School of Church Music and Worship

Academic Advisement

All School of Church Music and Worship students have easy access to academic advising throughout the entirety of their programs of study.

Students may seek advisement for the following:

• Help in selecting or planning a program of study
• Advisement of course selection each semester
• Advisement of recommended sequence of study
• Advisement when coming to the end of a program of study
• Direction for changing programs of study
• Request for course substitutions

Academic advisement is available to students either before or after they have been admitted and throughout their time of study up through graduation.

Master-Level and Diploma Students. Advising and academic inquiries for masters and diploma students are handled through the office of the Associate Dean for Professional Studies in the School of Church Music and Worship, Dr. Michael Lancaster. 

Contact information for Dr. Esther Crookshank:
Office: Cooke 6
Phone: 897-4507 or 897-4115
Email: ecrookshank@sbts.edu

Doctoral Students. Advising and academic inquiries for doctoral students are handled through the office of the Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies in the School of Church Music and Worship, Dr. Douglas Smith.

Contact information for Dr. Douglas Smith:
Office: Cooke 38
Phone: 897-4705 or 897-4115
Email: dsmith@sbts.edu

New Students. For new students there is a short orientation meeting at the beginning of their two-day placement examinations. A packet of important student information is distributed at that time. After the results of the examinations are determined, students meet with the academic counselor to determine their schedule for the semester, and they receive a degree plan for the degree they are seeking. If additional counseling is needed, the student has the opportunity to make an appointment with the counselor. The student’s schedule is to be submitted to the counselor each semester of matriculation.

Graduation Check. Prior to the final semester of study, all students must contact Dean Thomas W. Bolton to complete a graduation check of requirements needed to complete the degree. During the last semester of course study, all students must then contact the Office of Academic Records to complete a “graduation application” to declare their intended date of graduation. The deadline for applications is September 15 for fall graduation and February 15 for spring graduation.