Online Life

Alfreta Sailor has lived a little — the Grand Canyon University online student is 69. And she also has learned a lot, as demonstrated by her book of motivational essays, “Seasons Change, So Can You.” It covers a wide variety of topics and provides concrete steps toward positive change.

GCU has won a prestigious award for its effective cybersecurity-awareness program. Using a new twist, GCU’s IT Security department has raised employee awareness of suspicious emails, resulting in early reporting and thwarting of cyber attacks.

A photo of the 2-year-old son of Ashley Gill, a Grand Canyon University Honors College counselor, went viral on the internet after she dressed him like Dwight Schrute from “The Office.”

Photos by Darryl Webb GCU News Bureau Moments of triumph and delight highlighted fall commencement exercises Saturday morning at Grand Canyon University Arena.      

Fall commencement began Friday morning at GCU Arena, and, as is always the case with online students, it is filled with great stories of determination and perseverance. But it’s also about tremendous hopes for the future. GCU has the story, which includes advice some of the graduates have for other online students.

One of GCU’s newly launched research projects explores the impact of shoes on muscles activation. CSET Assistant Professor Donna Gerakos said GCU’s leap into research is adds to its well-established reputation as a leader in exercise science education. Equally important, it offers undergraduate students an opportunity to participate into cutting-edge research and prepares them for the research requirements of graduate school.

(Editor’s note: This story is from the August 2016 issue of GCU Magazine. To view the digital version of the magazine, click here.) By Laurie Merrill GCU Magazine How helpful are certain plants in cleaning toxins from soil? Will 3D printing technology eventually create anatomical replacements? Can a fitness curriculum help firefighters prevent injuries? What is exciting about these topics — and about 17 more like them — isn’t that students and faculty at Grand Canyon University are posing such questions. It’s how they will attempt to arrive at the answers  that is of major significance. In the dawning of a new era, GCU’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) this fall established a scientific research program on campus. “One of the things I was brought here to do was to revisit the idea of whether we could build a research capability for the faculty and students,” said CSET Assistant Dean Jon Valla, who came to GCU in June 2015 after working at Midwestern University in Glendale, Ariz., and Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. The resounding answer, Valla learned, was yes. Once it was proposed, science faculty and students began flocking to the fledgling program. The reasons are clear. Promoting a […]

Vanessa Johnson, a GCU online student who lives in Tampa, Fla., has dedicated herself to helping others — such as the people of Flint, Mich., during their water crisis — through her nonprofit, Blue Moon 211. Johnson is making the most of the second chance she got in life after she tried to commit suicide more than 20 years ago.

Two online students with far-reaching goals to help others have begun working toward their GCU degrees thanks to the “We Care for America” full-tuition scholarships they received recently. Kristen Stark, a neonatal nurse, would like to take her skills to countries that lack proper health care, and Michele Vogel, the 175th Wing Command Chief in the Maryland Air National Guard, would like to help military families.

GCU has introduced cybersecurity degrees to teach students to be “hackers with halos,” graduates armed with tools necessary to join the fight against cybercriminals. It’s part of GCU’s initiative to roll out a rapidly multiplying list of online and ground STEM degrees as it continues its mission to produce well-trained, highly competitive graduates in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math.