PEPNet-Northeast
PEPNet-Northeast previously was known as the Northeast Technical Assistance Center, (NETAC). NETAC was established in 1996 as one of the four regional centers on postsecondary education for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. NETAC established an extensive collaborative network throughout the northeast region that included two- and four-year colleges, proprietary programs, secondary schools, vocational training programs, adult education programs, private and public community service agencies, consumer and professional organizations, state and national organizations and individuals.
In 2006 NETAC changed its name to PEPNet-Northeast to better reflect its affiliation and collaboration with the three other regional centers that together comprise the Postsecondary Education Programs Network. PEPNet-Northeast is comprised of 14 states/territories (Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Vermont).
PEPNet-Northeast is housed at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of the eight colleges of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York. Respected internationally as a world leader in career-oriented education, RIT offers more than 200 programs in business, engineering, art and design, science and mathematics, liberal arts, photography, computing sciences hospitality management and many other fields of study.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson chose RIT to host the newly created National Technical Institute for the Deaf. In 2010, 65% of RIT deaf students will be enrolled in one of the RIT colleges pursuing baccalaureate studies.
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf provides academic support and the largest access services unit in the world to deaf and hard of hearing students attending RIT. NTID employs more than 100 sign language interpreters, 30 speech-to-text operators, and 400 trained, paid student note-takers each quarter. In addition, approximately 40 faculty and staff provide supplemental tutoring and advising services.
PEPNet-Northeast utilizes many of RIT's high-tech facilities, including learning centers, smart classrooms with state-of-the-art computers, and multimedia-based technologies. These facilities also include access to the Internet-2 research network. NTID is on the cutting edge in the development of new technologies to best serve deaf and hard-of-hearing students in a mainstreamed educational environment.
NTID developed the C-Print captioning technology, a system that produces text of spoken content, more than 17 years ago. PEPNet-Northeast also draws on the considerable experience of NTID faculty and staff in the use and application of instructional technology including E-learning systems, research on deafness, communication, and deaf education. NTID has developed training and best-practice models that focus on practical strategies that produced changes in pedagogy, curriculum and the use of support and access services to increased deaf and hard-of hearing students' opportunities for success.
PEPNet-Northeast frequently shares these proven models with secondary schools, colleges, and universities throughout the northeast region as well as throughout the U.S. with collaborative efforts of the national network of regional centers. No other site in the world has a comparable wealth of experience in working with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in a mainstreamed environment.
