Jeremy Lane began his tenure at Ferris earlier this summer as the new Dean of Admissions.
Q.) What is your background, and how did you end up at Ferris?
A.) “I grew up in Flint, and as a part of the King-Chavez-Parks programs, my trip to Ferris at 13 years old was the first campus that made college really feel attainable. They didn’t show us massive lecture halls where you felt like you’re a number. It was these classroom sizes that were quite comparable to what I had in my high school. And college felt attainable after that. Fast forward, when I went to college, I became a super active student where I had the opportunity to be student body president and I also had a chance to be a trustee at my undergrad institution. That really showed higher ed to me as a career path. It all became about outreach and engaging with students and really seeing myself as someone who can relate to the first-gen kid. I saw the opportunity to come to Ferris, learn about the actual Ferris story and what students here were experiencing and it really felt like it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”
Q.) What are your goals for the admissions process?
A.) “My objective is to expand our efficiency, making sure that we’re communicating information in a timely fashion. We know that college is a big decision to make for a lot of families and a lot of our students are first-gen, or the finances matter, the program choice matters. We are making sure that we give our students information on the front end, in addition to collaboration. What do we need to do to expand our communication? What do we need to do to expand those conversations and things like that? With students, we encourage them to come, but to take a step further to see how we can improve on and be able to articulate the campus community. For example, if you are traveling, wear a Ferris shirt. Little things like that to express the how and the why.”
Q.) What role do you play in the promotion of Ferris?
A.) “We do high school visits all over the state. We do all the college fairs. We conduct classroom presentations, application seminars and similar events. We have recruiters who, if they are not placed somewhere, travel all around. We now have two out-of-state recruiters who are dedicated to working outside the state of Michigan. With the unification of KCAD, we have been given access to some of the things and fairs that they’ve always done. Now we can not only go for a KCAD presentation, but we also have a Ferris State person there as an opportunity as well.”
Q.) What are your plans going forward with Ferris admissions?
A.) “We’re looking at hosting more workshops and application sessions in some of our more rural and our more urban counties, because in some of those situations, notoriety and knowing may be a challenge, but secondary access may also be a challenge. There are some places across the state that I intend for us to take a little snippet of Ferris to. You’re going to have some admissions folks, you’re going to have some financial aid folks, you may have some folks from student life come over and talk about the Ferris story. As always, the story is better told with current students. We do have tour guides, orientation leaders and things of that nature. We’re hoping that we can take advantage of those things and let them tell the student story.”
Q.) How do you plan to promote a diverse admissions pool?
A.) There is a lot of effort being put in place to make sure there is a right fit for students—our programs that are workforce ready, our scholarships that are really strong scholarships. There are a lot of state funds available to support students as well, which can change the life of a student. That is a very useful tool when you start talking about first-gen populations, urban learning centers, rural settings and things of that nature. The objective is to really find the right students to showcase that Ferris is the right fit for them and that’s really how we work to diversify our campus.”
Q.) Is there anything you would like students to know about the services that the admissions office offers?
A.) “Check their university wide messaging, check their navigate with everything that we send out. Check out Scholarship Universe and read what is there. Apply for scholarships. Sometimes, we have scholarships that we need to award to students, but we haven’t been able to award because either someone didn’t apply or they didn’t read the fine print, like completing the FAFSA. And, if you have a relative or a friend or anyone that you think may be interested in Ferris, bring them to a Dawg Day. Bring them to a campus tour, let them see what the campus community has to offer. There are a lot of narratives about what higher education means and about what it means to be a traditional four year institution. I can only tell the story so well, but they want to hear from a student, because they have done things here and have a competitive advantage that I simply don’t have.”
The Office of Admissions is located on the second floor of the Timme Center for Student Services.