Graduate Assistant

Graduate Assistant Men's Soccer

Bethel University, IN

Bethel University is seeking a qualified candidate for the position of Graduate Assistant Coach - Men's Soccer.

Responsibilities include assisting in all aspects of the men's soccer program including planning and coaching practices, performance, and video editing & analysis, assisting with recruiting and scouting, organizing travel arrangements, game day management, closely monitoring student-athletes academic needs, and other administrative duties.

The following duties are customary for this position, but are not all-inclusive -- duties may be added, deleted, and assigned based on the head coach and athletic director's discretion and institutional needs

• Candidates must have their undergraduate degree and be admitted into a Graduate program at Bethel University
• Collegiate playing experience
• Demonstrated ability to build positive and meaningful relationships with student-athletes, a network of coaches, alumni, vendors, and donors
• Clean driving record

College coaches are held to a higher standard and have a significant role in impacting the lives of student-athletes. Men's soccer staff are responsible for the personal conduct of themselves as well as student-athletes and any others associated with the program. Must be familiar with the Bethel University Lifestyle covenant and the Student Handbook and manage to the standards of good conduct and image that will reflect positively on the sports program, the Athletics department, and Bethel University.

About Bethel University

The mission of Bethel University, affiliated with the Missionary Church denomination, is to be a community of learners building lives of commitment for leadership in the Church and world. Bethel's liberating academic programs challenge the mind, enlarge the vision, and equip the whole person for lifelong service.

Launched in 1947, Bethel is urban-situated in a region hosting 250,000 residents, seven universities (including Notre Dame), the 2nd largest shopping district in the state of Indiana, 15,000 businesses, 50 parks, and beautiful riverwalk developments in South Bend and Mishawaka. Resort venues on Lake Michigan are 45 minutes away. The university community is composed of 1,600 traditional and adult/graduate students from 35 states, 90 students born outside the U.S., and 225 full-time employees. Bethel also hosts more than 8,000 guests annually to her arts productions, 25,000 annually in conference services, and many thousands of community members in support of her 35 national athletic championships.

Outside organizations recognize Bethel's quality: she is ranked as a Top Tier Midwestern College for 15 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report, in the Top 100 of 4,500 universities nationally for its commitment to character education, and by Washington Monthly as No. 2 in the nation for the proportion of students engaged in community service, No. 2 of 50 Best Value Christian Colleges, and No. 1 in 2015 for Top Christian Colleges Exceeding Expectations.

Bethel's 20,000 alumni occupy 49 states and 64 world areas and enjoy a medical school acceptance rate double the national average, 100% job placement rate in Nursing whose program was ranked #7 in the United States, a Top 4% finish nationally in competitive math performance tests, and 100% pass rate every year on the national performance standard for a unique academic major in American Sign Language.

Alumni professional achievements include the No. 1 rated School Superintendent in Indiana, the No. 1 rated School Principal in Indiana, a Top 1% pediatric surgeon in North America, the former Executive Director of the largest Youth for Christ district in the nation, the Chaplain of Barak Obama's childhood school, the lead in "South Pacific" off-Broadway in New York City, a laboratory director in sustainable energy, Lynne Hybels spouse and ministry partner of Bill, as founders of Willowcreek Church, MLB All-Star Team representative from the Cleveland Indians Justin Masterson, MLB pitcher for the San Diego Padres Eric Stoltz, a senior Midwest manager for Blue Cross / Blue Shield, and among others the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Midwest Region, Don Clark.

