Bethel University launches business school amid reorganization

Bethel University will launch a business school this fall as it reorganizes programs across campus, grouping related courses of study and courting donations to support them.

The business school will combine existing majors, including undergraduate programs in communications and accounting, plus the masters of business administration, and will be led by Tom Brown, who was recently appointed as its first dean.

Provost Robin Rylaarsdam said the reorganization will not change students’ or faculty members’ daily routines, nor will it add or cut any majors or minors. She said the changes will improve students’ overall experience by “rubbing shoulders” with new people and mindsets.

“They will just have more interactions this way,” she said of undergraduate and graduate students. “It’s about expanding our roster of mentors and internship sites and the connections we’re making.”

The Christian university in Arden Hills has about 2,600 undergraduate students, according to the Minnesota Private College Council. The university has also created new schools focused on health and sciences, theology, and arts and education.

The strategy has already attracted some big donations.

The health-and-sciences-focused school received a $20 million donation in October. Rylaarsdam said an additional donation of $4 million was made this spring.

“We are continuing to talk with lots of people who are interested in supporting this school in different ways,” she said.

In recent years, Bethel University has made some cuts due to declining student enrollment, a problem facing many higher education institutions as demographics shift. The university ended seven majors and two minors in 2022.

Based on fall 2024 numbers, Rylaarsdam said the first class of students at the new school of business should have nearly 600 undergraduate and 100 graduate students.

Brown, who is coming to Bethel after seven years as head of the School of Marketing and International Business at Oklahoma State University, said he is aware of the recent challenges at Bethel and he hopes to increase enrollment.

“We know that things are changing, and we know that the number of students available is decreasing, or they will soon enough,” he said. “My job is going to be to come in and make certain that we are delivering the highest quality courses that we can possibly deliver.”

Rylaarsdam said Brown quickly rose to the top of a talented pool of candidates for the position.

“His work at Oklahoma State showed that he understands how to bridge the town-gown relationship in a really effective way to understand what the business community needs and how to train students to do that,” she said.

Brown said he wants to focus on integrating Bethel’s new business school into the business community and building connections across campus.