Pride and Community

• Successful marketing and media promotion of the Ferris Launch Initiative.
• Published and promoted Fall 2020 Ferris Magazine content that dealt directly and sensitively with Black Lives Matter movement-related activities on-campus and by alumni.
• Exceptional media coverage and social media engagement associated with major announcements including the Center for Virtual Learning, multiple major academic grants received/implemented and numerous academic program rankings, and several new key external partnerships such as MindFire and CooperVision.
• Received approval from the Board of Trustees to partner with KMA Design to implement a campus wayfinding and signage master plan that will create a navigation and identity system that is more logical, user-friendly and aptly branded to enhance the visitor experience and improve the safe movement and flow of vehicles and pedestrians. Implementation included Board approved funding for the first of three priority recommendations for the University’s main campus in Big Rapids. Priority one implementation will include:
  • Replacing primary vehicular directional signs for the most traveled routes and major destinations,
  • Overhauling the University’s parking lot identification system, investing in new, larger building identification signs for the key visitor destinations, Replacing street blade signs, and
  • Adding branding elements to the gateways of major pedestrian crosswalks
• In collaboration with team members from Communications, the Fed Galleries/UICA, Facilities and Faculty, the KCAD Division of Student Success created a physical space to honor Helen Miller Kendall, the founder of Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University. Mrs. Kendall was the wife of David Wolcott Kendall, the college’s namesake (a design legend in the furniture design industry). This new space is called the Helen Miller Kendall Welcome Center, where visitors will not only be welcomed to campus - visitors will be able to view a selection of imagery including alumni success stories, student engagement/campus life activities (curricular and co-curricular), and a designated wall space featuring David Wolcott Kendall. Mrs. Kendall envisioned a school where individuals could hone their technical skills and grow their creativity. The Helen Miller Kendall Welcome Center honors Mrs. Kendall and her vision.

Ferris State President Bill Pink Named one of West Michigan's 200 Most Influential Leaders by Crain's Grand Rapids Business. https://www.ferris.edu/news/archive/2023/november/pink.htm 

• Physical space in the CSS lobby visually highlights prominent alumni success stories.
• A distinguished Ferris Institute Alumni history display wall is being completed in the David L. Eisler Center.
• The Alumni Association, with the help of our Ambassadors, marketed 59 in-person or virtual events this fiscal year.
• Established the Alumni Ambassador program, which has grown to more than 35 alumni volunteers in key states across the US, to assist the University with engaging alumni and assisting with recruiting and retaining students from their geographic areas.
• More than 220 alumni participated in “Make A Difference Day” on Oct. 24, a national day of service encouraging volunteerism. The Alumni Association encouraged members of the Bulldog community to participate virtually throughout the country by helping neighbors clean their yards, organizing pop can drives and paying it forward in fast food lines.

• Beyond KCAD Speaker Series: The KCAD Senate Visiting Artist Committee (VAC) developed and implemented the BEYOND KCAD Virtual Speaker Series during the 2020-2021 academic year. In response to the ongoing health concerns related to COVID-19 this series was presented virtually. The series paired recent KCAD alumni with established practitioners and thinkers from various design and art fields. These speakers offered their perspectives on pertinent issues that both inspire and challenge their practice. Each talk was 30 minutes allowing for additional time for questions and discussion. Three virtual events took place during the Spring 2021 semester. The KCAD VAC committee is planning to continue this series for the 2021 -2022 academic year and hopes to kick the series off in the fall semester to all more opportunities for more alumni and industry professionals to connect with students.
• Alumni Survey: Typically, each fall KCAD shares a communication with alumni asking for their support to continue to grow the college’s General Scholarship Fund. In response, to the economic and political climate and impact of COVID-19 KCAD decided to reach out to alumni to connect with them and solicit their feedback to help guide future engagement efforts. This survey asked general questions related to updating the alumni Millennium record in addition to engagement related questions. The college received over 600 responses and is now in the process of reviewing this data to inform follow up efforts and planning for engagement opportunities during the 2021-2022 academic year.

• As Dec. 31, 2021, the Alumni Association had tracked engagement with more than 35,800 alumni for FY ’22. This total puts the Association and University ahead of our glide path goal for the year, and likely ahead of pace to exceed the total goal of engaging 40,000 alumni or more annually by 2024.
• The Alumni Association distributed “Bulldog Alumni, Bulldog Employee” banners to all interested FSU alumni working at Ferris State University. Alumni are encouraged to proudly display these banners in classrooms, offices or other high visibility areas.
• Virtual programs, hosted by Alumni Ambassadors, connected with 268 alumni participants and more than 1,243 engagements via social media.

• Pharmacy alumni are actively engaged with the Alumni Advisory Board and the College Strategic Planning Task Force, including many thought leaders in the profession.

• A survey was distributed to all external pharmacy preceptors with 130 preceptors responding to the survey. Action items are being identified based on the results of the survey.
• College of Pharmacy established research and practice site collaborations with external partners including: MSU, GVSU, Univ. of Michigan, Wayne State Univ., Van Andel Institute, Metro Health-Michigan West, University of Finland.
• A continuing professional development session entitled, “Interprofessional Practice Models and Precepting Interprofessional Learners,” was developed for the 2020 FSU College of Pharmacy Preceptor Development Conference (June 2020).
• College of Pharmacy faculty created an APPE readiness plan and policy to ensure student success while engaging with stakeholders at community practice sites.
• In Fall 2021, students in the Kendall College of Art and Design Master of Architecture program’s Urban Collaborative Studio partnered with the owners of the Four Star Theatre, a once-thriving but now-vacant building in the center of Grand Rapids’ Burton Heights district. In the first phase of this collaboration, the students built a temporary installation on the building’s Division Ave. façade called “The Sharing Wall.

• Replacing primary vehicular directional signs for the most traveled routes and major destinations,
• Overhauling the University’s parking lot identification system, investing in new, larger building identification signs for the key visitor destinations, Replacing street blade signs, and
• Adding branding elements to the gateways of major pedestrian crosswalks