Academic Programs and Offerings

Strategic Goal

Balancing distinctive and comprehensive programs, Ferris will offer innovative educational experiences that blend theory and practice, allowing graduates to flourish in our dynamic, global society.

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 1

Encourage, facilitate, and support innovative degree initiatives in emerging fields.

Action Steps

APO 1.1

Facilitate timely exploration and examination of new program ideas, offerings, and delivery mechanisms through a university-wide think-tank that includes student perspectives.

APO 1.2

Draft and employ a strategic plan for the future of online education, informed by a review of best practices as well as the effectiveness of the current administrative structure and budget model.

APO 1.3

Other initiatives and programs related to the Strategic Goal.

Progress and Updates

REPORT INITIATIVE 1 PROGRESS

Signs of Success

A think-tank group is holding regular meetings by Spring 2020 and is working to develop suggestions for new programs and offerings.
A strategic plan for online education, crafted with input from across the University community, has been adopted by Spring 2020.

2019 - 2021

A draft of a strategic plan for future of online education is being incorporated into the comprehensive strategic plan for Extended and International operations to ensure that common initiatives and resources are shared. Goals, action items, and signs of success are based on both existing endeavors and best online practices implemented by successful online programs at peer institutions.
Encouraging academic-driven innovation that supports the mission and strategic plan of Ferris State University is the purpose of the Innovation Development Grant. Projects or initiatives supported include encouraging and facilitating innovative degrees in emerging fields, and promoting and advancing innovative experiences that blend theory and practice. Link
The creation of an online Think Tank group is being explored by the eLearning Management Advisory Team (EMAT) and is being included in the Extended and International Operations strategic plan. Market research from EMSI will be used by the Think Tank to make recommendations about new programs ideas, offerings, and delivery mechanisms.
HatchEd is Ferris State University's celebration of innovation in higher education. It is a conference for innovators and would-be innovators from every college and department across Ferris. HatchEd empowers exploration and creates an environment where you can make unexpected connections. HatchEd occurs annually and will take place on February 18, 2021.

2021 - 2022

The field of Esports is new and booming. We anticipate various job roles opening in other disciplines in the future. The current plan is to explore different paths, identify student interest regarding the direction they want to take, evaluate industry standards and requirements, to modify/add existing or new concentrations that could help students successfully land in their dream jobs.
A small team of faculty from the CET is attending the worlds largest Additive Manufacturing convention in Detroit in May, known as Rapid+TCT. Additive Manufacturing is a rapidly growing industry that reached $13B in 2021, and is projected to continue to grow as it transforms well-established industries such as welding engineering, plastics engineering and manufacturing engineering. Ferris is currently a regional leader in these existing disciplines, but there is currently no plan to address Additive Manufacturing. Many academic institutions are currently developing and deploying programs to meet the needs of this industry, and Ferris needs to gather data to determine how to proceed.
HatchEd 2022 was a success, with innovative sessions presented by over 70 faculty and staff. The first campus-wide hybrid conference featured David Ollila and his keynote Freedom to Innovate.
The Associate of Arts in Community Leadership offered by Retention and Student Success was approved through the curriculum process in Spring 2022 and by the Board of Trustees during their spring retreat. The intention is to recruit at least 20 students in the initial cohort during the 2022-2023 academic year.

2022 - 2023

2023 - 2024

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 2

Honor our commitment to lifelong learning.

Action Steps

APO 2.1

Develop new programs and offerings for professional growth and retraining of adult learners and other new audiences, and enhance recruitment, access, and campus-support for these populations.

APO 2.2

Tailor offerings to serve Ferris alumni in their commitment to life-long learning and career enhancement.

APO 2.3

Create a coordinated social media strategy to promote lifelong learning programs and offerings to audiences not currently reached.

APO 2.4

Other initiatives and programs related to the Strategic Goal.

