Ferris State University’s Office of Transfer and Secondary School Partnerships is
set to host the Ferris Now: Strong Partnerships for Successful Students Conference
on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 20-21, at the Big Rapids Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference
Center. The purpose of the conference is to promote strong partnerships between high
schools, career and technical education centers, and Ferris, as well as to support
student learning.
“We are excited to host the Ferris Now Conference,” said DeeDee Stakley, director of the Office of Transfer and Secondary School Partnerships. “This is wonderful opportunity for us to recognize our high school and career center partners while providing them with resources to support students taking Ferris classes off campus. This conference ties into many of Ferris State University’s core values, including learning, collaboration and excellence.”
Conference highlights include a reception with Ferris President David Eisler, workshops offered in collaboration with the university's Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, discipline-specific meetings with Ferris faculty, an exhibit area featuring Ferris programs and services and a networking dinner.
The conference is offered at no cost to attendees and is open to high school and career technical education center instructors and administrators, along with Ferris faculty and staff.
“We hope our Ferris faculty and staff and secondary colleagues can take the information they gather at the conference and use it to build excitement in their classrooms about academic majors at Ferris and the students’ future careers,” Stakley added.
The purpose of the Ferris Now program is to promote access to higher education and degree attainment among high school students. Ferris Now facilitates relationships and partnerships between K-12 and post-secondary partners and the faculty and staff at Ferris. Cultivating these types of relationships may help reduce a student’s time to obtain a college degree therefore reducing the student’s college debt.