Based on extensive conversations with students, faculty and staff, administrators, and community stakeholders throughout the planning process, the Strategic Planning Committee recommends the following actions as critical first steps toward achieving the goals set forth in 2024-27 Strategic Plan.
Belonging
Belonging must be centered in all University processes for it to be a reliable experience for members of the Ferris community.
- Curate and incorporate diverse visual imagery reflective of the FSU community across the University. Commission works from diverse voices (artists, creatives, and designers). Include public and university signage, art installations (murals, public art, etc.), and appropriately representative University promotional and recruitment materials.
- Under the leadership of FSU Marketing and Communications, develop a broad-based and universal standard for voice and inclusion in all forms of communication.
- Further research is needed to assess the feasibility and benefits of an intercultural center that encourages intersectionality, interaction, and education.
- Explore new and review existing spaces to ensure alignment with current best practices to meet community needs.
- Update and implement recommendations using Universal Accessibility standards across the university. Ensure universal design in the master planning and capital outlay projects of the university, including when renovating or creating new spaces across the institution.
- Through the lens of belonging, review existing university and departmental policies to understand current policies and procedures, identify inequitable gaps, and develop new inclusive policies and procedures.
Community members who feel they belong at Ferris are empowered to innovate, grow personally and professionally, and promote belonging for others.
- Champion personal and institutional learning and growth through intercultural dialogue, reflection, and constructive feedback.
- Offer educational programming and opportunities for all FSU employees (faculty, staff, student employees, administration, board of trustees, leadership) focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).
- Implement student orientation and onboarding sessions and programming centered on belonging.
- Develop and implement new FSU employee orientation and onboarding centered on our core values, including DEIB.
To promote belonging, we must remove barriers for students and provide meaningful ways for them to engage in the Ferris community.
- Develop and provide programming that creates spaces for students to find purpose, meaning, value, and direction in their personal, educational, and career pursuits.
- Capture student feedback focused on student belonging in the teaching and learning experience.
- Facilitate faculty trainings to promote a wider adoption of Universal Design principles in the classroom (e.g., inclusive teaching techniques, slide design, curriculum, course materials, and discussion moderation that acknowledges multiple perspectives and diversity of thought).
- Develop and provide programming to connect students with alumni.
- Increase student engagement generally and by all segmented student populations (first gen., parenting students, underrepresented populations, etc.).
- Increase employee performance and retention, including among underrepresented groups.
- Increased diversity in employee recruitment and hiring.
SHARE HIGHLIGHTS OF BELONGING WORK BEING DONE
Innovation
A foundation is necessary to support an embraced culture shift where innovation evolves from pockets of excellence to a broad, standard expectation of practice and becomes universally supported on every institutional level.
- Provide infrastructure and resources, including physical space, to facilitate collaboration and support for innovation projects and research across the University system.
- Develop and launch a University-wide student innovation and entrepreneurship program that includes an incubator, student competitions, workshops, and mentorship.
- Fund an innovation grant and facilitate an “intraprepreneurship” incubator program for university employees to explore and implement initiatives that support organizational improvement/growth.
- Develop and facilitate internal professional development (training, certificates, badges, workshops, course learning outcomes) for University employees and students who want to implement innovative methods.
Demonstrating expertise in innovative methods educates and adds value to the external community, strengthening FSU’s trust and leadership.
- Facilitate sponsored projects, experiential/service learning, and collaborative research that connect students and faculty to industry and community organizations (ranging from long-term relationships to short-term projects).
- Facilitate internal/external learning events (workshops, speakers, demonstrations, presentations) that promote learning and discourse around innovative methods and emerging technologies.
- Develop and facilitate external innovation-related professional development courses for regional industry/community organizations.
Acknowledging and sharing best practices and exemplary work will motivate, inspire, and help sustain innovation momentum.
- Host a university-wide showcase of innovation that allows all University stakeholders (faculty, staff, students, alumni, community partners, etc.) to showcase innovative projects and research, inspire discourse, and highlight individual accomplishments.
- Recognize and reward faculty, staff, and students who receive funding or external recognition for research, projects, intellectual property development, and patents.
- Promote faculty, staff, student, and alumni accomplishments to external communities.
Share Highlights of Innovative work being done
Student Excellence
Excellence must be visible through a holistic framework of the learning experience. For this symbiosis to thrive, we must remove barriers and support our students through holistic development inside and outside the classroom.
- Design and implement a student retention plan to close equity gaps.
- Develop and implement a comprehensive advising model and enhance student support services (i.e., tutoring, mental health, mentoring, basic needs, etc.).
- Create and implement a health incentive plan for students, promoting physical and mental well-being.
We must prepare students for current and future careers, equipping them to thrive in professions that have not yet been created. Adapting and learning continuously is one of the most important skills a student can develop.
- Create relevant and responsive career readiness opportunities (university project centers, career conferences, competitions, etc.) to ensure occupational alignment with industry standards and a focus on the NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) 8 essential employability skills.
- Produce a Bulldogs Supporting Bulldogs initiative where alumni and current students forge relationships that yield conversations, mentoring, networking, skill development, internships, and career opportunities.
- Create and implement skill-focused training and development opportunities for student employees.
We must develop a culture of celebrating excellence at all levels. Students who excel become graduates who excel, and celebrating their successes, regardless of what that looks like, is a crucial component of student excellence.
- Embed a culture of celebration through ceremonies, receptions, and events to publicly recognize student and alumni excellence beyond the campus borders and disseminate the information through various mediums and communication channels (newsletters, social media, website, local papers, etc.) to reach the maximum number of people.
- Develop new student excellence distinctions (e.g., President's list), events (e.g., Student Showcase), and funding opportunities (e.g., funding opportunities) for students to showcase their skills, research, innovations, and other examples of student excellence.
- Advance Ferris’ recognition on the national stage through increased participation in student competitions, athletic endeavors, and other areas focused on student excellence.
SHARE HIGHLIGHTS OF STUDENT EXCELLENCE WORK BEING DONE
Sustainability
The work of sustainability needs to evolve beyond the ad-hoc efforts of the recent past and present.
- Dedicate consistent, steady resources to support sustainability projects across Ferris State University’s campuses.
- Develop and recruit/assign sustainability-focused human capital to implement sustainability initiatives.
- Engage sustainability stakeholders, including existing committees, teams, and organizations, to support the implementation of sustainability-focused strategic goals.
Carbon neutrality goals are becoming the norm for higher education institutions, and this commitment would place us alongside many of our peer institutions. Further, it provides a framework for both near-term actions and long-term planning.
- Evaluate the existing carbon footprint of our campuses and identify key strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Decarbonize energy systems on campus.
- Transition to renewable energies, including renewable energy produced on-site.
- Increase mobility options on campus to support safe pedestrian movement through walking/cycling.
- Support the availability and accessibility of public transportation options for the campus communities.
- Undertake long-term planning to be an EV-ready campus.
Sustainability work does not need to be “new” work. Opportunities exist to incorporate sustainability principles into core functional areas and business practices across our campuses in addition to new facilities.
- Incorporate sustainable design standards and certifications into renovation planning and new facility construction.
- Prioritize stewardship of the Muskegon River watershed.
- Increase permeable surfaces on campus to reduce non-point source runoff.
- Regularly monitor and assess campus drinking water.
- Undertake a campus-wide environmental risk assessment.
- Improve material management to accomplish waste stream reduction.
- Support and enhance campus recycling and composting efforts.
- Reduce food waste from university dining and catering.
- Adopt landscape management practices that favor native vegetation, reduce nutrient/fertilizer input, conserve water, and reduce routine maintenance.