Online Life

It’s been almost a full year since the pandemic forced the College of Doctoral Studies to halt on-campus residencies. Now, after months of holding residencies at off-campus venues, learners were welcomed back to campus with open arms this week as extensive safety measure ensured a comfortable return. An added bonus: They got to see the University’s vaccine Point of Dispensing site at 27th Avenue, providing tangible evidence of the GCU community involvement they have heard so much about.

It was a big weekend full of connection building and leadership within the Honors College. This year, the Honors College hosted their annual Leadership Conference in a hybrid format, allowing students to choose whether they would like to participate in person or via Zoom. Doing so brought in a record number of attendees for the event. “I Think that just goes to show how much students are wanting to have this experience,” Honors College Program Manager Dennis Williams said. “It’s certainly well above any numbers we’ve had for this event when you combine the Zoom attendees with our live attendees.”

Jeanne Sanchez of Kenosha, Wisconsin, needed help to get through a year filled with death and destruction. Associate Professor Dr. Kimber Underdown went out of her way to provide it. It’s yet another example of the caring, personal attention online students receive from their GCU instructors. “I’m not some perfect person sitting in an ivory tower and nothing is touching me,” Underdown said. “… They are students, but they are people first.” Reprinted from the February issue of GCU Magazine.

The pandemic wasn’t going to keep the GCU community from celebrating alumni, students and their families. That determined spirit was the catalyst for this year’s virtual Homecoming and Family Week. For the first time, the two events have been combined to bring together everyone in the GCU community for a week filled with tours, livestreams, watch parties and access to GCU archives.

The doctoral journey is never easy, but the obstacles Dr. David Butler overcame make his story that much more inspiring. Butler, who graduated in the fall with his Ph.D. in Performance Psychology, took seven years to earn his degree because he went through two rounds of battling Stage 4 prostate cancer and also underwent open heart surgery and a hip replacement — besides having his data collection turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. But those life experiences also shaped his dissertation.

The Honors College leaders showed last year that their teamwork goes beyond their work duties — five of them earned graduate degrees. Associate Dean Dr. Breanna Naegeli finished work on her doctorate, while Program Managers Dennis Williams, Cathleen Daly and Anna Cofrancesco and Program Development Specialist Faith Beatty all received their master’s degrees. “I feel as though this story illustrates the support we have for one another both personally and professionally,” Naegeli said.

When Mike Loven’s daughter, Taleigh, decided to attend GCU four years ago, he was so impressed by the University he was inspired to finally go after his bachelor’s degree — but decided to do so without telling his wife and children. For more than four years, Loven attended online classes and did his homework in secret. Last week, he gave them a surprise they’ll never forget — his GCU diploma.

What started as a friendship between two doctoral learners turned into a business partnership with ties to two different countries. Eugene Frimpong and Kevin Abankwa, along with colleague Carlos Osofu, created data analytics company The Analytics Professionals. “It is basically business consulting, but our emphasis is in data analytics,” Abankwa said. “Most of our clients are going to be businesses who are trying to figure out and make sense of their data.”

Nearly 5,000 ground students decided to stay home this semester and study online because of the pandemic. But like the faculty members who also chose to work from home, they were able to use the LoudCloud learning management system and video conferencing/messaging apps such as Zoom and Loom to make it an effective learning environment.

When the pandemic forced GCU’s Eta Chi chapter of Delta Mu Delta to conduct its induction ceremony via video conferencing, it turned into a blessing. It opened the way for more inductees to participate. “I don’t believe we’re ever going to go back to the inductions we had in the past,” said Dr. Moronke Oke, one of the chapter’s advisors.