Progress and Updates

Report Initiative 2 Progress

Signs of Success

The number of previously underserved students enrolled has increased.
The number of programs engaging alumni via continuing education or lifelong learning opportunities increases within three years.

2019 - 2021

Ferris State University realized a years long community partnership on the southwest side of Grand Rapids, by moving into two classrooms at a new Grand Rapids Public Schools middle/high school. The space will be utilized to offer dual enrollment, after school programming and adult education opportunities to the largely Latinx and African American communities nearby. All programs will be provided in partnership with community based organizations with the sole purpose of making all of the resources of the University accessible to this thriving community that has often been disconnected from higher education opportunities.
The DCCL program has been working on various career development opportunities for graduates. These include monthly webinars, as well as interview prep sessions.
The Long-Term Care Certificate within the College of Health Professions is being revised so that those working within Long-Term Care facilities can enroll in all four required courses within the same semester. This will allow these individuals an opportunity to advance within their profession and sit for a state certification exam in a more timely manner.
The University’s Alumni Association has partnered with three vendors, TalentMarks, ClearlyNext and Alumni Learning Consortium, to offer alumni access to national virtual career fairs, career coaching services and monthly webinars that promote life-long learning, career advancement, professional development and navigating different health, family and life stages.
The College of Pharmacy offers an annual continuing education program marketed to our alumni. We also have many alumni volunteer preceptors and provide periodic training programs for them.
KCAD is developing a strategy for Professional Development non-credit programming. The programming will leverage KCAD campus resources (faculty, technology, labs, etc.) to support continuing education for working professionals. The programming will include technical skill building and conceptual learning around emerging topics and professional practices, packaged together in a non-credit certificate. Education and training content will be contextualized for learners so it can be applied directly to their professional work. Programming will be made accessible to KCAD alumni through discounted tuition.

2021 - 2022

Alumni Relations and CLACS created an Alumni-in-Residence program to recruit alumni volunteers to actively support students.
KCAD is working on Certificates that bring together insights and collaborative opportunities with the College of Business, College of Engineering Technology, and College of Arts, Sciences, and Education.
KCAD and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education have developed a Pre-Conservation track in the Art History BS degree. Students will study at Ferris State University in Big Rapids for the first two years of the degree and complete their last two years at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University in Grand Rapids.
The Alumni Association is continuing partnerships with three vendors to offer alumni access to national virtual career fairs, career coaching services and monthly webinars that promote life-long learning, career advancement, professional development and navigating different health, family and life stages.
- Collaborated with Career Services to continue offering the Alumni-in-Residence program. This program recruits alumni volunteers interested in advising students on any number of career/professional opportunities.
The Anti-Violence Alliance hosts an annual training program for peer educators that goes beyond understanding the basics of interpersonal violence. During 20+ hours of training, peer educators learn about public speaking skills, audience management at an event, effective group facilitation skills, and how to pivot a training approach in response to audience needs and feedback. Peer educators in the program are required to maintain a 2.5 GPA, and if a peer educator does not meet the minimum GPA requirements, they work one-on-one with the Office on Violence against Women project director for tailored support to improve their academics, sense of belonging on campus, and overall wellbeing.
For the first time, First-Gen graduation cords were distributed to 19 students during the multicultural graduation celebration.

2022 - 2023

2023 - 2024

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 3

Spur a culture of data-driven decision making across the University.

Action Steps

APO 3.1

Adopt a standardized set of practices, definitions, and key indicators to be used for decision-making processes within Academic Affairs and ensure that decision-makers have free and timely access to relevant University data sets.

APO 3.2

Working with the Academic Senate, delineate responsibilities of Academic Program Review (APR) and University Curriculum Committee (UCC) chairs and members.

APO 3.3

Other initiatives and programs related to the Strategic Goal.

