The Spring Commencement Ceremony for Ferris is around the corner and a number of students will soon be graduating.
Two ceremonies will be taking place on May 7 and May 8 in the Student Convocation Center.
The first ceremony will take place at 3:30 p.m. Graduates will be introduced by Provost Fritz Erikson during all ceremonies. College of Allied Health Sciences graduates will be the first to receive their degrees from FSU President David Eisler.
The following ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. and graduates from the College of Pharmacy, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Professional and Technological Studies will receive their degrees.
Graduates in the College of Professional and Technological Studies who wish to participate in the Big Rapids ceremony will attend with their affiliated college.
Graduates from the College of Business will be receiving their degrees on May 8 at 9 a.m. At 12:30 p.m., graduates from the Michigan College of Optometry and the College of Education and Human Services will be receiving their degrees.
Sherry Hayes, administrative assistant to the associate vice president for student affairs, said they have only one Honorary Doctorate recipient (commencement speaker), Jennifer Ramsey Wallace, who will be speaking at the 12:30 p.m. ceremony.
Ramsey Wallace is the outreach manager for Financial Aid Programs for the Michigan Education Trust. She is known as the “TIP Lady” as she provides financial literacy and financial aid presentations to more than 100,000 parents and students each year.
Ramsey Wallace played a big role in helping Ferris students expand the Ferris Tuition Incentive (TIP) Program as well. Due to her contributions, the university has created a TIP Scholars program and the number of TIP students has doubled to more than 700 in the past two years.
Ramsey Wallace said, “We are on the planet to make a difference, and we just have to make that difference one day at a time, one kid at a time, one family at a time.”
The final ceremony is set to take place at 4 p.m. with the College of Engineering Technology graduates receiving their degrees.
Graduates in programs at Dowagiac, Flint, and Traverse City have the choice of attending their local ceremony, traveling to the main campus, or attending both.
Hayes said, “The approximate number of graduates who will be participating in graduation is 1,400.”
Due to large the large number of students participating in commencement, seating is limited and admission to the ceremony is by ticket only.
For more information on spring commencement, please visit ferris.edu. n