College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Dr. Charles Maxson is retiring after 34 years at GCU, and students talked at length about all the things they have learned from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences professor. Mainly, they appreciated one-on-one conversations with him.

“We’re here tonight to hopefully, not only mourn together and remember together, but to celebrate their lives together,” Dr. Tim Griffin, Dean of Students, said at Tuesday night’s Celebration of Life ceremony. The GCU community honored the lives of Christian Applegate, Roy Pietrek, Keisha Nicole Oyola Perales, Dr. Tiffany Mealman and Taylor White.

The cover story of the April issue of GCU Magazine features students who got here in a roundabout way and then made the most of their opportunities on campus. It’s fascinating to see the commonalities — and yet the wide range of diversity — in what they say, but it all comes back to one thing: They love it here.

The new edition of StartleBloom: The GCU Literary Review” was celebrated Thursday on the Promenade. As student authors did readings of their work, one of their advisors, Dr. Diane Goodman, called it “astonishing and moving.”

When it comes to online learning, GCU’s faculty have established a reputation of being some of the most sought-after thought-leaders in presenting and publishing their scholarly work. Between 2012 and 2017, they led 163 presentations, and their work was featured in 138 publications. GCU are the innovators, said Rick Holbeck, Executive Director of Online Full-Time Faculty.

Education majors Katelyn Watson and Timothy Sims, the first two members of GCU’s “Peer Mentors in Academics” pilot program, gain enrichment by enriching English composition students — who in turn are thrilled to receive instruction from fellow students.

The Collegiate DECA chapter keeps qualifying more and more students for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). This time, 10 students will represent Grand Canyon University on April 11-14 in Washington, D.C. It’s GCU’s best representation ever.

With parties, basketball games and concerts to attend, college just might be the greatest place to be. But students aren’t always in the best place, which is why the University offers a variety of mental health resources to help students who may be struggling — everything from counseling in Student Care to ASGCU’s Embrace Week, set to erase the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

The first annual Dr. Kevin McClean Research Colloquium began, quite properly, with a tribute to the retired Colangelo College of Business professor. He was grateful for the honor — and for the continuing interest in showing the research that GCU faculty members are doing.

When Sydney Grover got to Grand Canyon University, she saw a perfect opportunity to follow her passion: telling the stories of homeless people. Thus was born Can You Spare a Story.