Recent News

God’s plan was set on warp speed for Rachel Robinson, which is why she accepted her diploma at Friday afternoon’s winter commencement just 2 1/2 years after enrolling at Grand Canyon University. Pairing efficiency with excellence, the Honors College member earned a 4.0 grade point average, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and a minor in Psychology.

What makes a great teacher? It starts with a great education, and Aimee Frank, Victoria Monk and Jessica Gajewski all spoke highly of their experience at Grand Canyon University. They were three of the College of Education graduates Friday in winter commencement.

It didn’t quite look like the typical finals week in instructor Li Tan’s Principles of Mechanical Design class. Students in his class took over the courtyard area outside of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology Building Tuesday to test the results of their class project — to design remote-control cars. Teams of four used SolidWorks to design their vehicles and then put them through the rigor of a speed race course and obstacle course. “They had to pass all the different terrains to satisfy the design concept. During this process, they’re able to learn the basic principles of design,” said Tan.

Eight students performed on Wednesday evening in the Speech and Debate Showcase. The event was highlighted by an emotional speech by Keliann Nash about her brother, and it featured the quick preparation skills of Tommee Gleason. “Several members of the audience were moved by the performances they saw, and that speaks to the power the students have in conveying emotions via their performance,” Director of Forensics Michael Dvorak said.

GCU senior Xanthia Clow shined a light on the opioid crisis en route to winning first place in persuasive speech at the Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensic Association Fall Championships  on Sunday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. Teammate Tommee Gleason placed third in three events and Keliann Nash finished third in impromptu speaking at a tournament featuring 38 college and university teams.

When GCU biology professor Dr. Galyna Kufryk saw that some of her microbiology students were struggling with the math in her course, she turned to GCU math professor Dr. Filippo Posta, who helped her put together a self-paced math lesson students could take that targeted the microbiology concepts she was trying to teach. After three years of collecting data, the results are impressive. Exam scores went up by 10.5 percent, on average, in the group of students using the math guide. Kufryk and Posta presented their findings at the recent Association of American Colleges & Universities conference in Atlanta.

“There’s real science going on … there’s real innovation,” Provost Dr. Hank Radda said during Wednesday’s Undergraduate Learning Community and Research Symposium. Student presenters spoke to the audience about everything from the Desert Owl Population Improvement Project to the Bible Virtual Reality Project and one team’s attempt to help nonprofits digitize their paper surveys.

Allie Stuckey, whose blog is called “The Conservative Millennial,” drew a big crowd to Howerton Hall on Wednesday evening. While sharing her views about where progressives have gone wrong, she also urged Christian conservatives to gain more knowledge of the Bible and be better able to use it when they discuss their political beliefs.

The GCU Recording Studio usually is a busy place, and part of the reason is the relationship that has been built with the high school community. Concert bands, choirs, jazz bands and other musical groups have gotten an opportunity to come to the studio and make professional-sounding recordings, and Valley Christian Schools took it to the next level by turning it into a video.

Dr. Howard Carlson, an adjunct GCU professor in the College of Education and the reigning Arizona Superintendents Association Superintendent of the Year, shares experience and insight in his new book, “Accelerated Wisdom: 50 Practical Insights for Today’s Superintendent.” Carlson, the superintendent of the Wickenburg Unified School District, shared several of the book’s main points in a question-and-answer session with GCU Today.