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Bible and Religion
Our 2025 graduate exceeded all program goals. However, most of the teaching done in the Bible and Religion department continues to be focused on students taking our courses to meet requirements in the common core of our General Education program. Every course in the Bible and Religion curriculum, except for the senior seminar, may fulfill a common core General Education requirement. We hope to finalize updates to the GE learning objectives for Bible and Religion in 2025-26.
Biology
Biology department students are assessed based on their ability to conduct scientific research, their academic achievements, and their critical thinking skills. The great majority (nearly 100%) of Bethel graduates with biology majors successfully enter a graduate program of their choosing (science or health science) or are employed in a science-related field. This year’s graduates did significantly better in meeting departmental goals than in previous years, but parts of two goals still need improvement. The past few years have been a time of transition with two long-serving faculty members retiring. Some students may have struggled with these changes.
Business
The majority of business majors enroll in an external internship during their senior year. During the 2024-2025 academic year, 18 students successfully completed experiential learning opportunities at for profit and not for profit businesses in Newton and surrounding area. Internship foci included accounting, marketing, graphic design, and small business management. Bethel College business majors who participated in an internship experience continued to score in the “excellent” range on the following personal competencies: professional attitude, enthusiasm, teamwork, initiative, and dependability. Bethel College business majors who participated in an internship experience continued to score in the “excellent” range on the following professional competencies: academic preparation, communication, critical thinking and leadership.
Bethel College’s bachelor of science degree in business administration is designed to expose students to skill sets in high demand from business, nonprofits, and civic organizations. Combined with a commitment to experiential learning, Bethel business students have opportunities to engage with outside speakers, work on real-world problems with local businesses, gain valuable experience in teamwork settings, and interact with current events. While the primary mission of Bethel’s business faculty is teaching, faculty recognize the importance of keeping abreast of current developments in their fields through research, consulting, speaking, and service activities.
It is noted that a growing number of students entering Bethel College who identify business as their major continues to steadily increase. The business department regularly houses ~25% of our student population. At the same time, a growing divide is evident between well prepared, academically gifted students and those students who enter the program less prepared and less able to successfully complete college level academic tasks. The department is encouraged to see additional support services for underprepared students, and the addition of athletic coaches who value the whole person. A vast majority of business majors are members of college sport teams. It is a pleasure to watch our students succeed in the classroom as well as the playing field/court. While many business students chose to attend Bethel College to continue participation in a sport, it is a challenge worth pursuing to extend their priorities to include preparation for a future career in business.
Chemistry
The Chemistry Department assesses the content knowledge of its Biochemistry and Molecular Biology students using standardized American Chemical Society (ACS) exams. Based on the results of the exams given at the end of Chemistry I and Chemistry II, the department is modifying its pedagogy to better meet the needs of entering students. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology students are actively engaged in research projects, and most of our students present their research findings at the annual URICA Symposium and at local and national chemical conferences, such as the National American Chemical Society Conference, Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, and PittCon. Finally, we have placed most of our graduates over the past 5 years into the workforce, a professional school (medical, dental, veterinarian), or graduate school within the first year (often sooner) following graduation from Bethel College. This success has been achieved by ensuring that our students graduate knowing how to use most scientific instrumentation and with the skills to be critical thinkers.
Communication Arts
The Communication Arts department has observed mixed results in this year’s assessment. While students continue to meet or exceed benchmarks in most areas, particularly in oral performance, academic writing, research skills and articulating connections among communication processes, there are some trends we wish to monitor. Notably, performance on the Communication Arts Exit Exam remains significantly below the benchmark, and there were declines in scores for the Senior Seminar projects and presentations. To address these issues, the department plans to investigate factors contributing to the decreases, review preparation processes for the Exit Exam, and continue monitoring all objectives closely. Despite challenges, the department remains heartened by our successes.
Elementary Education
The elementary education program is in a period of transition as new instructors bring fresh focus to several key courses. Assessment results indicate that students are performing well in many areas, while adjustments are being made to better align science and social studies content with state expectations. Moving forward, the program will emphasize the science of reading and evidence-based literacy practices to ensure graduates are well-prepared to teach reading effectively. These updates demonstrate our dedication to strengthening the program and supporting student success.
English
Assessment of the performance of Bethel College English majors confirms that students in this program are achieving key learning goals: 1) to engage critically with a variety of literary texts, both traditional and contemporary, remaining attentive to issues of social justice and inclusivity; and, 2) to produce a substantial body of creative and scholarly writing that demonstrates analytical skill, theoretical fluency, and critical insight. Students are performing above assessment benchmarks, and the department has a solid track record of placing students in jobs and graduate programs.
Health and Human Performance
The College’s Department of Health & Human Performance just completed our first year as a Health and Human Performance major with focused concentrations in Exercise Science, Health & Fitness, and Health & Physical Education Teaching. The current data is showing us that our students are largely successful in the understanding of the major’s content, and the assessment tools we used to specialize for each concentration for the following goals: to work with people of diverse backgrounds and abilities and to be prepared for their future in the workforce and/or graduate studies in Health and Human Performance. We will continue to align the departments offerings with the evolving needs and demands of the field.
