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26 The Linguist FEBRUARY/MARCH www.ciol.org.uk FEATURES The relaunch of the CL scheme has made it cheaper and easier to apply, with 100 applicants in the first month alone, says Karen Stokes Council relaunched the Chartered Linguist (CL) register at Members' Day in October 2014, following detailed discussions and careful consideration of feedback from members, existing registrants and Institute staff about the previous scheme. The pilot scheme for admissions under the new criteria ran for five weeks and proved highly successful, with around 100 applications received by the end of the year. As a Chartered body, the Institute holds the CL register in the public interest. The new scheme therefore maintains the core elements of the previous one to ensure that registrants continue to have the requisite qualifications, experience, level of current practice and demonstrated commitment to continuing professional development (CPD) that users rightly expect of a professional register. At the same time, it aims to widen access to the register by offering more flexible admissions criteria and a more straightforward process. The total practice requirement of 120 days a year, for example, ensures that practitioners working part-time are eligible to apply. It can now be made up of a variety of disciplines to cater to the needs of linguists who practise in more than one area – for example, a translator who also teaches translation or foreign languages. Moreover, the previous scheme's requirement to attend an interview has been removed, which has made the admissions process simpler, less time-consuming, and less expensive, bringing the cost of registration down to £100 for the first year (including a one-off application fee of £50) and £50 in subsequent years. Straightforward applications for inclusion on the CL register are now handled entirely by the Institute's membership department and I would like to record my thanks to our Membership Manager, Soheila Dayani-Phillips, for all her hard work in processing applications and responding to members' queries. More complex cases are referred to the CL Admissions Committee, which decides on applications and renewals on behalf of Council. In December, CIOL Members and Fellows were invited to submit expressions of interest in serving on the committee or the advisory panel on which the committee can call for specific expertise. Many thanks to all who responded. The testing process The purpose of the pilot was to trial the new criteria, process and documentation, and to get feedback from two groups of members: applicants and potentially eligible members who decided not to apply at this time. Views from the second group were particularly welcome in order to identify any barriers to application. Almost 200 members who had received the original mailing in October took part in our online survey in December. Members who had already sent in their documentation were asked to comment on why they had decided to apply; how Chartered success The requirement to attend an interview has been removed, which has made the process less time-consuming Helle Gulowsen MCIL CL has been working as a freelance translator for 20 years and specialises in technical documentation for the Norwegian offshore industry. She was one of the first people to gain Chartered Linguist status under the relaunched scheme. 'I had considered applying for CL status before, as I thought it would support my personal development and professional recognition, but I didn't find time until the relaunch. I already had CPD records in place for the two-year period required, but had to provide a reflective statement on my activities. I found this a very useful exercise as it highlighted any gaps (and, in my case, lack of structure to my CPD). I also had to provide a log of projects and assignments showing my volume of work over the past three years. Although I understand the importance of this, it was a very time-consuming process and I believe an alternative is needed for translators working for a large number of clients. I based my reflective statement on my CPD, and analysed the various activities in terms of usefulness, professional relevance, need for further training etc. I found the guidelines very clear and helpful.' AN APPLICANT'S VIEW