NCRA’s Nominating Committee has offered its candidates for the 2018-2019 Board of Directors. The following outlines the candidates’ qualifications for members to prepare for voting. As provided in the Bylaws, additional nominations were possible if received within 60 days after publication of the Nominating Committee slate. The date by which additional nominations were to be received was May 5. No additional nominations were received. The following slate of Officers and Directors will be elected by acclamation to their respective offices during the Annual Business Meeting in New Orleans, La.
Nominations will be presented to the NCRA membership for vote on Thurs., Aug. 2, at the Annual Business Meeting, 8:30–11 a.m. Central Standard Time, as part of the 2018 NCRA Convention & Expo at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. In accordance with NCRA’s Bylaws, the President-Elect automatically succeeds to the office of the President.
President
Sue A. Terry, FAPR, RPR, CRR, CRC
Springfield, Ohio
Sue A. Terry, a court reporter from Springfield, Ohio, holds the nationally recognized professional certifications of Registered Professional Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter, and Certified Realtime Captioner. A Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters, she has been a court reporter since 1975. Throughout her career, Terry reported arbitrations, court proceedings, conventions, administrative hearings, large environmental cases, patent cases, and tobacco cases, among others.
As a trainer, Terry helped many reporters transition to realtime. During the 1980s, she taught at the Stenotype Institute. At the national level, Terry has served as Director and also Vice President. She was co-chair of NCRA’s Technology Evaluation Committee and a member of its TRAIN (Taking Realtime Awareness and Innovation Nationwide) Committee. She is a past chair of the DiscoverSteno Task Force.
Terry was president of the Ohio Court Reporters Association (OCRA) and the StenoCAT Users Group and received both groups’ Distinguished Service Award. She has served on committees for Gigatron Software Corporation, LiveNote for the Thompson West Corp., and for the Clark State College of Court Reporting in Springfield. She has extensive experience as a presenter, speaking before OCRA, NCRA, the StenoCAT Users Group, and the Ohio Supreme Court, among others.
President-Elect
Max Curry, Jr., RPR, CRI
Franklin, Tenn.
Roy M. (Max) Curry, Jr., is a court reporter from Franklin, Tenn., with more than 29 years of experience. Curry, who owns Elite Reporting Services of Tennessee, taught court reporting to students at Tennessee Career College in Nashville for 14 years. He holds a Bachelor of Court Reporting degree (B.C.R.) from the University of Mississippi. Curry has been an NCRA member for 33 years. He has presented seminars, both live and via the Internet, for NCRA and served as a test proctor for the Association’s RPR and RMR tests for several years. He has also served on NCRA’s Freelance Reporter Community of Interest Committee, two years on the Education Content Committee, and two years on the Budget & Finance Committee. He holds the national professional certifications of Registered Professional Reporter and Certified Reporting Instructor.
At the state level, Curry served as president of the Tennessee Court Reporters Association (TNCRA) twice. He has served in every officer position of TNCRA, as well as a Board Director for a combined 15 years of service. Curry has also served as the chair of Tennessee’s Convention Planning Committee on two separate occasions. He conducts seminars and educational classes for TNCRA and other state associations.
Vice President
Christine Phipps, RPR
North Palm Beach, Fla.
Christine Phipps is a court reporter from North Palm Beach, Fla., with 25 years of experience. She owns Phipps Reporting, Inc., headquartered in West Palm Beach. She holds the national professional certification of Registered Professional Reporter and the Realtime Systems Administrator certificate. She is also a licensed court reporter in New Jersey and Tennessee. She is an Eclipse software trainer.
At the national level, Phipps has co-chaired NCRA’s Technology Committee and Freelance Community of Interest Committee and served on the Association’s Strategic Alliance Task Force, Education Content, and Vendor Task Force committees. Phipps participated in the rewrite of NCRA’s Deposition Handbook, is a frequent contributor to the JCR, and is a speaker at conventions. She has also served as a director for NCRA.
She is the recipient of a number of business awards, including Woman of Outstanding Leadership by the International Women’s Leadership Association and Most Enterprising Women of the Year by Enterprising Women magazine. She was included in Inc. magazine’s Fastest Growing Companies in America in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Secretary-Treasurer
Debra A. Dibble, RDR, CRR, CRC
Woodland, Utah
Debra A. Dibble is a 28-year court reporter veteran who has worked as a deposition reporter in Salt Lake City, Utah, since 2002. She holds the nationally recognized professional certifications of Registered Diplomate Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter, and Certified Realtime Captioner, as well as qualifying on the National Speed Competition and National Realtime Competition multiple times. Dibble has also worked as a reporter in Memphis, Tenn. She has been a broadcast captioner and CART provider since 2010.
