Bethel Seminary
Student Activities, Services, and Resources
Appeal Process
Students with concerns in any area of due process related to student life may appeal to the Student Development Committee. The Student Development Committee has the authority to recommend a development plan for students and to recommend dismissal.
Further appeals beyond this committee will be directed to the full faculty. Written requests should go to the Office of Student Life.
Students with concerns regarding academic issues or policies should address their appeals to the Academic Programs Assessment and Accreditation Committee.
Athletics
The Student Senate coordinates a variety of intramural athletics, and facilities are available for football, basketball, handball, racquetball, floor hockey, ping pong, and cross-country running. The campus is also ideal for cross-country skiing in the winter. Outdoor tennis courts are available during the summer. A training room with weight and aerobic workout machines is located adjacent to the seminary gymnasium.
Seminary students are also invited to use the Sports and Recreation Center located on the university campus. This building houses a six-lane running track, and indoor basketball, tennis, and volleyball courts.
Bethel University
Bethel Seminary St. Paul is located on the campus of Bethel University. With a student body of approximately 6,000 students, Bethel University offers myriad opportunities and services. Undergraduate course work for students or spouses is available in numerous areas of study. Social, cultural, and athletic activities are abundant. The university also offers adult education and degree completion, as well as several graduate programs.
Community Life Gatherings
The St. Paul campus community meets once per week for a half-hour Community Life Gathering. These events are designed to be informative, worshipful, welcoming, and conversational. They are organized around different themes each quarter. Examples of past themes include: reconciliation, worship, whole and holy living, integrated living, and virtue. The schedule is coordinated by the Office of Student Life.
Child Development Center—St. Paul Campus
The Bethel Child Development Center, a laboratory school of the early childhood education department of the College of Arts & Sciences at Bethel, is located in Seminary Village. Several services are available to the seminary community through the center, including an infant program, extended daycare for children ages 16 months through kindergarten, a preschool program, and parent education seminars. A subsidy of up to $60 a month is available for the children of full-time seminarians during the school year. Further information and fee schedules may be obtained by contacting the director of the Child Development Center (651.638.6147).
Computer Center
Bethel Seminary is dedicated to the on-going development of ministers for the 21st century and beyond. Since ours is an increasingly technological society, we are committed to providing students with the competencies and skills they will need to minister in this electronic age. We strongly encourage all degree program students to come to campus with their own personal computers, or access to a personal computer, for use throughout their seminary careers. Instructors will increasingly seek to integrate course content with technological developments and tools for use in ministry.
Bethel Seminary presently has numerous computers available for student use in the library. They contain word-processing, spreadsheet, and other software programs. All equipment is available free of charge.
Students also have access through the network to the internet, the Bethel intranet, Bethel email, and more.
Counseling
At registration all degree students are assigned to faculty advisors who assist them in planning their programs of study. Advisors will also become acquainted with students in order to counsel them on a friendly basis as needs arise. Students are encouraged to seek interviews with the provost and faculty members at any time. The North Central Career Development Center also is involved in counseling first- and second-year students. This occurs within the requirements of the supervised ministry program.
Bethel Seminary provides two resources for full-time degree students who desire counseling:
Faculty advisors and members of the Student Development Committee. Students who need advice or counsel regarding a problem or situation they are facing should feel free to come to their faculty advisors or a member of the Student Development Committee. Our faculty will try to assist students in one or two sessions, but if additional counseling is needed, they will refer them to the Office of Student Life.
Professional counseling. Bethel Counseling Services provides students with a range of professional counseling and consultation options. The goal is to promote personal wholeness, specifically in areas of personal and/or relational difficulty, which may interfere with academic and professional goals. Students who seek counseling are people who want to learn more about themselves and who desire growth in their relationships with others and with God.
Counseling services are provided free of charge to Bethel students and their spouses. Appointments may be made in person at the Counseling Center in Townhouse H on the university campus, or by calling the center at 651.638.8540. Brochures are available through the Office of Student Life.
