Crimson & Gold
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President's Letter |
This is an especially exciting time for our University. In my last Crimson & Gold letter, I reported that fall enrollment was at record levels. That remains true in 2008 with 12,407 students attending classes system-wide, an increase of 376 students, or 3.1 percent, above our Spring 2007 semester. Over the past seven years Ferris State University has experienced a 19.7 percent increase in students and a 43 percent increase in degrees awarded.
Spring semester also saw a return of the Festival of the Arts (see the “On Campus” article). The leader for this extraordinary Festival was Architectural Technology professor Bruce Dilg. Among those who worked very hard to make the reinvigorated Festival a reality include Music associate professor Scott Cohen, Music professor emeritus Bill Donahue, City of Big Rapids Neighborhood Services Director Mark Gifford, and local musician Ed Mallett, founder of Tuba Bach. Partners for this project were Artworks and their co-presidents, Big Rapids Pioneer publisher Jack Batdorff and Chemical Bank President Karl Linebaugh. The Festival of the Arts is a wonderful example of the close and supportive “town and gown” relationship the University has with the Big Rapids community.
This semester is also notable for the Academic Senate having recommended acceptance of the mission and vision statements developed by the campus community and approved by the University Strategic Planning and Resource Committee. The entire University community came together in a series of meetings to discuss the future direction of Ferris and embody that direction in these statements, which were formally approved by the University’s Board of Trustees at their meeting on March 21. The full text of the mission and vision statements is available at www.ferris.edu/president.
The Academic Senate also voted to recommend Ferris’ first-ever University-wide Diversity Plan, developed by the Diversity Planning Committee under the leadership of Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. David Pilgrim. This plan affirms that Ferris will actively infuse and celebrate diversity by, among other actions, creating environments for student learning that are inclusive of and sensitive to a diverse student population. Much more about Ferris’ definition of diversity and the diversity planning process is available at www.ferris.edu/diversity.
Strategically planning our future and embracing diversity strengthens the educational quality of our University. Through these landmark efforts we will produce graduates prepared for living, working and excelling in the twenty-first century. These developments combined with the many successes of our alumni only a small portion of which we get to highlight in Crimson & Gold demonstrate how our University is thriving and growing. Thank you for being a part the Ferris family.
Sincerely,
David L. Eisler