News and Announcements
A new video, now available on the University’s YouTube channel, highlights the University’s life-changing power through the personal voices of four students. Titled “The Culture of Possibility,” the four-and-a-half minute video was created for a meeting of the CSU Board of Trustees last week.
All 23 CSU campuses have produced overview videos for the Board of Trustees. Produced by Strategic Marketing and Communications, SF State’s video focuses on the inclusivity, discovery, access and empowerment that make the University so impactful for students.
Watch “The Culture of Possibility.”
Photo by Juan Montes
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference is underway in San Francisco through Saturday, Nov. 18. Elected leaders and nearly 30,000 delegates will participate. City agencies are working to minimize the inconvenience to the SF State community.
What to expect:
- Impacts throughout the city and especially around Moscone Center, the waterfront and Nob Hill through Nov. 18. Each event location will include significant street and sidewalk closures that may also include required security checks.
- Heightening security at city facilities (routine for large civic events).
- Congestion downtown, traffic delays, transit reroutes, delays and crowding on Muni and paratransit.
How to plan:
- Allow extra time to get to campus. Ferries, Muni, BART and paratransit are expected to be impacted.
- Review transit and traffic-related issues to plan your commute: San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency.
- Plan ahead and pick up groceries and medications to have on hand instead of traveling around busy, impacted areas during this time.
- Review San Francisco’s APEC webpage.
- Sign up for SF Alert: Text your zip code to 888-777 or visit Alert SF.
The University does not anticipate any changes to classes or campus events.
Join Museum Studies in celebrating the pop-up exhibit “Ofrenda” on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 4 p.m., in the Global Museum gallery (Fine Arts 203). “Ofrenda” is a community altar developed, designed and installed in the Global Museum by students
Enjoy activities, food, mingling and special remarks from students and faculty, and view student work and object spotlights featuring items from the collections stewarded by the Global Museum on behalf of SF State.
Editor’s note: This event was previously scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
SF State is organizing its second annual holiday toy drive! The toys will be donated to the Oceanview, Merced, Ingleside (OMI) and Lakeview Holiday Toy Giveaway and Celebration, an annual event that brings in the joy of the holidays with food and activities for the entire family and provides youth near the SF State campus with holiday gifts.
No gift is too small or too big, but donated toys should be new, unwrapped and appropriate for youth. Suggested donations include: baby toys and supplies, dolls/action figures, stuffed animals, books, sports items, board games and puzzles, arts and crafts supplies, gift cards (for teens), or learning and sensory toys.
For questions or concerns regarding the toy drive, please email the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement or President’s Office.
Help those in need to stay warm this winter. The University Police Department is collecting new or unused coats to benefit the One Warm Coat organization. Bring in new or gently used winter coats, hats and gloves through Thursday, Dec. 7. Drop-off Location: University Police Department lobby.
The Division of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning is recruiting a faculty director of advising for fall 2024. The position is funded through a Stupski Foundation grant and is intended to support faculty advising across the campus.
Responsibilities include: convening the five College Advising Councils, serving as a liaison between faculty and professional advisers, supporting faculty use of EAB Navigator, providing training for faculty advisers as needed and advocating at a university level for transfer student needs. The successful candidate must be an SF State tenured or tenure-track faculty member, have extensive advising experience, be familiar with the use of Navigator and be passionate about the role of faculty in supporting students through advising.
To apply, please email Lori Beth Way with a statement of interest and a CV by Monday, Dec. 4.
Students with a passion for climate justice are encouraged to apply for a Climate Action Fellowship, an opportunity that comes with a $10,000 award. The application deadline is Monday, Feb. 26.
This fellowship program, now in its second year, is part of the Climate Justice Leaders Initiative at SF State. It enables a diverse group of students to take action to address climate change from a wide variety of perspectives. It also supports the development of community and leadership.
The fellowship is open to undergraduate and graduate students in all fields of study. Students may propose on-campus or off-campus projects (e.g., community-based groups or other non-profits). Students with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to apply.
Up to six fellowships will be awarded.
Please visit the Climate HQ website for more information and to apply. For questions, please email the Climate Action Fellowship.
The SF State Academic Senate met on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at Seven Hills and via Zoom.
The senate:
- Adopted by general consent the Resolution in Support of International Education Month.
- Passed the Resolution in Support of Deepening and Re-Imagining the Senior Capstone.
- Passed the Resolution in Support of the Implementation of the CSU Course Equity Portal by the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
- Heard in first reading:
- Resolution Affirming Shared Governance, Curricular Integrity and Budget Transparency.
- Revision to S02-217 Academic Program Assessment.
- Revision to S99-206 Policy on the Academic Program Assessment Committee.
View the full agenda, meeting materials and minutes on the Academic Senate website.
