Archive for June, 2020

Mental health counseling and religious faith haven’t always been on the same page. Today, that is changing. Dr. Laurie Tone, adjunct counseling instructor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, led a webinar Thursday that described how the integration of faith and counseling can give people hope, especially in these uncertain times.

A global pandemic didn’t stop the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions from helping its graduate students — all working nurses — move one step closer to completing their master’s degrees. The college worked hard to make the three-day summer residencies for Family Nurse Practitioner and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner as COVID-19-safe as possible. Despite the current health climate, “Most of the students said, ‘I’ll still be there,'” said Stephanie Herrick Kays, Graduate Simulation Coordinator.

GCU News Bureau Members of Grand Canyon University’s Academic and Career Excellence and Strategic Employee Initiatives teams gave four virtual presentations this week at the Arizona Statewide Career Services Conference, sponsored by the University of Arizona.  In addition to “New Direction: Transitioning to an innovative, virtual support model during the COVID-19 pandemic,” here are three other presentations with photos:  ● “From Student Worker to Working from Home: Student Employment Amid COVID-19” ● “Reducing the Distance in Outreach and Engagement” ● “It Takes a Village: University Partnerships for Student Career Success”  

Beakers, goggles and graduated cylinders have long made their homes in countless chemistry labs. But not this summer, at least not in Dr. Kimberly Horsley’s introductory chemistry class. She wanted to find out if some lab activities could be done at home, and COVID-19 presented a unique opportunity to test the at-home-lab-experiment waters. Her CHM-113 students received lab kits in the mail, assembled by the College of Science, Engineering and Technology’s lab team, and the remote chemistry opportunity was on.

GCU counselors have continued to be productive while working from home, and the numbers for May showed just how much. They completed more than 232,000 activities on behalf of students, a jump of 31% from 2019, and the number of outbound calls increased by 15%.

Kayla Hartson, Student Fitness Program Coordinator, tackles a hot topic at this time of year — exercising outside. She says preparation is key.

In this week’s Fitness Facts, Connie Colbert lists reasons why health officials recommend wearing face masks in public during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In this week’s #Askingforafriend column on mental health, Kristan Farley shares some interesting thoughts about what it takes to be happy. Rather than aim for happiness all the time, she suggests trying to practice the skill of “expansion.”

GCU students in School Counseling practicums across the country found a way to make the best of the bad situations caused by the pandemic. Facing emptied schools, they fashioned creative ways to be of service to their communities. “It reflects GCU’s mission, which is to help the best way we can,” said Angelica Corona.

The work of David Kadlubowski, Athletics and Media Photographer for Grand Canyon Education, is well-known by anyone who regularly reads GCU Today or GCU Magazine. It also was the focus of a national competition last week — Kadlubowski submitted six entries, and three placed in the top four. One was chosen as the best in the Personal Vision category.