UPDATE: Thursday, Oct. 3 at 10:22 p.m.
Tonight (Thursday, Oct. 3), power was restored to all Ferris State University buildings
on the Big Rapids campus. The University’s Physical Plant staff needed a brief power
shutdown of west campus that began at 8:12 p.m. to complete repairs of the high voltage
electrical system that caused the Wednesday, Oct. 2 power outage. Power to campus
was restored at 8:30 p.m. Physical Plant staff checked the affected buildings and
the power supply appears stable. Classes scheduled to take place in the affected buildings
will resume as normal on Friday, Oct. 4.
UPDATE: Thursday, Oct. 3 at 11:20 a.m.
UPDATE: Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 6:06 p.m.
Ferris State University Physical Plant staff, assisted by Consumers Energy and an external contractor who has experience with the University’s high voltage electrical systems, continue to work to restore power to academic buildings, residence halls (Bond, Cramer, Henderson and Puterbaugh) as well as West Campus Apartments and the West Campus Community Center on the west side of the Big Rapids campus that have been without power since the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Because crews will be working through the night to make necessary repairs, University officials have decided to cancel some classes for Thursday, Oct. 3. Classes canceled include those held in the Allied Health and Optometry buildings, Creative Arts Center and West Commons (Hospitality Management Program). Classes held in Bishop Hall and Pharmacy building will be moved to other classrooms across campus. Those students should contact their faculty members for further information. Faculty and academic staff in areas where classes have been canceled should not report to work tomorrow.
The Rock Café dining facility is fully operational, while the Westside Café will be serving a barbecue dinner Wednesday night, continental breakfast Thursday morning and sandwiches for lunch.
Ferris’ Department of Public Safety has stepped up its foot and car patrols in areas affected by the power outage.
The current issue is a high voltage switch gear that includes damaged cables leading to and from this device.
At this time, it is not known when the University community can expect power to be restored to west campus.
Updates will be posted on Ferris’ homepage, www.ferris.edu.
UPDATE: Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 12 p.m.
Due to an electrical power outage on Ferris State University’s Big Rapids campus, all afternoon and evening classes and activities scheduled for today, Wednesday, Oct. 2 in Bishop Hall and the Allied Health, Optometry and Pharmacy buildings are canceled. Services in those buildings will be unavailable today. Employees working in those buildings who have been deemed non-essential do not need to report to work today. There may be other buildings west of State Street that are without power, with the exceptions of General Services, Heavy Equipment and the Sports Complex.
All other University activities will continue as scheduled.
The specific cause of the power outage has yet to be determined, but is related to an issue with the Ferris power grid.