Requests for Sign Language Interpreting or Communication Real Time Translation (CART)

Middle Tennessee State University’s Disability & Access Center is pleased to arrange sign language interpreting or CART for students who identify as deaf or hard of hearing.

These services can be provided for academic activities such as classes and related classroom activities, special events sponsored by the university and/or university departments such as concerts and guest lectures, and business meetings and featured events sponsored by student organizations registered with Middle Tennessee State University’s Student Organization and Service

Arranging Services

Any requests for sign language interpreting or CART should be made no later than 5 business days before the beginning of a course or event date.  Every effort will be made to fill requests made less than 5 business days before the event, but the service cannot be guaranteed.

For Academic Needs:

Students must register with Middle Tennessee State University’s Disability & Access Center to arrange sign language interpreting or CART for classes.

If sign language interpretation or CART has been arranged for a class or other academic activity and a student will be unable to attend, it is imperative that the student notifies the DAC within the time period allowable to cancel (48 hour notice for sign language interpreting and 24 hour notice for CART).  After a minimum of three failures to cancel within the allowable period, the DAC will contact the student to arrange a meeting with either the director or associate director to discuss academic concerns related to excessive absences, safeguards to prevent future late/failed cancellations, and potentially whether interpreting or CART is still needed.  If failed cancellations continue to mount, the DAC will continue to reach out to the student regarding the academic concerns related to continued absences while reserving the right to suspend the services after providing notification at least a week in advance of the suspension date.

For Extracurricular Activities:

Requests for special events sponsored by the university and/or university departments or student organizations registered with Middle Tennessee State University’s Student Organization and Service should be made to the organizer of the event.  

For Event Organizers:

Please use the following statement when advertising your event:

  Disability related accommodations available upon request.  Please contact (your contact information) with at least 5 business days’ notice because some accommodations (e.g. sign language interpreting) may take time to arrange. 

If you receive a request and need assistance with meeting the individual’s need, please contact the Disability & Access Center at 898-2783 or dacemail@mtsu.edu.

Please reserve seating for the individuals who requested in the front with an unobstructed view of the stage/speaker.

Access to the event is the responsibility of the organizer, so any associated expense must be covered by the conducting organization/department.

MTSU contracts with Bridges in Nashville for sign language interpreting and Alternative Communication Services (ACS) for CART.  The current rate for interpreting is $52/hour per interpreter (depending on the duration and amount of information needed to be interpreted an interpreting team may be necessary) and CART is $85/hour. 

Bridges has a 48 business hour cancellation policy and ACS has a 24-hour cancellation policy to avoid charges for scheduled time.

The details needed to properly plan services for an event are date, beginning and end times, location, contact person information, and copies of pertinent information such as a program, brochure, and/or script so the service provider can prepare.

If you are planning on having interpreting services without request, you can use the following statement:

  American Sign Language interpreting will be provided.