By Chad Frey
Newton Kansan
Bethel College will introduce a new program to business and community leaders April 3 during a dinner at the Meridian Center, a program that is a departure from the traditional degrees offered by the school for more than 130 years.
Bethel has started offering orkforce Development Certificates (WDCs), a fully online program that went live at the end of January.
WDCs are non-credit-bearing, online, asynchronous certificates that are more specific to a given field than a degree. They can usually be completed in weeks or months.
“WDCs are like licenses that prepare people to enter the workforce or develop specific skills within a certain occupation,” said Bethel President Jon C. Gering. “For example, a person with a Health and Human Performance bachelor’s degree from. Bethel might wish to complement the degree with a WDC in Personal Training and Nutrition Coaching.”
The school has created 36 programs across seven areas of study. Included are Health care (8 certificates, such as Assisted Living Technician); Technology (5 certificates, such as AI Engineer); Business (6 certificates such as LEED Green Associate); Management and Leadership (6 certificates, such as Professional in Human Resources [PHR®]); Cybersecurity (4 certificates, such as Certified Information Systems Security Professional [CISSP®]); Cloud computing (4 certificates, such as MS Azure Fundamentals); and Advanced manufacturing (3 certificates, such as Aerospace Structures Technician).
A full list of available certficates including EKG Technition, Artificial Intelligence Engineer, Professional in Human Resources and Aerospace Electrical Assembly Technition is available at bethelks.edu/certificates/
Certificate areas were determined with the assistance of Core Education, an independent contractor, who performed market research that identified unmet demand in the Kansas job market.
Pam Tieszen, Bethel vice president for institutional advancement, noted that the initial WDC launch is business to consumer, or B2C, certificates, with business to business, or B2B, following closely.
“Our next step will be to invite business partners in the community, region and nationally to use an even broader portfolio of certificates for their employees to enhance their skill sets,” she said.
The April 3 event is especially for local business representatives.
Anyone interested in learning more about the B2B phase should contact Tieszen or George Leary in the Advancement office at https://www.bethelks.edu/giving-bethel-college/about-advancement/.
