Alumni

Running is an outlet for doctoral learner Debra Bartkowski, but last year she stepped up to the next level — the 250-mile level. Surviving the “3 Days at the Fair” ultra-marathon has sparked her drive to complete her degree. “My takeaway from all this is that you can do anything that you set your mind to,” she said.

Children often have a lot in common with their parents, but Sydney Teerink and Tori Triguero now have one more thing in common with their parents. Teerink and her mother, GCE employee Ra’Lene, as well as Triguero and her father, Dan, can all now call themselves 2019 GCU graduates.

The campus food scene added another student-run business when Canyon Pizza Co. opened for the fall semester. It is managed by Melanie Schissel, who has worked at GCU since graduating from the University in 2017. “GCU has been such a huge blessing in my life,” she said. Reprinted from the November issue of GCU Magazine.

There was no shortage of Christmas spirit at Andre’s House of Hospitality when Tim Haas and a group of GCU clarinet students and alumni performed a set of Christmas music for the homeless while they ate dinner Sunday evening. “When you get students that do these kinds of things, nothing’s better than that,” Haas said. “They touched people’s lives on Sunday night, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

University development manager Sarah Wade is a GCU graduate and is working on her doctorate. Her daughter went to GCU and now teaches at a Southern California high school that has several other GCU connections. “I feel like I can’t go anywhere without somebody knowing somebody who is on campus at GCU,” Wade said.

What started as a preceptorship would eventually grow into an unbreakable friendship and an opportunity for both Dr. Viola Pierce and Dr. Brittany Bass to graduate with their Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees together at Grand Canyon University’s Fall Commencement ceremony. The pair started the program together and graduated together, surrounded by each of their families. “We went through the entire program together, so this is special for us and I love her dearly,” Pierce said.

Lynette Stant became the first Native American woman to be named Arizona Teacher of the Year Thursday at Arizona Educational Foundation ceremonies in Phoenix. Stant earned her Master’s of Arts in Teaching at GCU in 2006. She stressed being a role model for Native America children and bringing equitable education to rural parts of the state. GCU alums dominated the top 10 in the contest. Three of the five semifinalists are also GCU alums.

Halloween is right around the corner, which means it’s the perfect time to get in the spirit with “The Addams Family” at the Christian Youth Theater, where a group of GCU alumni are doing the creative and technical work. Alexandra Biggs called CYT “a natural fit” for all the GCU alumni and added, “I think that CYT’s mission aligns really well with GCU, and it’s nice to be working for a company that is kind of a ministry opportunity for alumni as well.”

It’s been two years since the College of Doctoral Studies celebrated the passing of signing it’s 500th dissertation. Now, thanks to the college’s dedication to its learners success, quality faculty and resources, 1,000 dissertations have been signed and another group of doctoral graduates walked across the stage and receive recognition for their academic achievement at last week’s Online Commencement ceremony Friday morning. “The program has been maturing in a lot of ways. We’ve been maturing in how we work with learner, how we set expectations with learners, the strategies that are the most effective. I think we’re getting a better understanding of who our learners are and how we can help them be successful. Because that’s always goal,” College of Doctoral Studies Dean Dr. Michael Berger said. “It’s a major step up in expert and interpersonal power. It’s going to give them a chance to be heard, and we want them out there making change.”

For Jamaica native and now North Carolina resident Garfield Hyman, getting his bachelor’s degree in Applied Management always has been about making his journey worthwhile. He said his GCU instructors helped him on his online journey: “I found support, making the experience a really good one.”