Michael Berger

Dr. Mary Dainty’s grandmother laid the foundation for her family’s academic drive by graduating with her doctorate at a time when women were rare in graduate programs. Dainty followed in her grandmother’s footsteps by not only being a member of the College of Doctoral Studies’ first cohort group in its new Counselor Education and Supervision program, but also becoming the program’s first graduate.

It’s been a productive 10 years for the College of Doctoral Studies. What started as eight graduates a year in 2011 to nearly 500 graduates in 2021, the college has just crossed off its next big milestone — reaching 2,000 signed dissertations once the college’s dean, Dr. Michael Berger, signed Dr. Kortney Song’s. The best part — Song’s chair, Dr. Nicholas Markette, was the college’s first graduate. “Doctoral degrees change lives,” Berger said. “Going through it changes your life, getting it changes your life, it changes the way you think, it changes the opportunities that are available to you, and that’s a lot of lives that have been impacted by Grand Canyon.”

Dr. Shakta Man Ghale literally climbed mountains to finally get his Doctor of Business Administration degree. During his doctoral journey, the Nepal native had to overcome internet and electricity issues, an earthquake, days of travel up and down steep mountains by foot and even encounters with Nepali leeches. But this summer, Ghale’s years of persistence finally paid off with the signing of his dissertation. “I definitely feel proud,” he said. “I really appreciate the GCU team and the opportunity that GCU has given me.”

Dr. Ana York’s life has been anything but easy. From getting married when she was 14 and having her first child at 15 to having to work long hours while also going to school, York has faced a number of obstacles that could have kept her from obtaining her doctorate. But in the end, her drive and love of education persevered. “I’m very grateful because throughout the process and all of those highs and lows and frustrations, I always saw the hand of God,” she said.

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.

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.

The postponement of Commencement wasn’t going to stop the College of Doctoral Studies from celebrating its spring 2020 graduates — it just had to get creative. Friday morning, it hosted a virtual celebration of its graduates.

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.

It’s been two years since the College of Doctoral Studies celebrated the passing of signing it’s 500th dissertation. Now, thanks to the college’s dedication to its learners success, quality faculty and resources, 1,000 dissertations have been signed and another group of doctoral graduates walked across the stage and receive recognition for their academic achievement at last week’s Online Commencement ceremony Friday morning. “The program has been maturing in a lot of ways. We’ve been maturing in how we work with learner, how we set expectations with learners, the strategies that are the most effective. I think we’re getting a better understanding of who our learners are and how we can help them be successful. Because that’s always goal,” College of Doctoral Studies Dean Dr. Michael Berger said. “It’s a major step up in expert and interpersonal power. It’s going to give them a chance to be heard, and we want them out there making change.”

Pursuing a doctoral degree is one of the most challenging endeavors in academics. But Dr. Michael Berger, Dean of the College of Doctoral Studies, and his staff have developed a program that gives learners multiple ways to receive assistance. “We can’t make it easy, but we try to make it easier by the addition of all the great support services that we have,” he said.