College of Doctoral Studies

Drs. Alyson Bell and Johnny Fielder are just two examples of overcoming adversity and emerging victorious despite the hardships they endured along the way to their doctoral degrees. Bell juggled raising three children as a single mother, working fulltime as an educator and acting as a caretaker for her parents as their health declined. Fielder’s doctoral pursuit never wavered, even when a wildfire destroyed his home, leaving him and his wife with nothing but the small collection of things they were able to grab before evacuating. Both defied the odds and celebrated their accomplishments at Monday morning’s Commencement ceremony.

Photos by Ralph Freso GCU News Bureau The Monday morning ceremony in Spring Commencement at Grand Canyon University featured the conferring of doctoral degrees and also was for graduates of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. Here’s a replay of the ceremony.

“Human Flourishing: Embracing Our Purpose,” the One Foundation topic for the 2021-22 academic year, sparked six deep discussions among GCU faculty. What made it even more interesting was the way they perceive flourishing amid all the problems in today’s world. “I think people were really playing off of that and thinking about the way students are processing that amount of change in a short amount of time. You can hear it,” said Dr. Jason Hiles, Dean of the College of Theology.

Honors College Associate Dean Dr. Breanna Naegeli was honored as a winner of the prestigious Athena Valley of the Sun Founder’s Award on Thursday night, and Dr. Parm Gulshan, a GCU doctoral graduate, received the Champion Award. Athena supports, develops and honors women leaders, and Naegeli and Gulshan were recognized for their contributions to their field and their impact on the community.

Thousands of alumni, students, families and friends came to campus to participate in the University’s first in-person Homecoming Family Weekend since before the pandemic. There was no shortage of excitement as fan favorites returned and new events popped up. “This is the Disneyland of campuses. We really just enjoy coming out here,” said Warren Thompson, who came to campus with his family to visit daughter Bella. “It’s been great to connect and see some other students that our daughter has connected with and meet their parents. Everyone seems really down to earth.”

An action-packed weekend is upon us as this year’s Homecoming Family Weekend draws closer. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, events from Homecoming and Family Weekend will be restored to their in-person format. There is no shortage of ways to get involved on and off campus.

Students play a big role in the fifth annual Kevin McClean Research Colloquium. They planned the event and managed the presentations on the first day Wednesday, when a lot of their peers were in the Colangelo College of Business classroom. The colloquium returned to in-person after having to go virtual last year, but it will be online today for two more sessions. Among the presenters was Dr. Kelly Damron, who is doing a study on the lack of diversity in the accounting field.

Photos by Ralph Freso GCU News Bureau The first day of the fifth annual Kevin McClean Research Colloquium was held Wednesday in the Colangelo College of Business Building.  

It started out as a simple question from one GCU student to another: “Do you want to send something into space?” Rather than just ponder the idea, they created STELLAR, which will be launching its first project, a microbial fuel cell, to the International Space Station in April. But while the team says sending projects into space is just cool, it emphasized that its passions run deeper. Ultimately, the group’s mission isn’t just a space mission but a humanitarian one, as well.

Dr. Mary Dainty’s grandmother laid the foundation for her family’s academic drive by graduating with her doctorate at a time when women were rare in graduate programs. Dainty followed in her grandmother’s footsteps by not only being a member of the College of Doctoral Studies’ first cohort group in its new Counselor Education and Supervision program, but also becoming the program’s first graduate.