Progress and Updates

REPORT INITIATIVE 3 PROGRESS

Signs of Success

The first data-into-action award recipient is named by Spring 2020.
Clear and transparent guidelines for APR and UCC chairs have been accepted by the Senate and are in operation by Fall 2020.
By academic year 2020-2021, a transparent wide-ranging data repository exists for academic program review, curricular improvements, process recommendations, and follow-through.
A ‘common data set’, managed and supplied by Academic Affairs or other University data center, is fully developed and automatically supplied to programs as they begin self-studies for Academic Program Review.

2019 - 2021

2022 - 2023

2023 - 2024

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 4

Assess and review processes for academic programs and offerings to increase effectiveness.

Action Steps

APO 4.1

Create a ‘program improvement center’ that can support programs’ efforts to improve and promote themselves.

APO 4.2

Work with UCC and other relevant curriculum committees to ensure that students entering a program with existing credits can complete the program in appropriate time and without excess credits.

APO 4.3

Other initiatives and programs related to the Strategic Goal.

Progress and Updates

REPORT INITIATIVE 4 PROGRESS

Signs of Success

Academic department and program personnel are trained on web and social media analytics practices and can track user engagement and guide program marketing.
At least three programs deemed in need of help by the Academic Program Review Committee are provided with marketing in 2020-21.
A metric for measuring unmet demand in majors and programs has been created and is in use to help guide resource allocation by 2021.

2019 - 2021

The Hospitality Management Program Advisory Board serves as a vital component of our 'program improvement center. AB engagements include member review of proposed and existing curriculum to provide recommendations on opportunity for improvement and alignment with industry need, industry partnership development for experiential education initiatives, and direct student assessment via the annual Bulldogs to Business (B2B) conference. The B2B conference hosted on our campus gives our board members direct and personalized engagement with our students. This time with our students and the resulting insight has dramatically improved their perception of the program strengths and threats. The program has implemented countless curriculum enhancements directly resulting from board member feedback and direction. We have also experienced increased student engagement at the event and during the academic year resulting from the education and mentoring the students receive from the board member's presentations and sessions at the conference.
The Hospitality Management Program launched a Specialized Management concentration in 2015 that has recently developed into increased opportunity for transfer partnerships. In 2020, several articulation agreements have been established to provide students coming to Ferris with a certificate or a two year degree from partner institutions the opportunity to complete the degree with without excess credits and within timely expectations.
The Construction Technology & Management program upholds the student learning outcomes required by its accrediting body. They are quite comprehensive and specific (20 outcomes in all) and the program is reviewed every 6 years by a visiting team to ensure compliance. The program also has a very active Industry Advisory Board (IAB) that interacts with our students once a year for their feedback on the program. The session is private between the students and the IAB so that the students will speak freely. Feedback from these sessions was a critical component of our most recent curriculum revision.

2021 - 2022

2022 - 2023

2023 - 2024

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 5

Foster a rich, student-centered University educational experience.

Action Steps

APO 5.1

Utilize institutional structures, budget models, facilities, technologies, and events to encourage high-impact educational practices and facilitate meaningful cross-collaboration (such as team teaching, joint programming, interdisciplinary curriculum, professional development, and co-curricular learning).

APO 5.2

Conduct a review of the university course scheduling matrix and types of course offerings to ensure that we are meeting the needs of existing and target student populations.

APO 5.3

Other initiatives and programs related to the Strategic Goal.

Progress and Updates

REPORT INITIATIVE 5 PROGRESS

Signs of Success

A metric for measuring the use of high-impact practices across campus has been developed and is in use across campus by 2020.
After academic year 2020-2021, awards are offered at the department, college, and university level to reward and encourage the expansion of high-impact practices.
A metric to measure student satisfaction with course offerings (time, place, and modality) has been developed by 2020 and is used to adjust course offerings where necessary.