The senate would like to express its sincere apologies to Kasturi Ray, professor of Women and Gender Studies, whose first name was spelled incorrectly on the ballot last week.
In honor of Veterans Day, Professor of Cinema and Veteran Documentary Corps Director Daniel Bernardi and his team will screen their award-winning film “Ultimate Sacrifices” for free through Thursday, Nov. 16. This moving film tells the story of Capt. Jennifer Moreno, who gave her life trying to save others during a combat mission in Afghanistan in 2013.
See Jupiter’s moons and Saturn’s rings with your own eyes at the SF State Observatory Open Nights — free and open the public. Highlights for November include Saturn and Jupiter. Open Nights are Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 – 9 p.m., except Monday, Nov. 20 – Friday, Nov. 24.
Docents will be on hand to point the telescopes and talk about astronomy.
The observatory is located in Thornton Hall 1004.
For weather conditions and to learn if the Observatory is open, please visit SF State’s Observatory on Instagram.
Associated Students’ Project Rebound, in collaboration with the Associated Students Art Gallery, presents “Pelican Bay Prison” through Nov. 17. Focusing on expressions of triumph and art over tragedy, it features art by College of the Redwoods’ Educated Radicals Club and the Pelican Bay Scholars
The gallery is open: Monday and Tuesday 2 – 6 p.m.; Wednesday 1 – 6 p.m.; Thursday 12:30 – 6 p.m.; and Friday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. It is located in the Cesar Chavez Student Center.
Food+Shelter+Success, SFSU’s basic needs team, hosts its third annual Food and Houselessness Awareness Week from Monday, Nov. 13, to Friday, Nov. 17. Food and Houselessness Awareness Week is a national campaign week to raise awareness around issues students face with basic needs, including food, housing and financial security.
This year’s Food and Houselessness Awareness Week is filled with events with multiple campus and community partners, ranging from a Chopped Cooking Challenge to a Basic Needs Case Competition.
Please visit the Food+Shelter+Success website for more information and to RSVP for events. For questions or to request accommodations, please contact Ryan Farquhar as soon as possible.
Attend one of Academic Technology’s training sessions to learn how faculty can make the best use of Qualtrics, an online survey tool. Sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m. – noon, and Thursday, Dec. 7, 11 a.m. – noon.
Each hour-long training session will be led by Qualtrics personnel covering the basics.
Join the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement for an informational session with SF State’s 2023 Panetta congressional intern on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at noon via Zoom. Ximena Nieves will discuss her Panetta experience and give advice for future nominees.
Award-winning translator Jennifer Feeley will lead “Not Lost in Translation: The Career of a Literary Translator” on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 4 – 5 p.m. in Marcus Hall 217 and via Zoom. She will share her journey of becoming one of the most acclaimed translators of contemporary literature from Hong Kong.
In this hands-on workshop, she will invite the audience to join her in making difficult translation choices before reading from some of her recent published translations of works by female writers Sai Sai 西西 and Wong Yi 黃怡.
This event is presented by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, with sponsorship from the departments of English Language and Literature and Humanities and Comparative World Literature and in partnership with the University of San Francisco.
Join the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) to explore journaling as a pedagogical tool in Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) and a reflective teaching practice. CEETL will think about journaling as a way to reflect on and organize professional careers as educators and discuss the practice as a possible tool for student success.
Lecturer faculty teaching at least one course this semester are eligible for a $50 stipend.
“Documenting the Process: Reflecting on and Refining Our Teaching Practices” will be held Thursday, Nov. 16, 10 – 11 a.m., in Library 242, facilitated by Stephanie Sisk-Hilton. Participants will practice several techniques for journaling as a way to examine, honor and make changes to teaching practice. They will focus on ways to integrate a journaling practice into daily or weekly instructional planning and consider reflective journaling as data to guide instructional change.
Visit the CEETL website for more information or to register.
Celebrate International Education Month and toast to 60 years of CSU study abroad programs with the All-University Committee on International Programs. Faculty, staff and administrators are invited to an international coffee hour on Thursday, Nov. 16, noon – 1:30 p.m. in Library 286.
This event will occur twice each semester. The Division of International Education will provide refreshments.
Academic Technology hosts an “AI Ethics in Higher Education webinar on Thursday, Nov. 16, at noon. Philosophy Professor Carlos Montemayor and English Professor Jennifer Trainor will explore central issues concerning regulation and ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). They will emphasize focusing on the big picture, not overreacting to this technology and having a more creative approach on how to use it.
Associated Students’ Project Rebound will hold a special screening of “The 50” documentary on Thursday, Nov. 16, 3 – 7 p.m. in Rosa Parks Conference Center A-C, Cesar Chavez Student Center. A discussion with counselors featured in the film follows.
