Faculty Spotlight

Higher Learning Commission
Dr. Gary Kappel, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Perry E. and Aleece C. Gresham Chair in Humanities, and Bethany’s Accreditation Liaison Officer, attended the annual meeting of the Higher Learning Commission, Bethany’s regional accrediting agency, in Chicago March 31-April 3. He participated in numerous sessions on the commission’s new process for accreditation, called Pathways, and the new criteria for accreditation which go into effect on January 1, 2013. Bethany will join the Pathways process mid-stream, as it were, as Bethany’s next scheduled re-affirmation occurs in 2018-19.

Dr. Kappel also attended the keynote session featuring Dr. Robert Sternberg, a noted Psychologist and expert in the area of assessment of student learning, as well as a number of other sessions concerning assessment and developing dashboards for benchmarking key performance indicators of the college.

While at the meeting, Kappel visited with former student and Bethany alumnus, Dr. Jason Hartz, ’00, a History major who now teaches and does institutional research work at Adrian College in Michigan. Jason’s wife, Dr. Carissa Massey, ’00, is a tenured professor in Art History at Adrian. They just welcomed the birth of their first child, Ruby, a few months ago.

Bethany Alum a Candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year Award

Joe Francisco '01 has been named a candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man & Woman of the Year national fundraising campaign. There are 73 national campaigns comprised of incredible men and women who are competing for the title of Man & Woman of the Year.  This national campaign focuses on raising funds, awareness, and advocacy in the fight against blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

"It's such a great honor to have been nominated as a candidate in the 4th largest city in America," stated Francisco. "Each and every one of us know someone who is affected by a debilitating disease, cancer, or other life changing event.  I challenge the Bethany community to join me on my two month journey to raise funds and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society."

The goal of the national campaign, which kicked off on March 29 and runs for 9 weeks, is to raise as much money as possible to help find a cure for blood cancer and to help improve the lives of blood cancer patients and their families.

For more information on Joe's campaign contact him at joe.lls.mwoy@gmail.com or 713.444.0546 or, to help him surpass his goal of $30,000, visit http://txg.mwoy.llsevent.org/JoeFrancisco.

Bethany Alum Featured on bergen.com

Matt Mastrangelo '87, Rolling Stone Publisher, is featured in an article on bergen.com, titled "People in the Arts: Four Bergenites bring out the best in entertainment."

Click here to view the article.

President Miller Participates in Distinguished Conference on Future of Liberal Arts Colleges

President Scott D. Miller participated in a by-invitation-only leadership conference focusing on the future viability and direction of liberal arts colleges, April 9-11 at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.

Bethany College was invited to join the conference, which addressed goals of  “exploring new models of the liberal arts to guide undergraduate education in the 21st century,” that was jointly sponsored by Lafayette and Swarthmore College. Among the other nationally ranked, top-tier institutions represented were Williams College, Vassar College, Franklin & Marshall College, Smith College and Bryn Mawr College. Support for the conference was provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sessions focused on such topics as economic sustainability of higher education, emerging trends at liberal arts colleges and opportunities for bold, non-traditional partnerships.  

Dr. Miller has written extensively on the value, impact and best practices of liberal arts education, and has moderated or made presentations on the changing landscape of small private colleges for the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and other associations.

Explore the links below for coverage of the conference:

“The Liberal Arts and Careers (Inside Higher Ed): http://t.co/woKzOtVS
“Changing Their Tone: (Inside Higher Ed):  http://t.co/eAGzxCc1
Closing coverage of the "Lafayette Summit" (Inside Higher Ed): http://t.co/BlwWlKV0
“Liberal Arts Colleges Are Urged to Move Beyond Disciplinary ‘Comfort Zones’" (Chronicle): http://t.co/pSOjVH64

Bethany Trivia

How many children did Alexander Campbell have?

Click here to find the answer to this and other Bethany trivia questions.