Join Dr. Bobby Flieschman along with Mandy Sieferlein and Logan Jones in this school years very first episode of “It’s Academic”. This week, they will talk about Ferris’ academic plan from then to now as well as plans for its future.
The Road to Now
Today is the first episode of Its academic for the fall 2024 semester. We are joined by Dr. Bobby Flieschman the provost and vice president of academic affairs. He is joined by two guests today who helped create the academic plan for Ferris in the future and they are Mandy Seiferlein and Logan Jones. They started with talking about academic planning and what it is. They mention that it is a game plan and goals that align with the priorities of the university. They talk about the evolution of the academic plan and how it has progressed and all the way that they implement these concepts and goals. They talk about the feedback that they have received on the plan and how others might improve, change, or like what has been created. They talked about how this plan is going to affect students and what the goals are for students within their plan.
Logan Jones (Left) & Mandy Seiferlen (Right) pictured during the ‘It’s Academic’ shoot.
Ferris Values
As we continue to watch, Dr. Fleischman addresses the pillars of Ferris State, specifically the statements that are ingrained with Ferris’s values. He asks his guests to elaborate on why they are important. Seiferlein responds by saying the first goal statement is to promote practical learning through responsive educational opportunities. She then goes over the other pillars, such as belonging, empowering, and career opportunities. She concludes that all the pillars are intentionally broad as to bring out the very best in students. Dr. Fleischman follows up by asking what success looks like. Jones answers by saying that success is reaching key points of the goals students are trying to achieve. By reaching such key points in goals students can be successful with what they can do at such milestones.
Dr. Bobby Flieschman pictured interviewing during the It’s Academic shoot.
Shared Governance
Our hosts also talked about the value of shared governance in the plan. Mandy says that having a diverse number of individuals allows us to see what they haven’t thought of and see different perspectives on the plan. She says that they want this to be their plan. The way that they have structured the project, it is good to have feedback and have everyone shape and construct the plan. She also says that they are putting the plan out to the community and campus individuals because they need to work with their campus partners on this plan. Logan backed up that sending out a near final draft for comments is extremely important for feedback and creating the final plan.
Logan and Mandy are also looking into the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their plan. They see that it can be disruptive but also extremely valuable to the plan. They haven’t had the chance to implement AI into the plan. Logan describes that the initiatives need to be able to be duplicated at other colleges. The appropriate use of AI is important to understand before implementing it into the initiatives.
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of It’s Academic! We hope you enjoyed this weeks blog post and hope to see you next time!