“The 50” is a feature-length documentary that explores how a group of underestimated individuals became agents of radical change. While serving life sentences in an overcrowded and drug-saturated prison system, 50 men embark on a radical journey to become the first incarcerated substance abuse counselors in the country. “The 50” explores the pain they have endured, inflicted and worked to heal, as well as the impact of the transformative program 10 years later. Director Brenton Gieser brings us alongside these men in an exploration of trauma, redemption and the complicated humanity of their stories.
The event has limited seating. Please register via GatorXperience.
Encourage your students to participate in an SF State Abroad program, where the cost could be cheaper than staying at SF State.
To help them budget for studying and living abroad, SF State Abroad presents a budget session on Friday, Nov. 17, at 10 a.m. via Zoom. An SF State Abroad adviser will review the process of budgeting, and SF State students who studied abroad share their financial advice for living and traveling abroad.
This event is part of International Education Month. Check out this event and more on the Office of International Programs website.
Assistant Professor of Sociology Angela Fillingim presents “Stories and Strategies for Reclaiming our Time and Humanity in Higher Education” on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 3 – 4:30 p.m. in Library 121.
Fillingim’s talk builds on her many collaborative projects examining the practices of oppression in higher education experienced by faculty from historically marginalized communities. This talk will analyze the nexus of spirit murdering (Williams 1987) and collective strategies for resistance and reclaiming our humanity.
Event presenters are the College of Health and Social Sciences, Restorative and Transformative Racial Justice and SF State Transforms.
President Mahoney and her cabinet invite all staff and faculty to an End of Year Celebration recognizing all your hard work in 2023. It takes place Thursday, Dec. 14, in Jack Adams Hall, Cesar Chavez Student Center.
Herbert Zettl, Ph.D., distinguished professor emeritus of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts (BECA), died Oct. 30 at home in Forest Knolls. He was 94.
Zettl taught for over 40 years and mentored countless individuals who continue to serve as professors and entertainment industry professionals. He is best known for his work in media aesthetics and television production. Zettl reached thousands of students and media professionals as author of “Sight Sound Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics” and a series of television production textbooks, including “Television Production Handbook,” “Television Production Workbook,” “Video Basics” and “Video Basics Workbook.” These books are translated into several languages (including Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Chinese and Korean) and are used in key television production centers and universities around the world.
Zettl’s influence was international. He was the longtime director of the SFSU Institute of International Media Communication. The institute, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State and the San Francisco International Diplomacy Council, hosted multiweek training visits for television professionals from around the world. Zettl was one of the founders of the Visual Communication Association and helped organize its first conference. He received the California State Legislature Distinguished Teaching Award in 1966, and in 2004 he received the Distinguished Education Service Award from the Broadcast Education Association.
Prior to joining SF State, Zettl worked at several professional television stations, including KPIX, the CBS-owned and operated station in San Francisco, where he was a producer-director. He participated in numerous CBS and NBC network television productions, such as Edward R. Murrow’s “Person to Person” and several network specials. He is a member of the prestigious Gold Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), for his outstanding contributions to the television profession. He is also a member of NATAS Broadcast Legends.
Zettl retired in 2000 but continued his scholarly work and nurtured his close connections with the department, colleagues and many former students here in the U.S. and from around the world. He was an accomplished painter with many art exhibits.
The BECA Department mourns the loss of a valued colleague, mentor, visionary, accomplished scholar and above all a passionate advocate for students.
Professor Zettl is survived by his wife Erika, daughter Renee, son Alex and 11 grand- and great-grandchildren.
There will be a public memorial to celebrate Professor Zettl's longtime service and achievements at a later date/time. For information, please contact Professor Hamid Khani.
SF State Spotlight
A new PBS program, “A People’s History of Native America,” features an interview with Journalism Professor Cristina Azocar. In a segment on the PBS Origins YouTube channel, she discusses the disproportionate number of missing or murdered Indigenous persons in the U.S.
Azocar cites her research discovered the media severely underreports federal recognition for Native American tribes.
“When people don’t hear these stories, they don’t know about them, and it’s so much easier to perpetuate the stereotypes,” she said. “... Unless the outside knows, it’s really hard to change anything because then people don’t believe us.”
The B.A. degree program in Dance, in the School of Theatre and Dance, is one of five university dance programs featured in the October 2023 issue of the Journal of Dance Education. The article, titled “Strategies for Diversity and Inclusion in Postsecondary Dance: How Five Baccalaureate Programs are Recalibrating,” highlights the SFSU Dance program’s commitment to equity through interdisciplinarity.
Theatre and Dance Professor Yutian Wong was interviewed for the article.
Liberal Studies Professor Tanya Augsburg recently published a peer-reviewed article, a book review, and a catalogue essay.
