College of Humanities and Social Sciences

GCU ground faculty did it in a pinch, shifting gears last spring when classes moved to emergency remote learning mode because of the pandemic. But this summer they could refine the online methods and discover new innovations for the start of fall term and beyond, thanks to a series of on-demand training courses from the Faculty Resource Center and Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching.

The stresses are adding up. A pandemic, social unrest, working from home, loss of income and freedoms. Now think of the mental health professionals trying to help the public deal with all that. It can lead to stressed-out counselors, too. “It’s easy to forget that they have a burden because they carry everyone else’s burden,” said Dr. Chis McBride, fulltime faculty in Behavioral Health Sciences who produced a Loom presentation on stress as part of GCU’s partnership with Southwest Network, a mental health provider in Maricopa County.

Times are tough and counselors are on the front lines of race and pandemic issues. GCU prepares its behavorial health students for that reality with an emphasis on becoming global counselors. Dr. Anna Edgeston and Kapil Nayar share their thoughts about what it means and how it can help not only clients but humanity.

It wasn’t a complete shock to GCU Justice Studies students this summer when racial tensions flared regarding police officer actions across the country. They had created plans to help alleviate those issues in their Community Based Strategic Planning class. More importantly, they provided solutions.

July 4 is the day Americans celebrate the nation’s independence. But how that date emerged and how we have celebrated it through the years are a series of surprises revealed by Dr. David Dean, Assistant Professor of History at GCU. He wrote a compelling summary of the holiday for GCU Today with historical peculiarities, such as what two presidents died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

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.

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.

Miranda Diaz was worried about her future. She was living at home with her Texas parents because of the pandemic and ready to graduate from GCU in two days. Then, the phone rang. She landed a job, thanks in part to the growing partnerships between GCU and behavioral health agency employers in Phoenix.

How students would perform in their classes during a pandemic — that was a big unknown. But now that the semester has wrapped up, GCU’s leaders were thrilled to hear how their students did. Compared to the same time last year, their course completion rates improved, meaning more students passed their courses. Also, a larger percentage of faculty members received high marks from students this year compared to last year on end-of-course surveys. Those numbers were the final measure of all the University’s distance-learning efforts, said Provost Dr. Hank Radda. “It’s sort of the piece at the end of the story, about everything we did all those weeks ago when we began the transition to online.”

Lynette Collins has brought her real-world experience to her GCU online classes in social sciences and education for 10 years. The adjunct instructor was selected as the featured teacher for April in Honored, a nonprofit that promotes excellent teaching. But you’ll also see her the latest season of “Girls Incarcerated” on Netflix. Here’s why.