Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some frequently asked questions about The Summer Vocalogy Institute. If your question or comment has not been addressed, feel free to e-mail us.
- How much will it cost for me to come to the Summer Vocology Institute (SVI)
- Who enrolls in the SVI?
- Where do the students come from? About how many people have attended the Institute?
- Can I apply my SVI coursework to my degree program?
- Can I use my SVI courses as continuing education units (CEUs) for my ASHA certification?
- How many people apply each year versus how many are accepted? In other words, what are my chances of being accepted if I apply?
- How difficult are the courses?
- What should I bring with me to Utah?
- What do I get with my Certificate in Vocology? Is it some sort of license? Will it allow me to do work with clients?
- Do I have to take block one before block two and three?
The SVI staff tries to keep costs to its participants as low as possible. We do this in part by arranging discounted housing through the University for students, which is one of the biggestexpenses. We are also fortunate in that The University of Utah in-state tuition rate is assessed, even though students come from all over the world and the courses are taught in Utah, not Iowa.
We are excited to announce that the tuition is now a flat rate of $450 per credit hour or $4,050 for the full 9 credit hours of course work. We are no longer offering different tuition rates for graduate and undergraduate credit. Current University of Utah degree seeking students are required to pay the University of Utah graduate tuition for the program of their choice (either Communication Sciences and Disorders or Music). The SVI cost link has additional details.
One of the missions, and - we believe a great strength of the SVI - is a cross-fertilization of ideas created by individuals with different backgrounds. This synergy is created though human interaction, shared ideas, overcoming of language barriers, and enhanced methodologies. During the past two years, medical doctors, singers, vocal coach-accompanists, voice teachers (private teachers as well as college faculty members), actors and acting teachers, voice therapists, engineers and graduate students in all voice disciplines (acting, singing, speech pathology, voice science) have attended the SVI.
Students have come from: Brazil, Scotland, Canada, Turkey, Japan, Korea, Austria. Belgium, Ireland, Syria, China, and from across the United States.
Enrollments are kept low to facilitate discussions and hands-on demonstrations and ample interaction time between the participants and faculty.
Absolutely. Completion of the SVI for credit means you will earn 9 semester hours of graduate level credit. The University of Utah offers credits to show up on your transcript as either Communication Science and Disorders credits or Music credits. Past participants-both US and abroad-have had no difficulty transferring SVI credits to their home institutions. However, it is important that participants realize that approval for credit transfer is their responsibility. Usually, this entails obtaining permission from an academic advisor or graduate committee before taking the courses, having the University of Utah send your transcripts to your program advisor after the SVI is over and providing your committee or advisor with the course descriptions and numbers.
Yes. Although the SVI is not currently an ASHA certified CEU provider, the courses can be counted as such. The process for this will be discussed during student orientation.
Typically, the quality level of applicants is very high, so the acceptance rate is also very high. Those who apply frequently have master's or sometimes doctoral degrees. Applicants often have done some cross-disciplinary work previously. For example, an SVI participant may have earned a bachelor's degree in music or theater, while the master's degree is in speech science. We do not have any quotas or cutoff points at this time. Students whose application materials indicate that they are ready for the challenges of the coursework are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. We do reserve the right to limit the number of students due to resource limitations.
We won't mislead you; the pace can be quite intense. You will take graduate level courses offered in a compressed timetable. You can expect to cover a chapter a day in Block One; in a normal semester, that would be a week's worth of material. In Block Two, juggling Habilitation and Instrumentation at the same time can be quite a stretch. You should expect homework - either readings or exercises or a combination of both - every night.
Please purchase your textbooks before coming to Salt Lake City, we would suggest reading ahead in Dr. Titze's book, Principles of Voice Production, before you arrive (if possible).
However, it is not all work and no play; you have lots of great colleagues as study partners. No classes are held on the weekends, so planning hikes in the mountains or trips to local musical performances are definitely possible.
Bring a water bottle! It is dry here. You should also bring your sunscreen, if you love the outdoors - the sun will burn you much faster here than at sea level. You should bring a calculator - you'll need it for Block One and possibly Block Two.
Each student who takes all 9 hours of the courses for credit receives a certificate of completion. It is signed by representatives from the National Center for Voice and Speech, the University of Utah and The University of Iowa. It is not a degree, nor is it a professional licensure.
As far as working with clients, it depends on the type of work one is talking about and the needs of the client. If "work with clients" means teaching actors and singers with healthy voices in a non-therapy setting, this is fine. From a legal standpoint, however, to do anything called "voice therapy" in the United States, one must have a speech pathology degree and be certified with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (CCC status). Thus, the SVI does not offer a legally binding recognized certification. As described above, however, SVI course credits can be transferred into any established graduate program or used for Continuing Education Units by persons already certified by ASHA.
Yes! Block one is absolutely necessary to take before bock 2 and 3 no matter what your credentials. The only students who will not have to take block one would be those who took Principles of Voice Production at the University of Iowa from Professor Ingo Titze. All others must take block one.