Her article, “Beyond Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research: Remembering Julie Thompson Klein during the Early Days of Text-Generating AI,” is published in Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies, volume 41, No. 1. It points out how ChatGPT generated false biographical information about the late eminent scholar of interdisciplinarity Julie Thompson Klein.
Augsburg’s book review, “Hysteria in Performance by Jenn Cole,” is published in the August 2023 issue of the University of Toronto Quarterly, which is acclaimed as one of the finest journals in the interdisciplinary humanities.
Her introductory catalogue essay, “Contesting Metanarratives during the 1980s,” is published in “The Bay Area Women Artists’ Legacy Project: The Eighties,” edited by Jan Wurm, Elizabeth Addison and Carol Benioff. In the essay, Augsburg expands existing histories of 1980s visual art in the Bay Area by introducing the work of over 20 women artists.
On Oct. 27, Liberal Studies Professor Tanya Augsburg moderated the plenary session, “Beyond Appreciation: Remembering Julie Thompson Klein (1944 – 1923)” at the 2023 annual conference of the Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, during which Augsburg also presented “Late Developments in Julie Thompson Klein’s Scholarship on Interdisciplinarity.”
Professor Augsburg was invited to present “The Ever-Changing Discourse: Helpful Terms for Becoming Interdisciplinary Today,” for the Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Group at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. via Zoom on Oct. 20.
Augsburg presented “From Local to Global: Connections between California and Japanese Contemporary Feminist Artists,” at Waseda University on June 19, as part of her participation in the CSU International Programs Faculty Workshop in Tokyo.
Asian American Studies Professor Jonathan Lee is the editor of the 2023 issue of History & Perspective, the journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America. Lee has served as editor-in-chief of the journal since 2013.
Published annually, History & Perspective is the first and oldest journal dedicated to documenting the history of the Chinese in America.
Computer Science Assistant Professor Daniel Huang and Associate Professor E. Wes Bethel have been leading an effort to introduce Quantum Computing Information and Science Technology (QIST) to SFSU.
As part of that effort, they recently authored an article in IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications with collaborators from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Case Western Reserve University. The article explores how the field of scientific visualization has helped to advance QIST, and how visualization and computer graphics technologies have and can further benefit from QIST.
This article, which is one of the first of its kind to examine the interplay between QIST and graphics/visualization, helps to establish the SFSU program as thought leaders in this space.
The University of Virginia Karsh Institute of Democracy’s Democracy360 and the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition hosted a multistate collaborative convening in October. The conference focuses on uplifting collective efforts to shape a thriving democratic future, and the Metro College Success Program was invited to speak on the coalition’s long-standing work connecting civic learning with student success and inclusive excellence.
In celebration of Native American History Month, Los Medanos College in Pittsburg presents a screening of Anthropology graduate student Cecilia Mellion’s “He told us the sky is blue,” followed by a discussion with her. It takes place 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14.
“He told us the sky is blue” is a 55-minute autoethnographic film that shares the oral history of four family members who confront their personal traumas and the intergenerational burdens of collective trauma, as well as their effort to heal and transcend these struggles.
The use of a collaborative approach informs the film’s participants’ advisory role as well as the combination of autoethnography and exo-autoethnography to explore historical trauma effects. Their stories illuminate the enduring impacts of transgenerational trauma transmission in Indigenous communities, with particular emphasis on the legacy of the Indian boarding school system.
Because the family members featured in the film were born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area, they represent a perspective often overlooked in mainstream narratives — that of mixed-heritage urban Indians.
Lecturer of Nutrition and Dietetics Jami Baltz co-authored “Evaluation of nutrition components within prehabilitation programs in gastrointestinal cancers: Is prehab worth the hype?” with Shelly Yaceczko. The article was published in Nutrition in Clinical Practice, a journal of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics Gretchen L. George moderated and spoke at an educational session at the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, held Oct. 7 – 10 in Denver.
Weight bias and stigma impact all people and all health professions and are especially prevalent in dietetics and nutrition. The talk, titled “Overcoming weight stigma: A conversation to face personal and professional bias,” shares strategies that individuals can use to overcome personal bias and discuss opportunities to combat institutional bias within the dietetics profession.
John Logan, professor and chair of Labor and Employment Studies, remains a go-to faculty expert in the press. His recent media hits include CNN on Oct. 12, Wired on Oct. 26 and Reuters on Oct. 30.
In an Oct. 26 article on CBS MoneyWatch, Logan discusses a new National Labor Relations Board rule that will classify certain companies as an employer if they control basic conditions of work.
“The new rule is enormously important and could bolster the rights of millions of employees,” he said. “Under the previous standard, it was too easy for corporations to claim they weren’t responsible for violations of workers’ rights and almost impossible to hold accountable,” Logan said.