The Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) is one step closer to finding a new Translation and Interpretation Program (TIP) coordinator.

Last week, the top three candidates for the position were interviewed by the MRC’s search committee and gave presentations outlining their vision for the program.

The MRC TIP provides trained multilingual staff and student volunteers to translate and interpret for students and families with limited English proficiency. TIP aims to help overcome language and cultural barriers and assists on- and off-campus resources during emergency and nonemergency situations.

Tanyah Barnes, the assistant director of the MRC, is leading the search committee for the new TIP coordinator, which also includes representatives from International Student and Scholar Services, the Office of International Education and Global Initiatives and the Dean of Students Office, as well as the president and events coordinator of the Asian Student Union and a TIP student volunteer.

Barnes said candidates must possess strong language fluency, as well as the ability to work with and support students, develop language programs and assist in translation and interpretation.

“Because it is a very specialized position, we don’t often see very large candidate pools,” Barnes said.

Alexis Seo Hong, Yoonki Hong and Shunwen Wu are all contenders for the position. Each showcased their strategies to increase on- and off-campus engagement of multilingual students in the MRC and across the University during their presentations.

Seo Hong, who received a master’s in public administration from BU in 2017, is fluent in Korean and previously worked as a freelance translator before interning in the University’s Admissions Office, where she wrote Korean subtitles for videos. She discussed improving the center’s social media presence to raise awareness for MRC initiatives and events, specifically through the development of hashtags on the MRC’s Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat pages.

Seo Hong said she is also interested in working with various academic departments to create courses related to diversity, such as UNIV 101Z: Black Lives Matter, a freshman-only course offered in fall 2017 which examined the movement and its role in providing framework to address inequalities within black communities.

In her presentation, she said MRC should partner with diverse local businesses and campus groups, such as Ebishura Sushi, to sponsor informational workshops and cultural activities.

“I know the language barrier, I understand the culture barrier and know the feeling of ‘I don’t belong here,’” Seo Hong said. “So I could use my personal experience to be in their shoes, and try to communicate and understand what is going on and try to help solve this problem.”

Yoonki Hong said in his presentation that he wants to facilitate more personal connections with students within the MRC. Hong received a doctorate in sociology from BU in 2014, and while he was a graduate student, created and taught a course that studied East Asian globalization. He suggested increasing the MRC’s visibility on campus through event sponsorship, student organization collaboration and advertising in student publications, such as PRISM and Asian Outlook.

The third candidate, Shunwen Wu, is expected to receive her master’s in student affairs administration from BU in May. Wu, who is also a TIP volunteer, wants to use poll and survey findings to tailor her plan for the coordinator position. She said the MRC should ask inclusive questions about diversity that can be answered by anyone in order to create a larger framework for engagement.

As president of the BU Parents Collective, a student organization comprised of graduate students with young children, she also suggested working with local schools to help kids foster pride in their heritage and language skills.

“I want to do my part to engage with Binghamton,” Wu said.

The presentations are one of the final steps in the hiring process. The search committee will review feedback from presentation attendees, complete reference checks and make their recommendation to the hiring department, which will make the final decision on who to hire.

Student feedback is a critical factor in the search committee’s recommendation, Barnes said.

“Because the MRC serves our student body, it’s important to us to have student input at all phases,” she said. “We will be looking at the student feedback just as much as we are looking at our faculty and staff feedback.”

The hiring department is expected to make its decision in early March.