Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Student Affairs

Admissions
collaborates with the Tuition Incentive Program (TIP) Office on a variety of recruitment projects including an expanded presence at Dawg Days, College Fairs and local Career/Tech Centers. In addition, Admissions continues a direct mail campaign to Michigan High Schools to educate them on the benefits of using TIP benefits at Ferris State University.

• Created a Spanish language daily visitation program twice per semester in collaboration with the Hispanic Center.
• Member of the Campus Pride Index. By including our data in this program, prospective students have increased awareness of our efforts and services to support the LBGTQIA community.
• Comprehensive Virtual Tour to showcase our main campus facilities. The tour includes two alternative language options in addition to English - Spanish and Arabic.

Birkam Health Center and Personal Counseling Center
provides semi-annual diversity training for staff to enhance the work environment and services for students. A medical translation service for ESL (English as a Second Language) students has been developed for the Birkam Health Center to expedite patient care and reduce the language barrier.

• Personal Counseling Center includes resources for diverse groups of students regarding unique topics such as issues and resources for veteran students, nontraditional students, and LGBTQ students.

Center for Leadership, Activities, and Career Services (CLACS)
provides students the tools needed for post secondary careers in an increasingly diverse and global workforce. CLACS staff offers access to career planning and preparation through diverse publications, workshops, and career fairs. During career fairs, CLACS also assists international students as they navigate through employer tables seeking employment opportunities.

Office of Multicultural Student Services (OMSS)
coordinates many activities that focus on diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion each year. Many of our programmatic efforts were successful and specifically served as a platform to make all incoming students feel welcome and to encourage them to build healthy connections campus wide. Faculty and staff of the Office of Multicultural Student Services (OMSS) attend and work hard to create successful cultural celebrations and events, and do so because we embrace each of the institution’s core values, more specifically, “collaboration” among students. We also intentionally focus each of our events on student learning. The variety of programming creates a space for intercultural engagement for the campus community and includes partnerships with programs that focuses on academic service learning, speakers and featured presentations.

• OMSS provides successful diversity training in the classrooms for instructors per their requests throughout the course of the academic school year.
• OMSS collectively serves as a campus advisor to over 15 registered student organizations.
• OMSS supports and maintains programs such as TOWERS and GEAR UP.

The Office of the Dean of Student Life
representatives meet periodically with students from various registered student organizations to foster a stronger relationship for collaboration, fairness, and equitable decision-making as it relates to Finance Division allocation processes.

The Registrar’s Office
developed and implemented a screen reader friendly University-wide Online Graduation Application.

• The Registrar’s Office along with the Office of International Education, developed a unique Summer Intensive English course schedule. This summer schedule was developed to accommodate the need for some international students to return to their home countries for religious holidays, yet maintaining compliance with contact hours for the course work and student status.

David L. Eisler Center
supports a variety of diverse social, cultural, and educational events yearly. Some of the signature events include the Minority Get Acquainted event, Gear Up High School visits, DSAGA’s Drag Queen Show, Muslim Student Prayer meetings, and the Spiritual Exploration Fair.

University Recreation
houses many diverse groups for special events. Gear Up camps and the MI Teen Conference are some of the diverse groups that use the facility in the summer for camp activities. During the school year, many Registered Student Organizations use the facility for events, as well. The Student Recreation Center supports events such as the Muslim Student Organization prayer gatherings, You Beautiful Black Woman Breast Cancer events, and Black Leaders Aspiring for Critical Knowledge event.