Student debt forums
Over the next two weeks Ferris State will be offering five forums on the issue of student debt to the Ferris community. Two open forums are scheduled: the first in Big Rapids on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. in IRC 115 and the other in Grand Rapids on Monday, Nov. 10 at 11:30 a.m. at the Kendall College of Art and Design Woodbridge N. Ferris Building room 217. This will provide background and analysis of student debt, share thoughts and seek your ideas on how to act on this issue.
Because time-to-degree is a major contributing factor in student debt, Provost Paul Blake has scheduled three student debt sessions for faculty members. These are in different sites across the university and all are scheduled from 4-5:30 p.m. Paul and President Eisler will be working together to elicit your thinking on this critical topic. The schedule for these faculty-oriented sessions is Monday, Nov. 3, in MCO 210 for the Colleges of Health Professions, Pharmacy and Optometry, Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Granger Auditorium 10, for the College of Arts and Sciences, FLITE, and Retention and Student Success and Monday, Nov. 10, BUS 111, for the Colleges of Education and Human Services, Business and Engineering Technology.
Together We Can Make a Difference
Registered student organization The African Student Union is seeking to further raise awareness, and funds, to fight the outbreak of Ebola virus in Africa. ASU will begin its two-week effort, “Together We Can Make a Difference: An Awareness and Fundraising Campaign to Address Ebola in West Africa,” with an event from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, at the West Campus Community Center.
There will be cultural entertainment and an opportunity to donate to Africans in Medicine, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that helps provide medical supplies, coordination with other Ebola-response organizations and information about the West African epidemic. ASU will also set up donation boxes at various locations on the Ferris campus as well as at Nawal’s Mediterranean Eatery in downtown Big Rapids, through Dec. 1.
Native American heritage celebration
Throughout this month there will be a trio of free public events in celebration of the heritage of native peoples. This series started last month and continues this Friday, Nov. 7, with a Tribal Museum Tour and Tribal Harvest Feast. Participants will depart campus for Mt. Pleasant at 3 p.m. after meeting in the IRC Connector.
The trip includes a tour of the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways, and a Ghost Supper with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. RSVP is required to attend this limited-space event.