Honors College

It’s the same scholarship that has been changing the lives of incoming Honors College students for years, but now it has a new name: the Academic Excellence & Servant Leadership Scholarship. The annual reception for scholarship winners had to be conducted online because of the pandemic. “We wanted these students to have an opportunity to engage with one another and have a moment to reflect on how special this scholarship opportunity really is,” Honors College Associate Dean Dr. Breanna Naegeli said.

Launch Week, the Honors College’s orientation, had to be online because of the pandemic, but Associate Dean Dr. Breanna Naegeli was impressed by the incoming students’ positive participation. “They’re ready to get engaged, and they genuinely don’t care if meeting people is strictly virtual,” she said. Expanding it to two weeks for the first time also proved to be a good move.

The Honors College’s Student Advisory Board, which works as a bridge between faculty and students to put together Honors activities, has even more members this year. It’s quality as well as quantity. Program Manager Dennis Williams calls it “the most phenomenal group we’ve ever had.” Eighth in a nine-part series on each college as the semester begins.

Those first Students Inspiring Students scholarship recipients came to GCU with hope for a better future. The University helped them grow and have watched many graduate in the past year. Now they are landing jobs, also thanks not only to SIS but to Academic and Career Excellence advisors who helped guide them. One of them is Jazmin Miguel, who had reason to call GCU “a place of miracles and hope.”

Dr. Breanna Naegeli has worked for the University for almost 11 years and has multiple siblings with GCU degrees, but she couldn’t herself be called an alumna — until now. She successfully defended her dissertation in May and completed her Ph.D. in Performance Psychology.

Luke Elliot never imagined that he’d be working in medical insurance when he decided to pursue a business degree at GCU, but last month he joined Aetna as a senior project manager. The experience taught him that connections with professors can pay off and a business degree can be valuable in many fields.

The abrupt transition of ground classes to the online platform could have weakened the strong bond students have with the Honors College, but its administrators wouldn’t let that happen. They have established a number of ways to keep students engaged with their peers, and one of them, Tuesday Night Trivia, has continued into the summer.

Aaron and Jocelyn Reina are using their Colangelo College of Business degrees to help their family operate Colados Coffee and Crepes. In particular, they have applied the GCU culture to create a to bring together the staff.

There is one overarching factor in how GCU administrators and faculty are judged: Did their students get good jobs after graduation? It is the true meaning behind the University’s “Find your purpose” slogan. “It’s the passion to serve our students that our faculty and staff have,” Provost Dr. Hank Radda said, “which makes them willing to dive in, shepherd and advise students toward their ultimate career goal.”

The College of Science, Engineering and Technology Research Symposium and Honors Showcase made a quick transition to online when the COVID-19 precautions were put in place. “For a tight three-week timeline, I think our administration, faculty and students did an incredible job bringing their work to life in a virtual manner,” said Breanna Naegeli, Honors College Associate Dean.