The campus of Horry-Georgetown Technical College
Horry-Georgetown Technical College of Conway, South Carolina launched a digital court reporting program this week, which the school says is the first of its kind in South Carolina. They are launching the program with the hopes of prepping students for a career that is seeing a national shortage.
“If a student has an interest in technology, this is a great way to utilize that interest and have an opportunity for a pretty nice salary,” said Daniel Hoppe, director of the Distance Learning Institute at HGTC. “The starting salary is around $41,000.”
“The State of South Carolina is looking toward digital court reporting to meet that demand,” Hoppe said. “We’ve partnered with them to identify that need and provide education for them.”
Hoppe says the program will help fill roughly 5,500 unfilled court reporting jobs nationwide, 164 of which are in South Carolina alone.
Fifteen students in online classes learn how to use specialized audio technology to keep court records. HGTC says the program also teaches students tasks they need to do outside the courtroom like depositions.
Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet, helped the college at the state level. He says more court reporters will make Horry County’s legal system more efficient.
“In the last six months, I know of at least three terms of court that have been canceled,” Sen. Goldfinch said. “It is affecting every single county in the state.”
“Our program, working with our partner BlueLedge, is an accredited program, so students who complete our program are able to go right to work at the State of South Carolina.”
The digital court reporting course only takes 15-18 weeks to complete. HGTC will also launch stenography and voice writing programs next month to go right in sync with its court reporting curriculum.
In the future, Courtscribes may hire one of the graduates of the HGTC program. In the meantime, you can hire one of the amazing court reporters right here at Courtscribes.com. Use our contact form to inquire now.
