multilingual deaf students?
- May we contact professional references who’ve worked with you?
When hiring qualified interpreters or speech-to-text providers, it starts with knowing the standards in each profession. Talking to previous deaf students, faculty, and staff—can help verify both the provider’s qualifications and their professionalism.
Hiring Models
There’s no one-size-fits-all structure for staffing service providers. Consider flexible hiring models, including full-time, part-time, hourly, or contracted service providers, which allow institutions to meet fluctuating demand while offering consistent work that helps attract and retain skilled professionals.
- Staff (Full-Time/Part-Time): Builds consistency and long-term student relationships
- Hourly: Allows flexibility, subject, and skill matching options
- Direct Contractors: Cost-effective, specialized support
- Agencies: Broader availability, especially for last-minute needs
In addition, developing strong relationships through contracts or bids with reputable agencies can also support prioritizing quality, reliability, and accountability. If you contract through an agency, a strong agreement is key. Outline terms such as:
- Minimum scheduling requirements and cancellation policies
- Consistency in assigning the same provider to recurring classes
- Expectations for teaming, preparation, and remote work readiness
- Training and compliance with state licensure
- Specialized experience and diversity in provider pool
Recruiting and Retaining Providers
Disability services offices often face challenges such as high service provider turnover, inconsistent availability, and an ongoing shortage of qualified professionals, particularly for in-person or advanced subject matter classes. Many service providers leave the postsecondary space due to burnout, low compensation, limited support, or fluctuating work hours. Addressing these challenges requires proactive and creative institution-wide planning.
To offer effective services, institutions must engage in intentional recruitment and retention practices. Here are a few strategies to recruit service providers:
Referrals
Your state’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is a valuable resource and may maintain directories or referral lists of service providers and agencies.
National-Level Organizations
Contact national organizations that have job boards, certification information, and referral networks to help you connect with qualified service providers. These are a few places to get started:
Market Analysis
Conduct a market analysis to understand current compensation trends, service demands, and local and regional provider availability. These data can help establish competitive rates, highlight gaps, and inform strategic hiring or contracting decisions.
Networking
Reach out to disability services offices at nearby colleges or universities–they’re often familiar with service providers in your area and could encourage them to support filling any needs on your campus.
Before you finalize a contract, ask questions that get at both logistics and service quality. Each approach has trade-offs. Blended staffing models often offer the right balance of availability and quality—and it is okay to contract with multiple agencies.
Vendor Questions
Contracting with a qualified agency or independent provider can be an effective strategy for offering consistent, high-quality interpreting and speech-to-text services (STTS). Selecting a vendor with the right expertise, infrastructure, and responsiveness directly impacts the accessibility experience for deaf students.
Before entering into an agreement, assess each vendor’s capacity by asking questions that address logistics, service quality, compliance, and consistency of support.
Key Questions to Assess Vendor Readiness
- What is your hourly rate, and how is billing structured (e.g., 15-minute increments, minimum service time)?
- How much lead time do you typically require to fulfill a service request? Are there different rates for urgent or last-minute assignments?
- What is your cancellation and substitution policy?
- What onboarding or training do your interpreters and captionists complete to prepare for higher education settings or remote platforms?
- Can you provide references from institutions or clients who have used your services in similar contexts?
- How do you collect and incorporate consumer feedback to maintain quality?
- Are your providers compliant with applicable state licensure laws? Who ensures ongoing compliance?
- Do you prioritize assigning the same service provider to recurring classes to support consistency and rapport?
One option to offering remote services is contracting with a professional and reputable agency. Selecting a reliable and experienced vendor can positively contribute to the quality and effectiveness of the use of remote services. Consider asking the questions in this document as you seek a provider.
Key Questions for Vendors
- What is the hourly or per minute rate for your service? Do you bill in 15-minute increments?
- Do you provide any equipment? If you provide equipment, who pays for shipping? Who owns that equipment and is responsible for repair?
- Is technical support included in your service provision? If so, is there a charge?
- Will you provide training for staff? If so, is there a charge?
- How much advance notice do you need in order to fill a service request?
- Do you provide “on-demand” service? Is there a higher rate for ”last-minute” requests?
- What is your cancellation policy?
- What training do your interpreters/captionists go through to familiarize themselves with this delivery model?
- Can you provide three references from agencies/people that have used your service?
- What opportunities do consumers have to provide feedback about their experiences?
- Does your state’s licensure law allow for or apply in this situation? Will the agency be responsible for making sure any service provider will comply with state laws?
- Will you schedule the same service providers for the course to maintain consistency?
