A message from the Director of Housing:
What’s New with Ferris State Housing?
 Welcome to on-campus living! The Office of Housing and Residence Life is pleased to announce some exciting changes for the 2008-2009 academic year.
Security Upgrade
With the start of the Fall semester all residence hall entrance doors will be locked 24 hours each day. Bulldog ID Card swipe access is available on all residence halls for the convenience of residents. Previously, all residence hall side doors were locked 24/7 with the exception of the “front door” of each hall which was previously unlocked from 7 am to midnight each day. Beginning this fall, the front doors will be continuously locked for the safety of our residence hall community.
Visitors to the building may utilize the call-box style telephone at the front entrance to each building to contact the resident they intend to visit. To preserve the integrity of the security system, the host must come to the door to greet their guest and escort him or her back to their room. All guests in the residence halls must be escorted by their host throughout the time they are visiting the building. The escort and visitation polices are noted in the Student Handbook. These are important behavioral expectations for students in addition to being integral components of Residence Hall security.
The call-box telephones should further enhance a feeling of safety on campus as each is also equipped as a “blue light” emergency phone. Each blue light phone allows immediate contact with the Department of Public Safety at the push of the red “EMERGENCY” button. Students are encouraged to utilize the phones any time they feel threatened or unsafe in the campus community. Over thirty new blue light phones were added to campus this summer.
Residents are expected to carry their Bulldog ID and room key at all times. Please lock your door any time you leave your room, even if just for a few minutes. Personal belongings such as laptops, ipods, cameras, wallets and game systems have been stolen from unlocked rooms, even when the resident was just across the hall or down the hallway doing laundry. Our lock systems work well but they must be utilized to be effective. Ferris State has not experienced a theft from a locked room.
Security systems are only as effective as students will allow them to be. When entering your residence hall please do not allow others to “tailgate” or follow you into the hall without utilizing their Bulldog ID card to unlock the door. Students may not prop open any entrance to the hall, and any attempts to disengage security systems will be dealt with through the Office of Student Conduct. All students are asked to do their part to keep our campus and their residence hall secure. The partnership and cooperation are greatly appreciated.
Study Rooms
Over the course of the summer Residence Life added 15 new study spaces on some floors of the residence halls. Each study room was created from a residence hall room which has been converted to serve as dedicated study space. The initial installation of study rooms focused on floors with double room assignments to provide roommate pairs with an “in house” option for quiet study space in times when their room may not be conducive for study. We plan to add additional study rooms in the coming years.
Keeping Costs Low
In a time of skyrocketing costs for fuel, food, etc., Ferris State was able to hold the annual increase of room and board to 3.9%. This increase was the third lowest increase among the 15 state universities in Michigan for the 2008-2009 academic year. We continually strive to keep our costs as low as possible having cut hundreds of thousands of dollars from the budget over past years to address rising costs. Students play a big part in keeping costs low when they limit running water, turn off lights that are not in use, shut down computers and televisions when not in use, and keep windows closed during the colder winter months. Every little bit helps and we appreciate the partnership in providing the best possible service at the lowest possible costs.
What’s next?
The voices of students are a major influence in the improvements that are made to on-campus living. If you have ideas of how Residence Life can make things better, please let us know. The best means of doing so is to become active in your house government, be part of the Hall Council or serve with the campus-wide Residence Hall Association, the student governing organization for on-campus students. Please check with your Resident Advisor and Hall Director to learn how you can get involved to have a say in the future of Residence Life.
Go Bulldogs!
Jon L. Shaffer
Director of Housing and Residence Life
Housing
Office
108 Rankin
805 Campus Drive
Big Rapids, MI 49307 |
231-591-3745
housing@ferris.edu
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm |
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