2019 - 2021

In August 2020 before classes started, the Center for Leadership, Activities and Career Services offered a virtual Becoming a Bulldog First Year Transition Week program. All FTIAC students in the First Year Peer Success & Involvement Coaching program were invited (1462 students) to attend a variety of virtual activities.
Implement classroom technologies to enable remote learning through on-line and hybrid class instruction. During the past year and with the advent of the pandemic, Information Technology Services (ITS) has collaborated with various colleges, departments and faculty in procuring and implementing the classroom technologies like cameras, microphones, speakers, amplifiers. These devices are integrated with the zoom and other instructional tool sets to enable faculty to deliver the materials to students both inside and outside the classrooms. This initiative focused to enhance student educational and learning experience.
A Wireless Strategy to enhance student experience across the campus. ITS has spent significant amount of time and resources in developing a robust and sustainable wireless strategy for the replacement of aged wifi equipment and also increase the capacity significantly to meet the demand for connectivity. As the number of mobile devices per student and employees increase, so does the demand for connectivity across the campus. Implementation of this strategy will have significant and position impact on the student on-campus experience. The next step is device an implementation plan. This is an infrastructure change with a significant impact to the student experience across the campus.

2021 - 2022

The College of Pharmacy's Professional Development Committee facilitated 4 development sessions focused on online/remote learning, and resources have been developed including test writing for open notes/at-home exams (in collaboration with FCTL and eLearning).
Due to an urgent need to pivot to HyFlex teaching during COVID, the College of Pharmacy's Professional Development Committee organized 4 sessions focusing on WolfVision training videos, navigating HyFlex courses, engaging students in class & group work, and Examsoft Tips & Tricks
The College of Pharmacy created a Canvas we management site to house new teaching resources.
A revised College of Pharmacy Program Assessment plan was approved and distributed throughout the College.
Ferris State University received a USDA grant for partnering with 20 local high schools and ISDs to develop and promote dual enrollment opportunities in a VR platform. eLearning and the Dual Enrollment office at Ferris State University has recruited existing faculty and researched VR software and hardware options. Our local academic partners have received hardware, software and training to allow students to take advantage of these new academic offerings. Faculty representing multiple disciplines at Ferris will work together as the first cohort developing and delivering educational VR experiences.
The Artificial Intelligence program has begun offering classes for the new Bachelor of Science degree. Two faculty have received professional development in Artificial Intelligence from MIT and three faculty have attended an 8 month post graduate certificate training in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the University of Texas - Austin. These activities were supported by Federal grants.
Interactive videos we created used interprofessional staff. The scenarios used in the videos focused on subjects that have been identified as gaps in knowledge from our students and clinical partners. The interactive nature of the choose your own adventure format requires users to remain engaged in the virtual activity while making decisions that impact clinical care. Immediate feedback is provided to the participant, allowing for a reflection on this decision making. This format reinforces concepts and promotes professional development. Additionally, the interactive videos have the benefit of being flexible in that they can be done in a classroom setting or virtually either synchronously or asynchronously.

2022 - 2023

2023 - 2024

Highlights and Achievements

2019 - 2021

Encouraging academic-driven innovation that supports the mission and strategic plan of Ferris State University is the purpose of the Innovation Development Grant. Innovative projects or initiatives supported include encouraging and facilitating innovative degree initiatives in emerging fields and promoting and advancing innovative experiences that blend theory and practice.
HatchEd is Ferris State University's celebration of innovation in higher education. It is a conference for innovators and would-be innovators from every college and department across Ferris. HatchEd empowers exploration and creates an environment where you can make unexpected connections. HatchEd occurs annually and will take place on February 18, 2021.
Ferris State University realized a years long community partnership on the southwest side of Grand Rapids, by moving into two classrooms at a new Grand Rapids Public Schools middle/high school. The space will be utilized to offer dual enrollment, after school programming and adult education opportunities to the largely Latinx and African American communities nearby. All programs will be provided in partnership with community based organizations with the sole purpose of making all of the resources of the University accessible to this thriving community that has often been disconnected from higher education opportunities.
A Wireless Strategy to enhance student experience across the campus. ITS has spent significant amount of time and resources in developing a robust and sustainable wireless strategy for the replacement of aged wifi equipment and also increase the capacity significantly to meet the demand for connectivity. As the number of mobile devices per student and employees increase, so does the demand for connectivity across the campus. Implementation of this strategy will have significant and position impact on the student on-campus experience. The next step is device an implementation plan. This is an infrastructure change with a significant impact to the student experience across the campus.
In preparation for the Fall 2020 semester, team members of the KCAD Division of Student Success (the Dean, Student Engagement, Counseling and Disability Services, Student Business Affairs) as well as Academic Affairs (Academic Counselor), collaborated and developed the KCAD Student Success Canvas course, a course that is now being used as a virtual support resource for students at the KCAD campus.

