The ATA Chronicle - January/February 2023 - 37

CF
though still not up to the
500 or so who took the
exam each year in the
early and mid-2010s. Just
under 300 people took the
online exam, while a little
over 120 sat for the exam
in person.
y The ratio of in-person
to online registrations
was further skewed
in the direction of the
latter-hardly a surprising
development given the
sheer convenience of
testing at home.
y Several prominent ATA
chapters and affiliates
chose to no longer sponsor
exam sittings and instead
referred their members to
the online exam.
y Some language pairs saw
a bump in their pass rate,
most likely due to qualified
candidates who previously
didn't have access to the
physical exam finally
earning their certification.
y Technical issues with the
online exam were few and
far between and were
often attributable to
inadequate internet
bandwidth due to throttling
after a certain time by
internet service providers,
or occasionally the
candidate's own equipment.
Looking ahead to 2023,
many aspects of the exam
offering are unchanged, but
there are other things that
we're modifying or looking
at closely.
y The exam year will
continue to run roughly
from April through
September, plus in-person
sittings at ATA's Annual
Conference. The six-month
www.ata-chronicle.online
It's an exciting time for ATA's
Certification Program, and those
of us who have been involved with
it for many years occasionally
have a sense of whiplash from all
the changes.
hiatus is necessary because
of ATA Headquarters
staffing constraints and
to allow new passages
to be selected, refined,
and integrated into the
ExamRoom system.
y We'll continue to allow
chapters, affiliates, and
other groups in the U.S. to
organize physical sittings.
However, we'll closely
monitor the level of
interest in these sittings
to determine whether
this hybrid model of
exam formats is worth
continuing in 2024
and beyond.
y Effective this year,
we'll no longer have
sittings outside the
U.S. Administering
sittings abroad is hugely
expensive, due mostly to
higher shipping charges,
and there's always a risk
of delays when exam
materials are held up
at customs or other red
tape. Candidates in other
countries now have an
easy way to take the exam
on their own schedule
by registering for the
online format.
y Speaking of money, we'll
be taking a close look
at the relative costs and
whether an adjustment
in the registration fee is
warranted. Moving the
exam online eliminates
the need to rent facilities
and pay proctors, though
the overall impact on ATA
Headquarters' overhead is
not yet clear.
y We're working with
ExamRoom to move
the practice test to that
platform as well. Besides
enhancing administrative
processes, this also has
the advantage of allowing
candidates to experience
the interface in a lowerpressure
situation, so
that when it comes time
to take the exam itself,
that will be one less thing
to fret about. Behind the
scenes, we're also hoping
to move the grading
process itself online,
which would greatly
streamline operations.
It's an exciting time for
ATA's Certification Program,
and those of us who have been
involved with it for many
years occasionally have a
sense of whiplash from all the
changes. Alongside these
improvements in accessibility,
the Certification Committee is
also hard at work making the
exam even more equitable and
consistent. A belated Happy
New Year to everyone!
New Certified Members
Congratulations! The following
members have successfully
passed ATA's certification exam!
English into Korean
Hyewon Kim
Los Angeles, CA
English into Spanish
Elsa R. Videla Cabrera
Acton, CA
French into English
Christopher Dinon
Moorestown, NJ
Nolan E. Fielder
Roseville, CA
Emily B. Toll
Washington, DC
Spanish into English
April Overstreet
Salem, OR
David
Stephenson,
CT is chair
of ATA's
Certification
Committee. An ATAcertified
German>English,
Dutch>English, and
Croatian>English translator,
he has been an independent
translator for over 30 years,
specializing in civil litigation
and creative nonfiction. He
was the 2022 recipient of
ATA's Impact Award.
david@bullcitylang.com
American Translators Association 37
http://www.ata-chronicle.online
The ATA Chronicle - January/February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - January/February 2023
