Bethel Announces Associate Provost

Bethel University has announced that Randall Bergen will move from his role as special assistant to the president to a new role as associate provost for the College of Adult & Professional Studies, Bethel Seminary, and Graduate School. Bergen has been serving as the interim associate provost since October. He began his associate provost position on March 1.

“During the interview process, I received consistently positive feedback in support of Randy for this position,” says Deb Harless, executive vice president and provost. “A number of people noted that he is a highly skilled and collaborative leader, exceptional listener, and brings a significant depth of expertise in higher education. He also has a deep Christian faith that is evidenced throughout how he leads and serves.”

In August 2016, Harless announced that she was creating a new associate provost position with broad oversight for all of Bethel’s post-traditional programs and student support areas. The position is part of an overall restructuring to link Bethel Seminary, the Graduate School (GS), and the College of Adult & Professional Studies (CAPS). “As we link the three schools, we are committed to preserving the distinctive identity and brand of each of our schools,” says Harless. “We believe that this linkage will allow us to better serve all of our post-traditional students. Stronger connections will facilitate and support our work to increase our enrollment across CAPS, seminary, and GS programs.”  

Bergen came to Bethel in 2013 after serving as the acting president of Greenville College in Illinois during the 2012-13 academic year. During the past four years at Bethel, in addition to serving as special assistant to the president, Bergen has served as interim chief marketing officer, interim chief financial officer, and an adjunct instructor in the Ed.D. in higher education program. Recently, he also led the Strategic Option Team that focused on expanding our online enrollment as part of our strategic planning process.

Before assuming acting president responsibilities at Greenville, Bergen served there as provost, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, dean of instruction, and professor of psychology. He also worked with the development of Greenville’s online programs. He has also served in various roles at Geneva College in Pennsylvania and was the co-director of the national Comprehensive Assessment Project conducted through the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.

An alumnus of Greenville, Bergen continued his education at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign where he received his master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology.