Though Ferris State University moved its courses online for Spring and Summer 2020 in keeping with Michigan’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order, many in the Ferris community were nevertheless engaged in activities to support pandemic response and students of the university.
Securing more than $4.5 million in CARES Act funding, Ferris provided up to $400 per student with demonstrated need. The Ferris Alumni Association and The Ferris Foundation also partnered to launch the Student Hardship Fund, which assisted students who faced challenges with housing, food and access to technology.
In addition to a variety of virtual recruitment, welcome and commencement activities, the university provided an online version of its GradCareer Festival, giving graduating students access to a host of authors, career coaches and employment resource specialists.
Students and university staff also engaged in activities that supported pandemic response in the health care industry and local communities. During the nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment in spring, Ferris’ COVID-19 Community Response Team coordinated a number of response measures, including sewing and delivery of cloth facemasks for local health care providers.
The team also implemented “Operation Face Shields,” in which a Ferris College of Engineering Technology team led by student Savannah Torrey of Munith, Michigan, and Ferris Laboratory Facilities Coordinator Brian Pacholka utilized the resources of Ferris’ Plastics and Polymer Engineering Technology program and its MakerSpace to 3-D print face shield headbands and ear protectors, and make face shields to protect health care providers across West Michigan. The COVID-19 Community Response Team provided logistical support, and College of Pharmacy and College of Health Professions staff tested the shields to make sure that they could be appropriately sanitized. In all, the effort produced more than 28,000 pieces of PPE.
University Dining Services, faced with a surplus perishable food supply when the Stay Home, Stay Safe order went into effect in March, moved quickly to give the resources to local K-12 schools’ meal distribution programs, as well as Eagle Village and Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital.
Individually, dozens of Ferris alumni, faculty, staff and students engaged in professional or volunteer work supporting pandemic response, such as Bulldog alumni Kylie Conrad (HP ‘17), Autumn Doody (HP ‘19), David Boedeker (HP ’08) and Nikki Hudson (HP ’16), all of whom worked together in Sparrow Clinton Hospital’s Emergency Room through the pandemic’s first wave in Spring 2020.
Kylie Conrad (HP ‘17), Autumn Doody (HP ‘19), David Boedeker (HP ’08) and Nikki Hudson (HP ’16), worked together in Sparrow Clinton Hospital’s Emergency Room through the pandemic’s first wave in Spring 2020.
College of Pharmacy faculty and fourth-year students also assisted Spectrum Health in a review of research reports and studies, helping the health care organization sort and prioritize incoming papers based on the applicability of their data to physicians and other caregivers.
In preparation for campus reengagement in fall, the university also launched its Ferris Forward Together campaign. Using #FerrisForwardTogether, the campaign shares information about virus prevention practices such as social distancing, mask use and hand washing.