At the national level, Dibble has served as an NCRA Chief Examiner. She served as a delegate to the National Committee of State Associations from 2008 to 2012. She also has served three terms on NCRA’s Board of Directors and is currently serving the last year of a three-year term as Secretary-Treasurer.
In 2010, the Utah Court Reporters Association (UCRA) honored her with its Distinguished Service Award. Dibble has also served in numerous volunteer positions at the state level, including as a director and president of UCRA.
Director (three-year term)
Stephen H. Clark, CRC
Washington, D.C.
Stephen H. Clark is a captioner based in Washington, D.C. Clark worked as a freelance court reporter in Nebraska from 1985-1987 and in New Hampshire from 1987-1997. In 1997, he transitioned to a realtime broadcast captioning career. In 2006, Clark started Home Team Captions, a firm that provides onsite and remote captioning and CART services in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, as well as nationally and internationally.
Clark also provides onsite and remote training for sports captioning, CART, and broadcast captioning for experienced professionals and recent graduates who are starting a career in captioning.
At the national level, Clark has been a member of NCRA since 1983 and currently serves as co-chair of its Broadcast and CART Captioning Committee. He also holds membership in the Maryland Court Reporters Association and the Virginia Court Reporters Association. He is past president of the New Hampshire Court Reporters Association.
Clark is a graduate of Lincoln School of Commerce in Lincoln, Neb., and holds an associate’s degree in court reporting. He also holds the national professional certification of Certified Realtime Captioner.
Director (three-year term)
Cindy L. Isaacsen, RPR
Shawnee, Kan.
Cindy L. Isaacsen began her career in 1988 as a freelance court reporter in Clarksville, Tenn. In 1990, she worked as a freelance court reporter in Schweinfurt, Germany. She has also worked as a freelance court reporter at Fort Polk, La., and for several firms, including Welker & Associates in Clarksville and AAA Court Reporting Company in Overland Park, Kan. Isaacsen worked as an official court reporter for the 36th Judicial District Court in DeRidder, La., and currently serves as an official court reporter for the 10th Judicial District Court in Olathe, Kan.
At the national level, Isaacsen served on NCRA’s Election Committee in 2016-2017 and as a regional representative for the National Committee of State Associations (NCSA). She currently serves as NCSA’s Vice Chair.
At the state level, Isaacsen is immediate past president of the Kansas Court Reporters Association, having also served as vice president and as secretary. She has served as a speaker for events sponsored by the Oklahoma Court Reporters Association and the Colorado Court Reporters Association. Isaacsen is a graduate of the Stenograph Institute of Texas and holds the professional certification of Registered Professional Reporter.
Director (three-year term)
Karyn D. Menck, RDR, CRR, CRC
Nashville, Tenn.
Karyn D. Menck, Nashville, Tenn., has worked as a freelance court reporter, a closed captioner, and a CART provider. She has also been a firm owner. Her work has included remote captioning for hundreds of television stations, ballgames, and religious meetings. She has also provided onsite closed captioning for conventions, stadium events, theater productions, and classrooms. From 2000-2015, Menck provided pro bono CART for meetings of the Nashville Chapter of Self Help for the Hard of Hearing/Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). Menck is the recipient of the first annual Gwyndolyn Ann Pace Advocacy Award from the HLAA, Nashville Chapter, and the Professional of the Year Award from the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities.
Menck has been a frequent competitor in NCRA’s National Speed and Realtime Contests and has placed numerous times in all legs of each event. She currently serves on the Association’s Test Advisory Committee and Certified Realtime Captioner Certification Committee.
She is a graduate of Gadsden State Junior College in Gadsden, Ala., and holds an associate’s degree in court reporting. Menck also holds the professional certifications of Registered Diplomate Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter, and Certified Realtime Captioner.
Director (two-year term)
Cathy Penniston, RPR, CRI
Ottumwa, Iowa
Cathy Penniston, Ottumwa, Iowa, spent 30 years as an official court reporter for the state of Iowa before receiving a realtime captioning training grant and transitioning into remote television broadcast captioning. She has worked as a freelance court reporter and a CART provider. Penniston currently teaches reporting classes at the Des Moines Area Community College. She also works as an independent broadcast captioner. In addition to teaching and captioning, Penniston provides remote realtime of court proceedings in Arizona, Colorado, and Idaho.
Penniston served as president, vice president, and secretary of the Iowa Court Reporters Association. She volunteered for the annual National Court Reporters Foundation phone-a-thon fundraising campaign and the Veterans History Project.
Penniston received Iowa’s Roy Voelker Memorial Award for Distinguished Service. She also received the Indian Hills Community College Vision Award Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.
Penniston holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Clarke University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Iowa Wesleyan College, an Associate’s Degree from Indian Hills Community College, and an Associate’s Degree in Court Reporting from the American Institute of Business. She holds the national professional certifications of Registered Professional Reporter and Certified Reporting Instructor.
