Business and Economics

Internships/Research

You will design your own internship experience, which is then supervised by a faculty member.

This is a graded 140+ hour experience. You’re free to work to gain general experience in the junior-year internship or to develop a senior-year internship in a specialized field. For example, if you plan to enter advertising, you can develop an internship with a marketing company near Bethel, or wherever you choose, over the summer. Some students have used this opportunity to begin making the transition into their family-run business. The overall goal of the internship courses is to better prepare you for work life after Bethel and to make you more competitive in the job market.

Interested in hosting an intern? Find out how.

Internship placements since 2007 have included the following:

• Andera, Inc., Rhode Island
• Bethel College athletic department
• Blue Valley Trailers, Waterville, Kan.
• Coldwell Bankers real estate
• Cole Street Tire/Auto Service, Moundridge, Kan.
• Copp Media Services, Inc.
• Dewayne Pauls Accounting, Newton
• Drs. Grant, McKinney & Simmonds, Newton
• First Bank of Newton
• Force Fitness and Performance, Bloomington, Ind.
• Habitat for Humanity-Anchorage
• Hartman Arena, Park City, Kan.
• Harvey County Health Department
• Harvey County Homeless Shelter
• Hesston College Aviation
• Hesston (Kan.) Wellness Center
• Hidden Lakes Golf Course, Derby, Kan.
• Hutchinson Credit Union
• Kansas City Barnstormers
• Kansas Coliseum, Park City, Kan.
• Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
• Kansas Department of Transportation, Topeka
• Kansas Sports Museum Hall of Fame
• Kaw Valley State Bank, Wamego, Kan.
• Kay-Jan John Deere, Inc., Colorado
• Kemper Sports Management, Chicago
• Kidron Bethel Retirement Village, North Newton
• King Enterprise Group, Inc.
• Law Offices of Morris Laing
• Lee’s Bike Shop
• Little Caesar’s Pizza
• MEDA – Financial Literacy
• Menard’s
• Mid-America Youth Basketball, Newton
• Midland National Bank
• Morning Star Ranch
• National Baseball Congress, Wichita
• Nebraska Sports Council, Lincoln
• New Jerusalem Missions
• Newton Chamber of Commerce
• Newton Medical Center – Human Resources
• Newton Medical Center – Marketing
• Osceola Studios, North Carolina
• Oswald Associates, Inc., California
• Ottawa (Kan.) Cooperative
• Parks Stone Landscaping and Design
• Pine Village Retirement Community
• Primerica Financial Advisors
• Prudential real estate
• Radio Shack
• ReMax real estate
• Richard B. Walker, Harvey County District Court Judge
• Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp, Colorado
• Sand Creek Station Golf Course, Newton
• Sanford Health Plan, Fargo/Sioux Falls, S.D.
• South Dakota Achieve, Sioux Falls
• Stultz Plumbing Service
• Sullivan Higdon & Sink Advertising, Kansas City, Mo.
• United Methodist Youthville, Newton/Wichita
• West Lane Technical Learning Center

As a graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, you have a wide variety of fields in which to pursue employment. Both private and public sector employment is available – from bookkeeper to non-governmental organization (NGO) director, from high school business teacher to management executive in a large corporation. Many Bethel business graduates choose to return to their communities and manage small businesses. For this reason, our program increasingly emphasizes entrepreneurship, toward a future career as an owner-manager of a small business.

Post-graduate careers include:

• Accounting
• Finance
• Hospitality administration
• Human resources/personnel
• Management, general
• Marketing
• Multinational business
• Real estate
• Risk management and insurance

Notable Alumni

Daniel Barrera – ’14

Daniel graduated from Bethel with a degree in business. However, he was also able to cultivate a love for social work in his time here. After taking a year to work, he has been accepted at the University of Kansas masters of social work program.

 

Aaron Howard – ’10

Aaron graduated with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and Marketing. He is currently holds a corporate tax position with Grant Thornton, a public accounting firm with offices across the globe.

