At Bethel, we recognize that you are also dealing with the transition to college. This may be the first time you’ve truly had to trust not only your children to take care of themselves, but  also people like us who will be involved with your children almost every day while they are at Bethel. Therefore, it’s important to us that you know we understand the magnitude of this responsibility, and we want to share with you some of the ways we provide support to them.

At Freshman Orientation, we try to equip your child with all the information he or she will need to begin life as a college student. Seasoned faculty, staff and students will be part of a structured program that lends itself to question and answer conversations. We try to make orientation a fun time as well, where we hope your child will feel encouraged to get involved. We want your child to be comfortable in his or her new home away from home.

 

The structure of Freshman Orientation will spill into the entire first semester, where your child will spend two hours a week in the classroom and one hour a week in a chapel service as part of freshman orientation. The classroom time will involve additional question and answer sessions as well as some hands-on activities that will help him or her get the most out of Bethel’s available resources.

As part of Bethel’s At-Risk Program, we closely monitor your child’s class attendance, class participation, grades and behavior on campus. We do this to address issues related to these areas before they negatively affect your child’s success at Bethel. Our goal is not to be militant but to serve as your child’s advocate in reaching his or her goals.

The Office of Student Life offers free study skills assistance and tutoring services. We will work with your child one-on-one to improve study skills, time-management and test-taking skills. We’ll pair your child with a tutor who can help with specific academic needs. We do closely monitor your child’s progress, however, and if you sense your child is struggling academically, encourage him or her to contact the Office of Student Life for help.

Sandy Louden, our director of college orientation, has years of experience counseling Bethel students. We in the Office of Student Life would like to share information about Sandy, including where she’s located and how she can be reached during freshman orientation. And we encourage our students to go to her if they become overwhelmed with either academic issues or life issues. If you have concerns about your child, and you would like to speak with Sandy, you can reach her at 731-352-4095 or e-mail her at loudens@bethel-college.edu. You can even visit Sandy at her office in the Marrs-Stockton Student Center on Bethel’s campus.

In addition to having staff on campus who can counsel your child during times of need, Bethel College contracts with LifeServices for a program called LifeServices Student Assistance Program (SAP).

LifeServices SAP is paid for your child by us, and it provides confidential, professional, short-term counseling, referral and follow-up services to all enrolled students at Bethel. Your child can receive up to six free counseling sessions, and we provide him or her with the convenient toll-free number that gives 24-hour a day access to LifeServices professionals.

If your child contacts LifeServices, barring any immediate emergencies, someone from the LifeServices team will set an initial appointment for him or her, or if appropriate, a referral will be made for the best source of help.