Honors College

A group of Honors College students had high hopes of worship and career development on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The students hit their expected goals. But what enlightened them to the core was what they didn’t expect — love.

The Summer Institute isn’t quite like the traditional s’mores and campfire summer camp. Instead, the more than a dozen academic camps in various GCU colleges saw high school sophomores, juniors and seniors learning about Trojan malware, investigating the qualities of polyvinyl alcohol cryogels, writing poetry or executing mock warrants — and making friends while staying in the University’s dorms for the two- to four-day camps. The institute geared up recently with various science camps and will continue throughout the summer with humanities, business, honors camps.

Gone are the days of only having the option of earning the traditional bachelor’s degree in English or bachelor’s degree in history. Administrators want to make sure the University’s degrees lead to getting a job. So they’ve consulted with experts in the field and have reshaped many of GCU’s degree offerings, which are now “career-focused,” from a bachelor’s degree in history with an emphasis in public history, for example, to a bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in professional writing.

“I wanted to pay it back,” GCU Enrollment supervisor Michael Rodriguez said at the GCU Volunteer Fair on Wednesday at the 27th Avenue office building as he signed up at the Big Brothers Big Sisters booth. Rodriguez himself was paired with a Big Brother when he was a kid. BBBS was just one of the 20 GCU-supported nonprofits employees were able to connect with at the fair, an event GCU Community Outreach Manager Debbie Accomazzo calls a “matchmaking opportunity.”

Alpha Chi, the national honors society, gave its Outstanding Chapter Sponsor award to Honors College Assistant Dean Breanna Naegeli at its national convention last month. Naegeli has worked hard to grow GCU’s chapter, and it sent a record number of representatives to the conference — including three who did presentations.

Time after time over three days of commencement, Grand Canyon University volunteers sought to make the experience special for the graduates. One of the ways they do it is the “tunnel walk” after each ceremony — applauding the grads as they walk out of the Arena after the ceremony. It was just one of many memorable moments.

The fourth annual Honors College Banquet at GCU Arena on Thursday was an outstanding celebration recognizing the academic excellence, commitment, leadership and impact of the University’s high achievers. “It’s always so hard to pick one or two award recipients because as celebratory as this event is, they are all so deserving of recognition,” said Breanna Naegeli, Assistant Dean of the Honors College.

“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.

By Jeannette Cruz GCU News Bureau  Isabella Ketcham and Silvana Burgos, two environmental science majors at Grand Canyon University, spent the 2017-18 academic year studying local waters of the Verde River to determine the effects of urbanization on water quality. With the help of their professor and the collaboration with the Verde River Institute, Ketcham and Burgos looked at the biological levels of oxygen demand in the water supply using drone technology to collect water samples. “The drones allow for us to easily access a site of interest, including runoff areas or areas not easily accessible by foot,” Burgos said. “Given that Arizona is a desert and a state that is experiencing a growing population, this is a precious resource.”  Ketcham and Burgos were among hundreds of students in the Honors College and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology who spent Saturday morning sharing their research and business proposals at the 2018 Honors Showcase and CSET Spring Symposium, an annual event that aims to showcase recent student research. The showcase gives students an opportunity to spotlight their drive and ambition, said Breanna Naegeli, Assistant Dean of the Honors College.  “This event is really just a culmination of the work, […]

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.