Help us recognize excellence within our community. Now is your chance to nominate a fellow court reporter or captioner for the prestige they deserve. Nominations are now open for NCRA’s three highest honors: the NCRA Distinguished Service Award, the CASE Award of Excellence, and Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters.
NCRA Distinguished Service Award. The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is the highest honor NCRA can bestow on a member. It recognizes the work and service by an individual member for the benefit of the court reporting and captioning professions including service to NCRA as a member, a committee member, a director, or an officer of the Association. Other displays of distinguished work include contributing to the JCR, service at a state court reporters association, or work in the field of public relations or public affairs. Award winners are recognized at the NCRA Conference & Expo. Nominations close February 28.
The 2025 DSA was awarded posthumously to Carol Studenmund, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, a captioner and agency owner from Portland, Ore. Studenmund was honored at a special awards ceremony held at the 2025 NCRA Conference & Expo. The award was accepted by her husband on her behalf.
Studenmund was nominated for the award by numerous peers and colleagues, including her business partner, Robin Nodland, FAPR, RDR, CRR. The pair started LNS Court Reporting & Captioning in 1987 after launching their careers together as freelance court reporters with the same firm. “Carol’s enthusiasm for captioning was contagious,” wrote Nodland in her letter of nomination. “Carol’s advocacy continued throughout her life.”
“Besides court reporter and captioner, Carol’s other titles included leader, champion, advocate, businesswoman, president, chairperson, speaker, teacher, diplomat, negotiator, consummate professional, volunteer, good friend, wife, and mother,” wrote Darlene Parker, FAPR, RPR (Ret.), in her nomination letter. “She tirelessly advocated for the captioning industry and for access for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.”
CASE Award of Excellence. The CASE Award of Excellence recognizes an outstanding educator who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of court reporter education through teaching, research, and involvement with students and the profession. Help us recognize those who inspire you and push you through those speed plateaus. If your teacher was an incredible influence in your education, now is the time to say thank you and ensure they get the recognition they deserve by nominating them for the CASE Award of Excellence. Nominations close February 28.
Fellows of the Academy of Professional Reporters (FAPR). Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters is a professional distinction conferred upon a person of outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in the field of verbatim stenographic reporting and/or stenographic captioning. Candidates for Fellowship are required to have been in the active practice of reporting/captioning for at least 15 years. Criteria for nomination include the publication of important papers, legislative or creative contributions to the field, and service on committees or boards. Nominations close February 28.
In 2025 Janice E. Plomp, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, CRE, an instructor at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) from St. Alberta, Alberta, Canada, was named a Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters.
“I was truly stunned when I learned that the Alberta Shorthand Reporters Association wished to nominate me for such a prestigious designation — so much so that I offered rebuttal argument!” Plomp said. “To be recognized by colleagues who have been such an important part of my career is a special honor, and I am incredibly grateful for their support and friendship throughout the years.
“Being named a Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters and seeing my name alongside so many of NCRA’s most respected and accomplished professionals is equally humbling and exhilarating,” she added.
Learn more about these prestigious awards and find nomination forms on the Awards and Contests web page.
Comments are closed.