Disability Services
Bethel Seminary provides services and reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Examples include sensory, physical, systemic, learning, and psychiatric disabilities. Students enrolled in Bethel courses should contact the instructor as soon as possible if disability-related accommodations are needed. Accommodations for students with documented disabilities are set up through the Office of Disability Services. For further information about these services or to request accommodations, contact Kathy McGillivray, director of disability services, at 651.635.8759.
Employment
Most students find it a financial necessity to work part time while in seminary. Many students are involved in paid positions within local churches in the Twin Cities. Various businesses have regular contact with Bethel in order to provide part-time employment opportunities for students. Students should plan to arrive in the Twin Cities area early enough to interview and secure employment before classes begin. .
Food Service
Lunches and light refreshments are available during the day at the seminary, and students may also purchase meal tickets for the university dining hall.
Health Insurance
Students are required to participate in a hospital insurance plan. This may be done by purchasing a policy from an insurance company of the student’s own choosing or by participating in a plan where the student or his or her spouse is employed. A listing of health plans is available through the Office of Student Life.
Health Service
Health service facilities are located on the university campus. A registered nurse is on duty at regular hours Monday through Friday with a physician on campus at scheduled times during the week. This service is provided at no cost to full-time students. Health service hours and the schedule of the campus physician are listed in the Student Handbook.
Housing
On-campus housing for both single and married students consists of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments as well as efficiency apartments for singles. These residences provide many conveniences, easy accessibility to the seminary academic complex, and opportunity for involvement and deepening relationships in community life. Campus housing is also economical when compared to similar housing in the area.
The apartments are grouped together with surfaced parking lots adjoining. They are air-conditioned and carpeted, and include washers and dryers on each floor. Each apartment has an entry hall with a guest closet; a large living room; a dining area; and one, two, or three bedrooms. Kitchens are equipped with General Electric appliances, including two-door refrigerator-freezers, ductless range hoods, self-cleaning ovens, and garbage disposals. Bathrooms are ceramic tiled.
A housing application and other information are included in the materials sent by the Office of Admissions. A detailed housing policy is available through the Office of Student Life (651.635.8655).
Many students find it necessary to live off campus. In many cases this is desirable because of the proximity of employment or bus routes for spouses who are working. Numerous apartments are available in the area.
Music
Opportunities for students and faculty to minister to the community through music are available at Community Life Gatherings. Vocal and instrumental soloists and small groups are welcome to participate in this way. Interested musicians should contact the Office of Student Life.
Placement
The seminary seeks to prepare graduates who qualify for ordination, but the successful placing of a graduate in a position involves several variables, such as the needs of the specific church or agency, the availability of the graduate, and his or her competency for ministry. Students are encouraged to establish a denominational relationship early in their seminary experience to prepare for placement and ordination, if that is their goal. Representatives from several denominations and mission agencies regularly visit the campus to meet with students.
Students should use their required supervised ministry experiences as opportunities to build a resume of experiences that will lead naturally toward their ministry goals. Service within the chosen denominational setting, contacts with established pastors, and attendance at denominational conferences and ministerial meetings build a network of relationships that facilitate placement.
Students are expected to take the initiative in seeking placement upon graduation since most ministry placement is done through established national and district offices. The supervised ministry office is available for placement counseling, to help students communicate with their officials, and to make students aware of placement opportunities. Those who feel called to overseas ministry are urged to communicate with appropriate mission agencies early in their seminary careers.
The Office of Formation and Placement maintains a website that lists currently available ministry opportunities.
Provost’s Forum
The provost of the seminary occasionally hosts an open forum for students. This provides the student body with an opportunity for interaction with administration regarding areas of concern.
Publications
The St. Paul campus distributes E-Announcements twice a week to all students, providing information on campus activities, announcements, and other items of special interest. Students are responsible for the information included in the E-Announcements.
Each fall the Office of Student Life coordinates the printing of the Seminary Directory, which includes photos of all students, staff, and faculty, as well as contact information for each person listed.
