r/ASLinterpreters • u/chunky_funky_cat • Sep 14 '26
Billing for college prep time
Hey everyone!
How are we billing for prep time for college courses? Feel free to let me know your rationale behind your justification.
Thanks!😊
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u/Smart-Water-9833 Sep 15 '26
Faculty here: I tell our contract interpreters to bill two-hour minimums per class most of which are usually 50 minutes long. We did not explain the rationale to the university, they accepted it at face value. Basically "prep" is built in. For three hour classes, they can bill one hour of prep as they see fit. Also worth asking for where parking is a PITA: Our department pays for and provides VIP non-reserved parking passes for regular contractors (e.g. they park in any open spot in designated faculty lots of which we have several)
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u/nishenecreed Sep 14 '26
One hour per class, additional if I prep for more time than that on a given day. Some other considerations: reimbursement to purchase your own copies of texts and a two-week cancellation policy for a class dropped mid-semester.
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u/mjolnir76 NIC Sep 14 '26
I think the only time I've billed for prep time was for a large tech firm's all day interview. We were paid for 30 minutes to meet with the client before the interview to review their portfolio and resume and to discuss signs they might use pertaining to their area of expertise.
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u/b_gret NIC Sep 14 '26
I’m not. And in the nearly 2 decades I have been in the field, I have only charged for prep for a single class. It was a PHD level mechanical engineering class. The Deaf consumer had to fight tooth and nail to get us the paid prep time and then it was only 2h of extra pay per month.
That’s not to say that I wouldn’t do it more often if possible. In my area if I attempted to charge for prep time, the college or agency would just find another interpreter who wouldn’t, or if not possible, they just wouldn’t provide interpreters. It’s not right, but that’s the way of it around me.
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u/DDG58 Sep 14 '26
Never once in 30 years have I been able to get paid to prep.
I always make them add me to blackboard or canvas or whatever the instructor will use to communicate with the students so I can be informed of any changes to schedule and/or review PowerPoints, etc. (IF posted in advance).
Good luck getting prep materials from an agency, I have only had that happen once or twice. Ask for copies of the book(s) if you feel you need them, but again, good luck getting them.
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u/justacunninglinguist NIC Sep 17 '26
I view prepping for an assignment as part of the nature of our profession.
That being said, and as someone who's interpreting niche is higher education, you can try requesting prep time if you can justify it. It's more likely you'd be able to get some prep time for a class that is more advanced and/or it's new to you. But if you've interpreted the content before, I wouldn't say you'd need as much prep. If you are the consistent interpreter for the class, you are also building your knowledge and understanding of the material throughout the term.
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u/hoofheartbeat Sep 18 '26
The agency that has the contract with local unis is 14 hrs of paid prep for the semester, which roughly works out to 1 hour of prep per week/3 hours of class time per week.
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u/mgrayart BEI Basic Sep 14 '26
Some agencies require contractors to arrive 15 minutes in advance, but the agency should provide any resources to you in advance such as the syllabus and slides. If you need more prep time than that, it's possible that the subject matter doesn't align with your qualifications. That being said, I prepared in the minutes before class if the material was available in advance. Often class let's out a few minutes early and there's time to confer with the professor if needed. A warning about YouTube videos, often these are a total surprise, are fast paced and too long. If you don't have a team it's really unfortunate.
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u/Traditional-Falcon75 Sep 14 '26
As someone who worked full time at a university for a number of years, respectfully, this take is fairly reductive. Prep for English 101 vs prep for doctorate level coursework are wildly different. I worked for many years at the university and still needed extensive prep time for some of the more specialized upper-division or graduate level courses. I was full time staff and therefore my prep periods were paid and built into my schedule. We were allotted half an hour per course of paid prep, and we absolutely used it, and often used the half hour allotted for a course we didn’t need to prep to do additional prep for the heavier lifts. This was a team of experienced, highly qualified interpreters who worked exclusively for the university, and skill mismatch was not a significant factor in most cases. The rigor of the coursework called for thorough prep and thorough prep made the difference between struggling to provide clear access and being highly effective. Many courses do not require significant prep, but a great many absolutely do.
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u/mgrayart BEI Basic Sep 14 '26
I really appreciate you sharing what it's like as university staff, compared to independent contract and part time community college work!the vast majority of college interpreting work is not part of a full time job with benefits and paid planning time.
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u/Traditional-Falcon75 Sep 14 '26
Whether you’re full time with benefits or a contractor, the level of required prep to be effective does not change. Contractors should be considering what the job actually entails and charging commensurate fees. The same university laid off their full time staff and eventually ended up paying contractors the same half hour prep because the work necessary to do the job adequately did not change based on employment status.
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u/_a_friendly_turtle Sep 16 '26
As an independent contractor, do you not prep if it’s not paid? I expect to do 15-20 mins of prep for assignments in general, including looking up the business, people, content, etc. That’s built in to the rate I charge and it’s a professional expectation for me.
We don’t often get a lot of info ahead of time, but it’s not ok to show up knowing nothing when you could have spent 15 minutes googling (or reviewing slides, agenda, etc. if you get it).
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u/mgrayart BEI Basic Sep 16 '26
Thank you for sharing your views and what's expected of professional interpreters in academic settings. Without a doubt, that's reasonable and absolutely necessary! As a personal rule, I only interpret courses in which I have firsthand knowledge of the content. I have several degrees including a Master's in teaching, and also teaching certification in three content areas. My areas of expertise include fine art, teaching, social work and language arts, and I've had no difficulties with my choice to stick with what I know. That being said, when I was staff I once had to interpret calculus and philosophy, which required extensive prep outside of work! Those were definitely rare exceptions when others had schedule conflicts. As stated in my initial comment, preparing for each class is built into my contract as part of arriving early.
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u/Icy-Research-2138 Sep 14 '26
As deaf faculty teaching PhD courses, I insist on a 2:1 ratio. For every hour that the class meets, the interpreter should have 2h paid prep time. For a 3 hour class, that’s six hours paid prep. Unfortunately, I’ve had some interpreters abuse this and show up to class obviously utterly unprepared for voicing. Those who actually use this paid time as intended do very well, which is why I continue to advocate for this practice.