2021 - 2022

The field of Esports is new and booming. We anticipate various job roles opening in other disciplines in the future. The current plan is to explore different paths, identify student interests regarding the direction they want to take, evaluate industry standards and requirements, and modify/add existing or new concentrations that could help students successfully land their dream jobs.
HatchEd 2022 was a success, with innovative sessions presented by over 70 faculty and staff. The first campus-wide hybrid conference featured David Ollila and his keynote speech, “Freedom to Innovate.”
KCAD is working on Certificates that bring together insights and collaborative opportunities with the College of Business, College of Engineering Technology, and College of Arts, Sciences, and Education.
The Associate of Arts in Community Leadership offered by Retention and Student Success was approved through the curriculum process in Spring 2022 and by the Board of Trustees during their spring retreat. The intention is to recruit at least 20 students in the initial cohort during the 2022-2023 academic year.
KCAD and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education have developed a Pre-Conservation track in the Art History BS degree. Students will study at Ferris State University in Big Rapids for the first two years of the degree and complete their last two years at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University in Grand Rapids.
For the first time, First-Gen graduation cords were distributed to 19 students during the multicultural graduation celebration.
A revised Pre-Pharmacy curriculum has been approved by the College of Pharmacy faculty for implementation for the incoming class of 2022.
Due to an urgent need to pivot to HyFlex teaching during COVID, the College of Pharmacy's Professional Development Committee organized 4 sessions focusing on WolfVision training videos, navigating HyFlex courses, engaging students in class & group work, and Examsoft Tips & Tricks
Ferris State University received a USDA grant for partnering with 20 local high schools and ISDs to develop and promote dual enrollment opportunities in a VR platform. eLearning and the Dual Enrollment office at Ferris State University has recruited existing faculty and researched VR software and hardware options. Our local academic partners have received hardware, software and training to allow students to take advantage of these new academic offerings. Faculty representing multiple disciplines at Ferris will work together as the first cohort developing and delivering educational VR experiences.
The Artificial Intelligence program has begun offering classes for the new Bachelor of Science degree. Two faculty have received professional development in Artificial Intelligence from MIT and three faculty have attended an 8 month post graduate certificate training in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the University of Texas - Austin. These activities were supported by Federal grants.
The Alumni Association is continuing partnerships with three vendors to offer alumni access to national virtual career fairs, career coaching services and monthly webinars that promote life-long learning, career advancement, professional development and navigating different health, family and life stages.>

2022 - 2023

2023 - 2024

Academic Programs and Offerings

Academic Programs and Offerings

Strategic Goal

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 1

Action Steps

APO 1.1

APO 1.2

APO 1.3

Progress and Updates

Signs of Success

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 2

Action Steps

APO 2.1

APO 2.2

APO 2.3

APO 2.4

Progress and Updates

Signs of Success

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 3

Action Steps

APO 3.1

APO 3.2

APO 3.3

Progress and Updates

Signs of Success

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 4

Action Steps

APO 4.1

APO 4.2

APO 4.3

Progress and Updates

Signs of Success

Academic Programs and Offerings Initiative 5

Action Steps

APO 5.1

APO 5.2

APO 5.3

Progress and Updates

Signs of Success

Highlights and Achievements

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