PRCC named Project Steno partner program

Pearl River Community College handshake with ProjectSteno

Pearl River Community College is the 23rd court reporting and captioning program to join Project Steno in its efforts to raise awareness of the profession.  

The new court reporting program is overseen by James Collum Ph.D., Dean of Career and Technical Education, and Jana Causey, Vice President of Forrest County Campus. The program’s instructors are court reporters Rosie Sanchez and Twila Jordan-Hoover, CCR, RPR, both of Mississippi.  

Project Steno promotes the stenographic court reporting/captioning profession through social media and community outreach, with the goal of building a robust pipeline of students into school and graduating them in two years.  

“Pearl River Community College chose to be a partner program of Project Steno because we wanted to give our students the access to important resources and information that Project Steno provides in this field,” said Causey.  

Collum concurred: “It is important for us to partner with Project Steno as we believe the partnership and the incentives offered will help ensure the success of our students.”  

Jim DeCrescenzo, Project Steno’s president, explained: “Our goal is straightforward. We want to repopulate the dwindling ranks of stenographic reporters and captioners in our field. To do that, we need to get motivated students into school and graduate them in two years.” 

Becoming a partner program required performance metrics be in place with students graduating within 24 months of enrollment. This includes a curriculum plan, speed-building and online practice regimen that makes use of an online learning platform such as Realtime Coach and confirming student progress to Project Steno on a regular basis with performance milestones being achieved. 

Project Steno offers its Merit Awards Program to students who attend a Partner Program, register with Project Steno, respond timely to requests for data, and reach certain speed benchmarks. The 140-in-1 merit award of $1,000 is given to stenographic students who attain 140 words per minute in one year. The 225-in-2 merit award gives $1,000 to stenographic students who attain 225 wpm in two years. 

COURT REPORTING PROGRAM INFORMATION 

The program is available on the Forrest County and Hancock Campuses with either a 45-hour certificate or Associate in Applied Science degree. 

For information about the Court Reporting program at the Forrest County Campus, call 601-554-5505, email jcollum@prcc.edu or visit the campus on U.S. 49 South. 

In Hancock County, contact Dr. Raymunda Barnes, Assistant Vice President, at 228-252-7001 or email rbarnes@prcc.edu

ABOUT PROJECT STENO 

Founded in 2017, Project Steno is an independent, non-affiliated organization that relies entirely on financial support from the court reporting community. Its goals are to: 

• Promote the stenographic reporting profession and recruit promising students;  

• Partner with stenographic reporting schools and programs to graduate students in two years;  

• Create incentives for students to reach speed milestones through the Merit Awards Program;  

• Track performance of students who graduate in two years through data collection and analysis. 

Project Steno holds 501(c)3 status as a charitable organization. It operates entirely on a not-for-profit basis. In January 2018 Project Steno launched its program of tuition assistance and placed its first students in court reporting school. With the manifest enthusiasm of court reporters everywhere, Project Steno will continue to raise funds to promote widespread awareness of our unique profession and create a robust pipeline of students into court reporting schools and graduates into the field. Learn more at ProjectSteno.org 

For the latest news on Pearl River Community College, visit PRCC.edu and follow us on Twitter (@PRCC_Wildcats), Instagram (PRCCWILDCATS), and Facebook (@PRCCMKTG). 

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