History
Assessment data for the History and Political Science major this year demonstrated the high ability of gradates in this field in analyzing political systems and communicating their findings effectively in writing and in oral presentations. For History majors, our graduates going into teaching demonstrated high proficiency in effective speaking and explanation of historical events.
Math
The Department of Mathematical Sciences met most of its goals for 2024–2025, and interest in our programs continues to grow each semester. Building on this momentum, our priorities for the coming year include creating two new majors and increasing student enrollment. The two new majors will be housed within the Department of Mathematical Sciences, which currently includes the Mathematics and Software Development majors. Faculty from both areas, one from Math and one from Software Development, are collaborating on these initiatives. These new majors will create interdisciplinary opportunities and assessment connections across the department.
The department remains committed to expanding opportunities for students, strengthening academic offerings, and aligning our programs with the evolving demands of technology and society.
Music
The Music Department graduates continue to have success in the job market and are frequently accepted into graduate programs across the country. Recruitment is at a five-year high and many of our graduates continue to score above the national average on comprehensive exams. We recently updated our classrooms and equipment to enhance student learning and are currently in the midst of strategic planning for the department’s growth.
Nursing
The nursing program has been approved by the Kansas State Board of Nursing since 1980. In 1998, the department switched its national accrediting body from NLN to the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The nursing program has been accredited continuously by CCNE since 1998. The last reapproval visit from KSBN was in spring of 2024 and the program was approved with no areas of improvement. The CCNE accreditation visit also occurred in the spring of 2024 and the program was accredited for the full 10-years and substantially met all four accreditation standards. The Department of Nursing continues to assess program outcomes annually. The NCLEX-RN first time pass rate for the class of 2025 was 89%. The class of 2022 and 2023 achieved a 100% first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate. In addition, the department continues to monitor program outcomes required by state and national accrediting bodies including retention and employment rate and continues to exceed the benchmarks. Other nursing department strengths include excellent teaching and student and faculty relationships, strong clinical partnerships, and our simulation lab with the latest simulation technology including virtual reality simulation. The nursing program was ranked the #1 in nursing program in Kansas by registerednursing.org for 2024-2025.
The baccalaureate degree program in nursing at Bethel College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org/).
The Bethel College Nursing program is approved by the Kansas State Board of Nursing.
Psychology
The Psychology Department moved away from assessing learning by using the ETS exam and instead measured learning based on the graduating senior seminar projects with much success. Students graduating from the program continue to find success in employment in psychologically-relevant fields as well as acceptance to advanced degree programs. Given the current assessment outcomes, we intend to further emphasize proper data analysis, both in terms of conducting and reporting. With the hire of a new Psychology faculty member, the department’s goals and assessment criteria will be reevaluated.
Social Work
The Bethel College Social Work Program has been fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education since 1974. In March of 2026, the Program received reaffirmation of accreditation for the full eight years with no concerns. Annual internal assessments continue to indicate that all nine competencies/outcomes required by CSWE are routinely met (exceeding the benchmark of having 85% or more of students score in the adequate to outstanding range). In addition to meeting competencies, the Program’s strengths include strong advising relationships between students and faculty, the advice of the Bethel College Advisory Council, and strong attention to issues of service, diversity, and social change.
Software Development
This is a new major and during its first assessment cycle, the program demonstrated significant strengths in preparing students for industry through our capstone projects and in fostering effective teamwork. Building on this success, we are enhancing our project-based courses with more explicit training in modern software development practices. We are also refining our interactive teaching strategies to ensure they directly improve core conceptual understanding, creating an even more robust and engaging learning environment for all students.
Teacher Education
The Teacher Education Department is regularly involved in assessing its students and programs in regard to institutional objectives and state and national standards. Institutional data demonstrate that Bethel students and graduates compare favorably with local, state, and national indicators. Affirmation of this assessment has been provided by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) and the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) (onsite visit, March 2025). For further consumer information about the education programs, see consumer information at the following website: https://www.bethelks.edu/academics/areas-study/teacher-education
Visual Arts and Design
Our current senior majors are assessed through art writing, oral presentations, and the senior exhibit. Students earlier in the program as well as minors are evaluated through an early assessment, usually based on work in the studio foundations courses and an individual portfolio presentation to department faculty. Our recent students have been more successful presenting ideas orally than in writing, so we now incorporate multiple writing assignments into all of the lower- and upper-level art history courses as well as in many of the studio courses. Particularly with the rise of AI tools, developing original art writing is an ongoing challenge. To help our students more adequately prepare for their senior exhibits and presentations, we now begin their planning process in the junior year. In Art Seminar during their senior year, we then set multiple deadlines to break projects down into small steps. All Art majors in 2024-25 showed strong outcomes with this approach.