Randy Bergen
Email: r-bergen@bethel.edu
Job title
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Dr. Bergen started working in higher education the year he graduated from college. Soon after, he entered a Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in “Personality and Social Ecology” (essential, personality psychology with a focus on social cognition). He completed his dissertation with Carol Dweck on the impact of negative feedback on academic motivation. Following graduate school, he became a psychology professor at Geneva College in Pennsylvania. He returned to his alma mater a few years later and became a dean. He has spent most of his career as an academic administrator, where he gained experience as a grant writer, adjunct instructor, professor, academic dean, vice president, associate provost, provost, acting president, and served in interim roles as CFO and chief marketing officer. The roles have provided a broad understanding of institutional challenges, from financial sustainability to student success. The experiences shaped his leadership philosophy, which values teamwork, empathy, trust, and data-informed decision-making. He is interested in achievement motivation among undergraduates, especially post-traditional students. His also interested in constituents’ perceptions of mission drift. Students are always able to draw him into conversations about how higher education has been and will continue to be reshaped by technology.
Started at Bethel
2013
Education
- University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign - Ph.D., 1991
- University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign - A.M., 1988
- Greenville College - B.A., 1984
Courses taught
EDUC801 - Issues impacting Higher Education
EDUC837 - Institutional Assessment in Higher Education
EDUC842 - Strategic Leadership in Higher Education
EDUC858 - Reimagining Higher Education
EDUC870 - Research IV