Since its establishment in the year 2000, the Translator-Interpreter Program’s mission has been to bridge language gaps in our community and promote intercultural understanding. By providing an easily-accessible volunteer translation and interpretation service to the community agencies, we strive to build mutual understanding and trust among the diverse constituents of our society. In its early years, TIP conducted a survey with approximately 300 service-related agencies in the Tompkins County and found that although over 25 different languages were encountered by the agencies in the course of their daily work, the majority of these agencies were not able to meet their foreign language needs. Over the years, TIP volunteers have aided in preventing misfortunes and injustices that result from ineffective communication and received much support from the community in return. TIP has grown substantially since its establishment and is now seeking to implement the program in other college campuses across the nation.
There are three main groups that comprise TIP: 1) the student volunteers, 2) Cornell Language Faculty, and 3) the community agencies. The TIP Board, made up of undergraduate students and a graduate student advisor, serves as a year-long partner to all three groups and facilitates their cooperation. Training sessions are held each semester for each group, and the Program works in the following way: prospective volunteers are trained at the TIP Volunteer Training Session and their language skills are confirmed by Cornell language faculty members. After the submission of all necessary documents, the contact information and call hours of volunteers are posted on the password protected TIP Database. Only the agencies that have attended our Agency Training Session and understand the workings of the Program are able to access the Database. The agencies contact the volunteers themselves or through the TIP Board, and our volunteers provide necessary services.
TIP Board also cooperates with the Language Pairing Program (LPP) Board to promote intercultural understanding on Cornell campus. We publish a newsletter (CultureGram) each semester and also host an international dessert-tasting event, Taste of Culture, where we ask our guests to sample phrases of foreign languages as well as delicious desserts. Taste of Culture is held near the end of each semester and is free and open to the entire Cornell community.
If you are a faculty member or a representative for an agency, please contact Joyce Muchan, Assistant Director of Student Programs, Advisor, by email (jdm1@cornell.edu) or phone (607-255-8851).
If you are a Cornell student (undergraduate or graduate) or staff and would like to join TIP as a volunteer translator/interpreter, please email translator@cornell.edu for more information. The requirements for joining TIP are as follows:
1) Attendance at our Volunteer Training Session (held twice each semester. Please email us for the date of our next training session)
2) Submission of all necessary documents (given at the Volunteer Training Session)
3) Confirmation of your language proficiency by the Cornell language professor for your language
If you have any questions about this process or if you would like to be on our mailing list, please email translator@cornell.edu.
TIP volunteers are NOT professional translators/interpreters. They are only able to accept assignments through the Program or the Public Service Center. Although all of our volunteers have attended our Training Session and their language skills have been confirmed by the instructors for their respective languages, their interpretations/translations cannot be said to be "official" in any way.