Faculty accomplishments from Bethel include an average of more than 100 scholarly presentations and performances each of the last five years, reaching every corner of the United States (CA, OR, NY, DC, GA, TX, etc.) and across the globe (e.g. Kenya, Greece, Israel, Jamaica, France, etc.), including elite sites such as Oxford, Cambridge, Aberdeen, and Carnegie Hall. Academic disciplines are deepened by Bethel projects on suffering, shame, the logic of forgiveness, Islam, mentoring, culture shock, health care among the Amish, eating disorders, home births, monotone mathematical triangles, top predator conservation, adolescent readers, capitalism, gene segregation, Great Lakes fisheries, social-linguistic patterns among the LGBT deaf, deviance in American political allies, ecological imagination in American fiction, Russian education, Latino values, and education, theater sound, and stage design, leadership pressure, the ethics of a Library Bill of Rights, non-violent resistance, simulation learning in Nursing, Shakespeare, depression in cancer patients, race-based tension, art exhibits in every medium, choral and instrumental productions of great variety, and more.

During the previous five years, Bethel saw the strongest series of financial ratios in 25 years (as defined by the U.S. Department of Education), increased admissions visits by 60% and applications by 20%, doubled the number of fully online students, and saw surges in programs like Math-Engineering (+24%), Christian Ministries (+53%), Biology (+118%), Kinesiology/Pre-Physical Therapy/Sports Management (+177%), and total Graduate Program increases of +47%. Students of color moved from 19% to 28% of the total population, with increases in retention and graduation rates.

Traditional age students now rank mentoring as one of the most prominent traits of the environment, seen in part by a shift from 5 in 10 to 7 in 10 residential students voluntarily engaged in a small group or one-on-one coaching by faculty-staff, and through alumni, surveys showing very high faith-integration retention after their Bethel years (e.g. understanding Biblical texts, feeling equipped for the essential questions of life, strong critical thinking skills, etc.).

Recent facility upgrades include the Academic Support Services Center, School of Nursing Simulation Lab, renewal of the largest lecture hall named for Brian & Paqui Kelly (Notre Dame head football coach), new entrances for the East campus and Athletic Park with three additional intramural fields, a new Softball stadium, and refreshed Weight Room, added a Kindergarten Lab School, refreshed Art Gallery, Acorn restaurant, Wi-Fi network, and phone systems, and more.

Work culture at Bethel also thrives, now meeting or exceeding industry average scores on 47 of 55 variables annually tracked by Best Christian Workplaces, which surveys 15,000 workers in Christian organizations annually. The employee experience at Bethel now leads national norms, to a statistically significant difference, in commitment to excellence, an environment for creativity and innovation, solving problems through supervision, the habit of receiving and using input and demonstrating spiritual gifts throughout the workplace.

However, just as a survey of regional Christian universities shows 8 of 10 reduced enrollment over this decade, Bethel did as well. So, in Spring 2018, Bethel launched its GROW Agenda 2018-2022, focused on opening new doors to Bethel for future students. The value behind this focus is, we can't influence students we don't have. Throughout Fall and Winter 2017, a multi-disciplinary research and planning team produced four initiatives of highest return, which was later unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees in early 2018 and endorsed to very high levels by faculty, staff, and administrators.

The primary foci are: (1) adding several new sports teams and an athletic facility, (2) adopting new recruitment methodologies and external partners in digital marketing and Web development, (3) double the number of online-format programs from 11 to 22, and (4) a variety of small, niche enrollment projects (e.g. a debt-free path through Bethel for the poorest students, launching a Computer Science major in Fall 2019, launching a corporate partnership to provide MA in Counseling degrees in house, etc.). Simultaneously, to support a 60% growth in Admissions visitors over the past three years, a Welcome Center facility is already funded with construction underway in the first six months, to be completed in late Summer 2019.

Bethel University does not discriminate based on race, color, age, sex, disability, national or ethnic origin in employment opportunities, in keeping with applicable state and federal laws. In keeping with the mission of the institution, Bethel University seeks applicants with a strong commitment to the values and lifestyle of evangelical Christianity and who profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As a Christian institution, we require faculty and staff to adhere to the University's Lifestyle Covenant and to enforce a religiously based statement of responsibilities for all University employees. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Bethel University, as an educational institution operating under the auspices of the Missionary Church, reserves the right to prefer employees based on religion (Title VII, Sections 702-703, United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended).