Archive for May, 2010

The staff at the Cooke Health and Wellness Center wants to thank those who participated in a recent online survey and shared their comments, ideas and recommendations. The survey’s results will help the Center’s staff explore better ways to serve Grand Canyon University’s ground-campus population. The survey was open to the entire GCU community. Of the respondents, 60 percent were staff and 40 percent were students. Major concerns expressed included the Center’s hours of operation and wait times. The Center is primarily a teaching facility. GCU’s student nurse practitioners fulfill necessary requirements as they serve the University. This can increase your wait time. The Center is free for employees, and we recently removed the co-pay for all students with insurance. We appreciate your patience with the teaching component of our facility, and we are working to improve that experience. The survey results included the following: • 44 percent of respondents visited the Center at least once in the last year. • 57 percent said they would use the Center as a primary care facility. • 38 percent said they did not know the Center’s office hours. • 72 percent said they would visit a naturopathic physician, if available. • 61 […]

Jerry Tuttle commuted to the home office on Tuesday, May 18, and the trip was about 2,000 miles one way. Tuttle, 60, of New Jersey, is an online math teacher for GCU. He planned a stop in Phoenix as part of a business trip to Los Angeles so that he could tour GCU’s ground campus. He specifically requested that he have an opportunity for his photo to be taken with Thunder, the Antelopes’ mascot. “I wanted to come and see if there really is a campus,” Tuttle said jokingly. “I’ve always wanted to do this. Unfortunately, I picked a time when the students aren’t here.” Tuttle made the most of it, stopping at the campus bookstore to buy a GCU polo shirt, meeting administrators and visiting about the classes he is teaching. “People have been amazingly friendly to me,” he said. “They’re surprised I’m here. For a big university, the campus is small and intimate.” < Tuttle grew up in New York City and works as an actuary in a building overlooking Ground Zero in Manhattan. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Queens College and a master’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Virginia. He began […]

Several Grand Canyon University students have taken the opportunity this summer to serve on overseas missions. Last week, missionary teams left for the Dominican Republic and Germany, with more teams leaving for Honduras and Guatemala soon. GCU Spiritual Development Director Joe Brooks is leading the team in Germany. Brooks created a blog at http://joebrooksmissions.wordpress.com/ to chronicle his team’s experience in Germany.  He has posted team introductions, photos, videos and more. GCU nursing student and missions coordinator Nicole Hill is part of the team in the Dominican Republic. She started a blog at http://nicolemissions.blogspot.com/ with photos and updates. Follow the missions’ blogs and check back here at Herd on Campus for updates on GCU students in the mission field this summer. Learn more about mission opportunities for both campus and online students at the Spiritual Life page at my.gcu.edu.

At Grand Canyon University’s commencement, it’s not uncommon for classmates to see each other for the first time but to celebrate as if they’ve known each other for years. Bonds form quickly online when busy people are pursuing a common goal, as Shelley Lynch of Boston, Mass., and Jessie Chua of Phoenix, Ariz., discovered. The women embraced like old friends before receiving master’s degrees in nursing education on Saturday, May 1, at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. GCU awarded nearly 6,000 degrees to graduate and undergraduate students in both online and ground-campus programs in Nursing and Health Sciences, Education, Business and Liberal Arts. The University also presented an honorary doctorate in business management to former Southwest Airlines President Colleen C. Barrett. This year, Lynch and Chua were part of a practicum class of 18 led by College of Nursing Associate Professor Pat Shannon that also included students from New Hampshire, Florida, Texas and Utah. Lynch works in the intensive-care unit at two hospitals in the Boston area, and Chua is a pediatric nurse at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. They connected over their passion for research. “I found friendship here,” Lynch said of her classmates. “You get to know people online and […]

In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week, Grand Canyon University showed its appreciation to a group of Phoenix-area teachers by springing for their caps and gowns for graduation.