My work consists of audits and tax returns, said Aaron. Most of the audit clients I have worked on come from the non-profit sector, but I have also worked on rent-to-own and manufacturing clients. Contrary to popular belief, my job as an auditor is not to find fraud, but to give an opinion as to whether the financial statements are fairly presented. While some people find taxes very boring and painful, I enjoy working on tax returns. It is very satisfying to help clients work through their tax issues and file an accurate tax return. Overall, I really enjoy the client interaction and helping client’s solve their accounting issues.

Kristina Graber – ’10

Kristina graduated from Bethel in May of 2010 with a B.S. in Business Administration (management and marketing concentration), psychology minor, and conflict resolution certificate. In August she began the MBA program at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D. She completed a third internship during her master’s program in the human resources department of a regional hospital system. By the following August she completed her degree and began working at Graber & Associates in Sioux Falls, S.D. Graber & Associates is a family owned business specializing in life and health insurance within the region. Kristina’s focus is in the life and annuity department, as well as payroll.

Christian Loganbill – ’10

Upon graduating from Bethel, Christian was hired on at Mid-Kansas Coop, an agriculture based cooperative with a large trade territory in central Kansas. The job was a by-product of a summer job he had with the company. Christian’s job placed him in Walton Kansas, serving as a manager in training. At this position, Christian ran grain elevators and agronomy plants and was provided the opportunity to work with customers and lead employee meetings.

In November 2011, Christian accepted a management position with the same company in Lindsborg, Minn., where he manages the grain operations and facilities at 7 elevators. Though his office is Lindsborg, Christian oversees locations in three different. I absolutely love my job and look forward to it every day, said Christian. There is a lot of responsibility in managing up to 3 million bushels of grain, which could be valued at up to 20 million dollars (depending on markets). There are even more challenges with trying to take care of multiple facilities with limited help, but the challenges and hurdles make the job fun. MKC loves to promote from within so I know that with hard work and focused learning, my potential within a great company is ultimately up to me.

Calvin Wenger – ’10

Calvin went to Bethel on a both a football and golf scholarship. While earning his business degree at Bethel, Calvin started as a fry cook for Applebee’s and continued to advance with the company. During his final semester of college, Calvin was offered the hourly manager position at Applebee’s. Upon graduation Applebee’s offered him a full time salary position with the title of Assistant Manager. Only four months later, Calvin was promoted to the General Manager position making me the highest in command at the Newton location. The timing of this promotion was the fastest in the franchise history and also made Calvin the youngest General Manager in company history at 22 years old.

Today, Calvin continues running the restaurant as the General Manager. The education I received from Bethel College has made a large difference in the opportunities and my success in which I’ve been a part, said Calvin.

Heather Kindall – ’08

Heather has been working at Hartman Arena in Park City since graduating from Bethel in 2008. Heather started as an Administrative Assistant, but was recently promoted to Event Manager.

Major requirements:

46 hours, including a 3-credit-hour internship or seminar.

Minor requirements (accounting, business administration, financial management, management, or marketing):

15–18 hours.

The business administration program integrates contemporary concepts in business with a competency-based approach to develop and strengthen your knowledge, skills and abilities. It will train you in core principles of business and give you the critical and analytical skills necessary for employment in management, marketing or human resources or for successful small business ownership.

Through lecture, discussion, simulations, case studies and other hands-on activities, you’ll learn how to manage a business, manage employees, market products and services, perform basic accounting functions, write a business plan and apply critical thinking to domestic and global current events.

Faculty are academically qualified professionals carefully chosen for their experience in the field and for demonstrated teaching abilities. Student-to-faculty ratio is generally less than 14:1, so you can be guaranteed individualized attention and small classroom sizes.

Business administration majors must complete an internship or research seminar in order to earn the B.S. degree. You’ll work with your professor to design an internship or a research project that fits your interests and career aspirations. Check out current and former business internship placements.

See the Academic catalog for information about a business administration major or minor