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Academic Co-Curricular Areas
Center for Academic Development
The Center for Academic Development serves the students of Bethel College through tutoring and a variety of academic support options including ADA services. Internal assessment shows that students are very pleased with the academic support services offered and are receiving excellent quality support. We will continue to assess current support offerings with the intent of enhancing these services in the coming year.
Collegian
All goals and desired outcomes were met. While some data-gathering dipped during the advisor’s sabbatical in Spring 2025, we are confident that assessment processes and data-gathering are now back on track to assist us in our continued improvement.
Library
Despite ongoing challenges related to budget, challenges to higher education from external entities, and a new and more complicated information landscape, the library continues to provide high quality services and resources to our students at Bethel College. Surveys given after library instruction sessions, one-on-one research consultations, and at the end of the year to the entire community resulted in largely positive feedback about speedy and friendly services in a welcoming environment and provided them with knowledge, skills, and confidence they needed to complete their research on campus. Areas for improvement include improving the library’s catalog to streamline access to full-text and creating more flexible study spaces, as resources allow. We will also continue to workshop our assessment tools so that the surveys gather as much useful data as possible with the smallest burden to the respondents.
Other Co-Curricular Areas
Athletics
The 2024-25 academic year surpassed the 2023-24 academic year in terms of success and achievements. Being a NAIA Gold Star Champion of Character school for the eighth consecutive year, 18 of the 20 programs being a NAIA Scholar-Team, and finishing in a tie for seventh in the KCAC Commissioner’s Cup (the highest Bethel has ever finished), accentuated a tremendous year for Thresher Athletics.
The mission of the Bethel College Athletic Department is to create a life-changing experience for our student-athletes. We will continue to strive to build The Whole Thresher Athlete and work to recruit young people that fit our culture.
Improving retention is our focus for the next two years, understanding that the recent turnover in coaches has created a situation in many programs where trust is lacking. Our coaching staff is committed to building positive relationships and is cognizant of the current retention rate. Each program has been challenged to find ways for their student-athletes to connect outside of their team, which should translate into better retention.
Student Life
The Office of Student Life assesses student learning outside of the classroom in four major areas: Campus Ministries, Student Activities and Engagement, Residential Life, and Student Wellness. Through quarterly reports submitted by staff, the Student Life team is challenging themselves to be consistent with the data requested for reporting. We will not create any new processes unless there are new programs added. With the challenges Student Life faces with staffing, the team has been consistent with meeting the needs of students by having weekly chapel services, providing transportation to Prairie View for Counseling services, an array of events hosted by clubs/organizations, and First Year Residential programs.
Employment Experiences
The Employment Experiences program underwent a complete reevaluation during Spring and Summer 2025 to establish a more robust and stable program structure for AY 2025-26. This has included the development of specific assessments for each level of work and enhanced usage of the NACE Career Competency assessments as key element of the program.
Office of Culture and Belonging
As a new office, we are implementing early-stage assessment strategies to better understand how our programs foster student connection and belonging. Initial data from event-based surveys and pre–post Circle of Belonging assessments will provide insight into students’ experiences of inclusion and community. While these measures offer a meaningful foundation, they remain part of an evolving process as we refine our approach to better meet student needs. Moving forward, we plan to expand our assessment tools and incorporate additional data sources to strengthen our understanding and enhance program impact. Throughout this work, we remain committed to transparency while safeguarding student privacy.