Strategic Step #5: Serve a longer-living population.

Success story: Changing careers at age 66
The age-old adage "You're never too old to learn" describes the philosophy of Ivar Zemmels '06. A 66-year-old student earning a master's degree in special education at Bethel, Zemmels wants to make a difference in the lives of children with learning disabilities. Though he has a Ph.D. in geology, Zemmels found himself in a declining industry, but couldn't envision retiring—not with family genes that could extend his life into the 90s. "I don't feel my age, and I didn't want to lose my enthusiasm for life," he explains. "Bethel does a very good job of accommodating adult students. The Christian emphasis was refreshing and a chance to grow in my faith." His message to other members of the graying population: "If you are looking for a career change, it's never too late. And trust God because He is faithful."

As our nation's population ages, our life cycles are changing. It is a demographic fact that while life expectancy in the United States in 1900 was a mere 47 years, people in the 21st century are expected to live to be almost 90. This change is likely to affect every facet of our existence. Adult learning is the largest and most rapidly growing segment of American education. And services of every kind to the aging will be in great demand for years to come. Bethel is taking steps to serve our longer-living population.

Bethel Steps Ahead

• Bethel provides convenient programs for adults who want to complete their undergraduate or advanced degrees. They include a general studies/associate's degree program, six bachelor's degrees, 10 advanced degrees, as well as licensure, certificate, and professional development seminars designed for immediate application to life and work. Our faculty understand that adult students bring high levels of motivation and experience to their studies.
• We also prepare people to become leaders in fields that serve the aging. In the Graduate School's Master of Arts in Gerontology program, students become equipped for a variety of jobs such as providing adult day care, leading faith-based organizations with elderly clients, or even starting businesses that make age-appropriate products.
• Gerontology student Pam Zimmerman was recently awarded the Bloedow Scholarship through the Minnesota Gerontological Society and manages the Senior LinkAge LineTM at the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging. "The most rewarding part of my job," she says, "is connecting seniors and their caregivers to resources, and enabling them to make good decisions about long-term care and health insurance issues so that they can remain independent in the community."
• Plans are underway at Bethel Seminary to launch a certificate in "generativity" (having the power of producing). "It will energize and equip the older members of our congregations to be involved in the work of ministering to the aging themselves, and not just being the recipients of it," says Carla Dahl, Ph.D., dean of the seminary's Center for Spiritual and Personal Formation.
• As the average age of the workforce rises and as older workers need to be trained for entirely new jobs, Bethel's Office of Career Services is informing students of the myriad occupations available today. "We offer one-on-one career counseling, an online service for posting resumes, and web access to job postings for individuals making changes in mid-life," says director Kathy Scholljegerdes.

We are truth-seekers– recognizing that all truth has its source in God. Kathy Scholljegerdes, director of the Office of Career Services at Bethel, says her staff is becoming trained in new assessments that will help a mature clientele.

Strategic Steps

• 1: Make disciples of Jesus Christ.
• 2: Emphasize quality scholarship.
• 3: Reconcile cultures and races.
• 4: Integrate new technologies.
• 5: Serve a longer-living population.
• 6: Be relevant to society.
• 7: Remain sound and affordable.
• 8: Equip students before college.