The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is the first and largest technological

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

in the world for students who are

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

or hard of hearing. As one of nine colleges within the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

(RIT) in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, NTID provides academic programs, access, ASL in-class interpreters and support services—including on-site audiological, speech-language, and

cochlear implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for improved speech unde ...

support. As of fall quarter 2012, NTID encompasses just under 10% of RIT's enrollment, 1259 students. Roughly 775 deaf and hard of hearing students are cross-registered into another RIT college's program with support from NTID. In addition to a master's degree in deaf education, NTID also offers a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

program in ASL-English Interpretation.

History

The institute was established in 1965 by the passage of . The law also established a National Advisory Group to find a suitable site for the school. The Advisory Group considered proposals from

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

, the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

, the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

and others before deciding on RIT as its home in 1966. Three factors helped RIT secure the responsibility for the new institute: *RIT had just moved to a new campus, so the institute would not find itself in second-hand quarters. *Rochester businessmen had enlightened views about disability in the workplace and were eager to share those views with the Advisory Group. *RIT had a trustee, Edmund Lyon, who had served as president of the

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, also known as AG Bell, is an organization that aims to promote listening and spoken language among people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is headquartered in Washington, ...

and as trustee of the Rochester School for the Deaf. The institute was originally conceived as tuition-free, providing technical training as well as academic and communication skills training to 600 deaf students annually. NTID admitted its first students in 1968. Its establishment initially caused a great deal of friction on campus between hearing students and deaf students and RIT faculty and NTID faculty, the points of contention centering on the construction of new buildings for NTID, whether or not NTID faculty salaries were more generous than those of their peers, and communication differences between

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is expre ...

and

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...

. In the early 1980s, NTID's enrollment spiked as deaf students from the "

rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

bulge" of the mid-1960s entered their college years. Enrollment has been trending higher again in recent years; NTID's 2008 enrollment was its highest ever at 1,450, easily surpassing the previous record of 1,358 set in 1984. In 1993, NTID established its Center for Arts and Sciences to help boost the numbers of undecided (or underprepared) students who stay on to pursue a baccalaureate degree. By 2005, this program had raised the proportion of NTID students in bachelor's degree programs to 41% (from 12% twenty years earlier). The history of NTID and the art,

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, technology, and language of the Deaf community are preserved in the RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive, which is housed on campus in the RIT Archive Collections in Wallace Library.

Notable alumni

Clayton Valli Clayton Valli (May 25, 1951 – March 7, 2003) was an American prominent deaf linguist and American Sign Language (ASL) poet whose work helped further to legitimize ASL and introduce people to the richness of American Sign Language literatur ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Deaf culture in the United States Education in Rochester, New York Educational institutions established in 1965 Rochester Institute of Technology colleges Schools for the deaf in the United States Deaf universities and colleges in the United States Technological universities in the United States Private universities and colleges in New York (state) Universities and colleges in Monroe County, New York 1965 establishments in New York (state)

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

Further reading

External links