College of Doctoral Studies

Many 25-year-olds still are trying to figure out what to do with their lives. But for Mireille Mukiza, her pursuit of a doctoral degree from GCU is just one impressive accomplishment she can add to her resumé. Her education is an inspiration to her family back home in Congo, where women are not encouraged to pursue higher education. “I’m a woman and I can do it,” she said. “I know my degree will have my name on it, but it kind of feels like a family achievement.” First in a series highlighting learners in the College of Doctoral Studies. 

The virtual Commencement ceremony for online students Saturday was actually eight prerecorded ceremonies — one for each college, with a promise of more ceremonies this fall for graduates who would like the in-person experience. But the acknowledgment of their accomplishments amid the pandemic couldn’t wait. “What you have accomplished is remarkable, and we are celebrating it today,” GCU President Brian Mueller said.

Dr. Araxi Hovhannessian, Senior Adjunct Professor and Dissertation Chair in the College of Doctoral Studies, was delighted to see three of her learners earn their doctorates in the last year, and she also gets a kick out of watching them become even better teachers than she considers herself. When not coaching dissertations, she likes to travel to faraway lands.

There were innovations aplenty as GCU dealt with the pandemic. But none of the required alterations were more visible than the cutouts in GCU Arena, where the basketball environment still was plenty loud enough to be noticed by visiting coaches. Reprinted from the February issue of GCU Magazine.

GCU online student Lanna Thompson faced a dilemma. Both she and husband Kyle are GCU online students. But they live in Iowa, home to the Iowa Hawkeyes, GCU’s opponent in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Saturday. Not only that, her late father-in-law was a Hawkeye booster known across the state. Which team to cheer for? It seemed obvious for a family that “bleeds black and gold.” Not so fast — they’re Lopes fans now.

It’s been almost a full year since the pandemic forced the College of Doctoral Studies to halt on-campus residencies. Now, after months of holding residencies at off-campus venues, learners were welcomed back to campus with open arms this week as extensive safety measure ensured a comfortable return. An added bonus: They got to see the University’s vaccine Point of Dispensing site at 27th Avenue, providing tangible evidence of the GCU community involvement they have heard so much about.

The doctoral journey is never easy, but the obstacles Dr. David Butler overcame make his story that much more inspiring. Butler, who graduated in the fall with his Ph.D. in Performance Psychology, took seven years to earn his degree because he went through two rounds of battling Stage 4 prostate cancer and also underwent open heart surgery and a hip replacement — besides having his data collection turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. But those life experiences also shaped his dissertation.

Dr. Mufasa Moyenda got the ball rolling in GCU’s College of Doctoral Studies, and a whole group of suddenly tech-savvy counseling professors in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences joined the team to move it forward until a new website was created that focuses on uniting counseling students and faculty in three programs and two colleges. The Counseling Community Connection, those involved said, could be a model for many academic programs to copy.

Dr. Luis Zayas, Assistant Professor in the College of Doctoral Studies, has accomplished a lot in his career. But nothing makes him happier than what one of his students in a cultural diversity accomplished. With Zayas’ encouragement and mentorship, the students’ commentary was accepted for a scholarly publication, he earned a research grant, he was accepted into a doctoral program and he met his future spouse.

Dr. Patricia D’Urso of the College of Doctoral Studies is all about the data. “If you have collected valid and reliable data, it is hard to argue with the numbers,” she likes to say. But she also has a number of other interests, some of them extremely challenging. Find out the language she so desperately wants to learn.