DTS Philosophy of Advising

At Dallas Seminary, we view advising as two very distinct categories that support one another—academic advising and faculty advising. Academic advising involves course planning, degree completion planning, assistance with time management issues, and general academic assistance. Faculty advising involves developing relationships with Faculty and often includes mentoring, vocational counsel, and spiritual direction. Both are necessary for healthy ministry and academic development.

Declaring a Track or Concentration

Th.M. students are encouraged to declare a ministry track at the beginning of the program to facilitate academic advising and course selection as well as vocational counsel through faculty advisers. However, Th.M. students must declare a ministry track after completing 60 semester hours of credit (typically, by the end of the second year of the program). M.A./CE students must declare a ministry concentration upon entry into the M.A./CE program.

When you declare a ministry track or concentration, you will be assigned a faculty adviser within the corresponding department. If you declare more than one ministry track or concentration, you must complete all course work for both tracks or concentrations. This may require substitute courses approved by the faculty advisor if there are overlapping course requirements. In addition, a second internship will be required for a second track. Please see the Academic Advising Center in the Registrar’s Office for clarification of course requirements. You can make changes to your track by submitting the appropriate Th.M Track Declaration Form or M.A./CE Concentration Declaration Form to the Academic Advising Center in the Registrar’s Office.

Course Planning (degree audit)

We recommend that you select and register for courses according to the curriculum chart for your degree program, based on the current catalog at the time you began your program. Courses are scheduled in such a way as to facilitate completion according to this schedule.

An additional tool that is accessible to you for course planning is the Degree Audit available on CampusNet. The degree audit is designed as a planning tool and lists all coursework completed to date as well as all remaining program, track, and concentration requirements. This same tool is used by the Registrar’s Office to verify completion of all requirements for graduation. The Academic Advising Center staff in the Registrar’s Office is available at any time to review and interpret the degree audit and remaining course requirements.

Validation or Substitution of Required Courses

Info coming soon.

Faculty Advising

Upon acceptance to Dallas Seminary, each student is assigned a faculty advisor. We encourage you to develop a relationship with your advisor throughout your time at DTS. Faculty advisors are assigned based on the your program, track, and concentration and facilitate vocational counsel and spiritual direction related to your long-term ministry goals. Requests to change your Faculty advisor may be made through the Academic Advising Center in the Registrar’s Office.