Online Life

Dr. Katherine Fetter, Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Lead for the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions, communicated with her learners so well, a colleague wanted to see it for herself. But that isn’t the only way that Fetter has bucked the trend — check out what happened when she rode a bull.

Beverly Galbreath gave up a chance at higher education because she was raising her family, but she was determined that her only daughter wouldn’t suffer the same fate. Now she can look proudly at Dr. Trish Galbreath-Varner, who not only is the family’s first college graduate — she has earned her doctorate.

The College of Doctoral Studies has learned a lot about its learners over the past 10 years, and that’s why it’s introducing a 2.0 version of its programs. This redesign will take tools such as the dissertation template and early dissertation focus and build upon them to address both quantitative and qualitative research. A higher emphasis also will be placed on better preparing students for dissertation writing.

It took GCU’s talented and dedicated staff and faculty one week to make the transition to an online platform when the pandemic struck last semester. For the upcoming academic school year GCU is building on that success to offer an effective and smooth option for students to continue their studies.

Alexander Manire never thought that his attempt to prove the Bible wrong would result in his conversion to Christianity, nor did he know that it would turn him into a Christian author. Now, with multiple books published under the pen name Chris F. Walker, Manire has taken on a new journey: the path to his GCU degree in Christian Worldview.

When Spring Commencement was postponed because of COVID-19, the Graefe family still wanted to celebrate its two graduates: Jake, who had earned his bachelor’s degree, and his mother, Beth, who had just completed her dissertation defense. Beth asked her dissertation committee chair, Dr. JoAnn Foley Markette, if she would give a speech via Zoom for the impromptu ceremony, and Markette delivered a talk they won’t forget. “I got teary eyed because Dr. Markette said such beautiful things,” Beth said.

GCU News Bureau Dr. Scott Greenberger, Research Manager and Assistant Professor, and Rick Holbeck, Executive Director of Online Full Time Faculty, remotely collaborated over the past three months with Scholarship of Teaching and Learning scholars from Penn State University to facilitate a virtual writing retreat. The retreat, “Reflecting on Teaching and Learning: A Virtual Writing Retreat,” utilized the Guide for Reflective Practice, developed by Greenberger for GCU’s Journal of Scholarly Engagement, to coach faculty in reflective writing on SoTL topics and documenting scholarly engagement. The collaboration began when Greenberger and Holbeck were approached by Penn State SoTL scholars following a conference presentation at the SoTL Commons in Savannah, Ga., in February. The remote collaboration and resulting Zoom retreat were a resounding success. A similar retreat is being planned for GCU faculty this summer to support and engage faculty seeking to use reflective practice to publish instructional best practices.

What makes Dr. Brandon O’Neil’s doctoral degree so interesting is where he conducted his dissertation defense: via Zoom while he was on Air Force deployment in Saudi Arabia — and, on top of that, under the threat of a missile attack. Fortunately, it all went well.

When a teaching job for Dr. Steven Mohler (pictured) depended on approval of his dissertation, the College of Doctoral Studies sped up the process. Mohler praised the work of his committee, led by Dr. Kevin McClean. “He was very helpful, very supportive and went to bat for me several times at the college to make sure that the process continued on,” said Mohler, who got the job.

Dr. Eric Peterson refused to let the postponed Commencement ceremony dampen his enthusiasm about earning a doctoral degree. But what stands out about his story is that he had virtually no time to prepare for defending his dissertation because he spent most of the day with his mother at a hospital. It still turned out fine. “God knew what I needed,” he said.