The Student Handbook contains all information pertaining to academia and student life and is issued to incoming students.
Heart & Mind magazine, published three times a year, is sent to prospective and current students as well as alumni. Its purpose is to highlight how God is working in the seminary community and to provide stimulating articles by faculty and other contemporary theologians.
Registration for Courses at Other Seminaries
Bethel Seminary is a member of the Minnesota Consortium of Theological Schools. The other member schools are Luther Theological Seminary, St. John’s Divinity School, The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, and United Theological Seminary. Because of this association, it is possible for full-time degree students to take courses at other member institutions. To do so, the following procedure has been established:
- Contact the registrar, who will send a form to the appropriate consortium registrar;
- Register for the course on regular registration materials;
- Pay the tuition rate of Bethel Seminary (except summer);
- Complete appropriate registration forms at the consortium school on or before the first day of class (in courses with limited enrollment, the registrar will work with the appropriate consortium registrar);
- The consortium registrar will send a transcript back to Bethel.
Courses taken at a consortium school must be electives. Required courses may not be taken without approval of the Academic Programs Assessment and Accreditation Committee.
Small Group Experiences
The context of a small group can provide a time to take a break from responsibilities, deepen relationships with a number of people, provide needed support in a place of trust, and offer new insights to keep students growing and maturing. Opportunities for such group involvement are available through advisor/advisee group meetings, formation groups, and in a variety of other settings throughout the year.
Special Events
A number of special events coordinated by the Office of Student Life are designed to enrich community life, facilitate open discussion of ideas and issues, and provide opportunities to develop meaningful relationships. These events, sponsored by various campus groups (e.g., Student Senate, Village Hosts, Woman-to-Woman, International Students, etc.), encourage interaction beyond the classroom and other administrative functions. Events include seminars on information not covered in the curriculum; in-depth interaction through weekend retreats; banquets; concerts; and entertainment for the entire community. Special programs are also planned for children and spouses of seminary students.
Student Senate
The Student Senate functions as a clearinghouse for student opinion, activity, and expression. The Senate consists of special interest coordinators and class representatives. In addition to the president, the Senate consists of representatives from the junior, middler, and senior classes. Coordinators give oversight to community life, recreation, academic affairs, spiritual life, missions, women student issues, minority student concerns, international student interests, Seminary Village concerns, single student issues, and student publication matters. The major purposes of the Senate are to promote and serve student interests, lead in student-desired directions, and sustain the welfare of the student body. The Student Senate president is the main liaison between students and administration. The special interest coordinators are responsible for the planning of an integrated and meaningful program of student activities.
Women’s Organizations
The first woman student enrolled in the seminary in 1880. By 1912, women were a consistent part of the student body. Today the seminary still seeks to meet the needs of both female students and the wives of students who are a part of the community. Although separate meetings deal with the unique needs of each group, all meetings of any women’s group on campus are open to women students, wives, faculty, and staff members.
SemWomen provides opportunities for all students, but especially women seminarians, to address questions related to ministerial call, servant leadership, personal spiritual growth, ways that our culture affects women and men in ministry, and other similar topics. Regular meetings are planned by the Student Senate representative and faculty advisor.
Woman-to-Woman provides opportunity for fellowship and personal growth for all student wives. A variety of programming is planned by the leadership team, made up of student wives, an advisor from the Department of Student Life, and one faculty wife.
Woman-to-Woman activities may include potluck suppers, an annual retreat, exercise classes, seasonal activities, craft nights, Saturday morning coffees, and Bible studies. Although specific programming may vary from year to year, Woman-to-Woman seeks to help each woman make the most of the seminary experience.
Tutorial Assistance
Limited peer tutorial assistance is available to students through the Office of Student Life.
The Bethel Seminary Catalog is provided online as a convenience for those who desire course information in electronic form. The printed version of the Bethel Seminary catalog is the official version, and it will be treated as the document of record in all seminary business.