Colleges

It didn’t take long for the new Innovation Center to get noticed by entrepreneurs across the Valley — it attracted 25 businesses in its first 2 1/2 months. The reason is simple: It has many aspects that make it an attractive deal, especially the fact that hiring GCU students is part of the package.

One of the concluding events of Money Week featured a panel of longtime financial services professionals talking to students about the future of the industry, and their insights included interesting observations about the direction of personal banking. Students entering the profession can expect to see a movement toward helping educate consumers.

GCU senior Gavin Thompson liked to shop in thrift stores. He knew other people didn’t like to spend the time but liked the merchandise. That’s how his Wear Old secondhand clothes business was launched. His story highlights the path more students are taking in addition to classes — hustling to start their own business.

Dance Director Susannah Keita is passionate about exposing students to dance education and their options in dance outside of just studio classes. That is why she and senior dance students Justine Bach and Carissa Eubank presented their work in the Arizona community through the Elementary Dance Tour program at this year’s National Dance Education Organization conference in Miami. “It was exciting to see different ways to incorporate other subjects into dance but also maintaining the integrity of dance and what you have in your classroom,” Eubank said.

Pamela Hess, Lead Faculty for Health Informatics in the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions, is excited about the rapid changes in health care thanks to informatics and information management. She appreciates having the opportunity to work the Christian worldview into the classroom and is working toward earning a doctorate from GCU.

Dr. Tim Griffin’s talk about the Bible and wealth Monday was very informative — for both him and his audience. There are so many biblical references to money, the Pastor and Dean of Students had a hard time narrowing his selections to a manageable number. And it reminded him of all the skills he has learned about managing his finances.

Colangelo College of Business students aren’t the only ones who need to learn how to handle personal finances, of course, so Money Week was expanded this year to College of Education classrooms. Dr. Suzanne Zentner, Assistant Superintendent of Strategy and Business Development for Gilbert Public Schools, is sharing her district’s holistic approach to its employees.

Justin Sklar, Supervising Editor for Disney’s animated film “Frozen 2,” came to campus Friday morning to share with students some of the ins and outs of what an animation career at Disney looks like. Students were able to ask questions, hear three of the film’s new songs and see clips from the final film.

Evelyn Racette, an instructor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, has a couple of interesting ways of making her students feel welcome and making sure they know what’s important. Check out what students say about her connection to the “Parks and Recreation” television show.

“A Year with Frog and Toad” makes its way to Ethington Theatre and is the bow on top of another memorable semester for COFAP’s Theatre Department. Guest director Debra K. Stevens adds her experience with Childsplay to help bring Arnold Lobel’s beloved characters to life. “The cast is phenomenal, I mean not a weak voice in the cast, everyone is absolutely great and it’s super fun and super sweet,” Alexander Cavanaugh, who plays Frog, said.