News and Announcements
All faculty, staff and administrators are invited to serve as ambassadors at “Discover SF State”! This annual University-wide annual open house will be held Saturday, Oct. 19, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
The event is geared toward inspiring prospective high school and community college students to apply to SFSU for fall 2025 admission. It also provides the campus community a sneak peek of all that the University offers to students and their loved ones.
Please sign up to be ambassador by completing the Qualtrics form.
Facilities Services invites members of the campus community to review the updated draft Key Management Policy, to ensure security and safety while maintaining efficient facilities operational support and services. This policy institutes accountability for the University access control systems, including keys and access credentials for campus facilities owned, operated, maintained or leased by SF State.
For questions or clarification, please email policies@sfsu.edu.
Visit Academic Technology’s Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) instructional space in Library 222, available for instructors to bring their students in groups to experience AR/VR content. The campus community is invited to an open house on Monday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Virtual reality is gaining ground as one of the latest tools for computing. It is making exploring, training, learning and entertainment immersive. You can now see and interact with the virtual world in the safety and comfort of a classroom.
The lab features five virtual reality headsets that students and faculty can use. Access to training and learning resources are only a few clicks away. In Steam, users can access games, simulators and developer software. Artists can now make virtual art and take 3D modeling to another level.
Jamillah Moore, vice president of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, invites faculty, students and staff to her office hours for the fall and spring semesters.
Please submit the Qualtrics form to request a 15-minute meeting with Vice President Moore.
Academic Technology’s Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) team is here to help you! This team of instructional designers partners with faculty to enhance courses materials by providing expertise in emerging technologies for evidence-based learning.
The TLT team is available throughout the semester for brief departmental visits to raise awareness of support services and other resources available to all instructors, particularly in the area of teaching with technology. Departmental visits will include a 5 – 10-minute overview followed by Q&A. This is an opportunity to remind faculty of resources, engagements or how to get quick support for using Canvas and other technology tools for optimizing their courses for different modalities.
The University Police Department (UPD) hosts its in-person Citizens’ Academy this semester. It is a 10-week program taking place every Wednesday, 4 – 7 p.m., beginning Sept. 18. The application deadline is today, Monday, Sept. 16.
The Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE) is accepting applications for the 2025 Call to Service Grants. These grants offer SF State faculty and staff the opportunity to receive funding for community-engaged activities, research and community service learning course development.
- Unlock new possibilities for your community work and collaborate on projects that create lasting change.
- Explore funding opportunities that support innovative and meaningful engagement with community partners.
The application deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 19.
Please visit ICCE’s Call to Service Grants web page for details. For questions, contact ICCE by email at icce@sfsu.edu or by phone at (415) 338-6419.
The SFSU Science, Technology and Society (STS) Hub is pleased to announce the 2024 – 2025 STS Faculty Fellows Program. The program offers SFSU faculty who are working at the intersection of science and social justice the opportunity to join a community of engaged scholars for the academic year.
STS Hub fellows will develop and share scholarship, collaborate on potential research projects, mentor advanced graduate students and participate in shaping the future of the STS Hub. This year’s theme is “The Politics of Automation, Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence.”
Applications are welcomes from across the SFSU colleges from interdisciplinary faculty (tenure-track and lecturers) with active research projects that engage with this theme. Applications are also welcome from faculty working critically with data technologies to advance social justice goals.
Faculty with teaching or professional development interests related to the theme will be considered, as well as faculty working on other research topics and past STS Hub fellows. Priority will be given to applicants at the ranks of lecturer and assistant professor, but all are welcome to apply.
Fellows will receive a stipend of $1,000 to participate in the STS Hub. Hub members attend monthly sessions to discuss topics in STS and their fellowship projects.
Applications are due Friday, Sept. 27, at 11:59 p.m.
For questions, please email co-directors Martha Lincoln at mlincoln@sfsu.edu and Martha Kenney at mkenney@sfsu.edu.
The STS Faculty Fellows Program is funded by the National Science Foundation.
The SF State Academic Senate will meet Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2 – 5 p.m., via Zoom for its second meeting of the academic year. To attend via Zoom, please email the Senate office at senate@sfsu.edu.
Agenda:
- Recommendation from the Campus Curriculum Committee proposals in first reading:
- Certificate in Digital Marketing
- Certification in International Risk Analysis
- Minor in Deaf Studies and American Sign Language
- Minor in Philosophy and Religion
- Minor in Religious Studies
- Academic Senate will hear a formal presentation from:
- Jeff Jackanicz, vice president of University Advancement, “Gym Naming Proposal” (3:30 – 3:45 p.m.)
- Guisselle Nuñez, associate vice president of Strategic Marketing and Communications, “University Marketing Strategy Update” (3:45 – 4 p.m.)
Please view the full agenda, meeting materials and minutes on the Academic Senate website.
Staff members are invited to the Office of Human Resources’ next Staff Forum on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 10 – 11 a.m., via Zoom. The agenda includes University Police Department services, a marketing strategy update from the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications, Human Resources on leaves and employee accommodations and more.
All campus staff, except Management Personnel Plan (MPP) and faculty, are encouraged to attend.
The Access, Relevance, Community (ARC) Transfer Pathways Initiative and the Transfer Peer Mentor Program invite the campus community to the Transfer Student Community Welcome event. It will feature icebreakers, games, crafting activities and refreshments on Wednesday, Sept. 18, noon – 4 p.m., on the fifth-floor patio of the Administration building.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) invites the campus community to its monthly Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) Brown Bag workshops starting Wednesday, Sept. 18, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., in Library 242 and via Zoom upon request. The brown bags are open forums for GWAR faculty to discuss challenges and opportunities in teaching GWAR courses.
Other fall-semester workshops will be held Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Wednesday, Nov. 20.
Curious about generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), but not sure where to start? Join Academic Technology on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2 – 3 p.m., via Zoom for a hands-on workshop covering the essentials of GenAI chatbots like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, including how to use them effectively and responsibly, and identify and discuss the best applications for academic and administrative needs.
The University Budget Committee (UBC) invites employees to its first meeting of the academic year on Thursday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m. – noon, via Zoom. Learn about how the University receives and manages its budget.
Members of UBC are staff, faculty, students and administrators. UBC members host “office hours” the day after the meeting to answer questions and share feedback about University budget-related matters.
Please RSVP for the meeting and/or office hours by emailing the UBC at ubc@sfsu.edu.
Please join faculty and staff in a Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) discussion circle on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2 – 3:30 p.m., via Zoom. They will discuss classroom strategies to manage difficult conversations during election season.
Big things are brewing at the Muslim Tech Collaborative, including a chai-tea social on Thursday, Sept. 19, 6:45 – 9:45 p.m., in the Cesar Chavez Student Center.
Everyone is welcome regardless of spiritual background. The first 30 RSVPs will receive free chai.
All employees are invited to a presentation by SavingsPlus, which manages SF State’s 401k and 457b plans, on Friday, Sept. 20, 11 a.m. – noon. The webinar will cover investment fundamentals, strategic tools and resources, core investment funds lineup overview and enhanced investment features.
Learn to help save a life in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. The Office of Emergency Services’ next training session is Monday, Sept. 23, noon – 2 p.m., in Library 286.
Please visit the “Stop the Bleed” web page to register. Spaces are limited.
Join the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) for a three-part workshop series aimed at developing instructors’ understanding and use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools as it applies to pedagogy. The first workshop, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, noon – 1:30 p.m., via Zoom, will focus on AI tools for faculty.
Can AI tools improve your teaching life? This interactive workshop will help faculty discover whether AI tools can enhance instruction, course materials and student engagement.
Do your eyes get blurry and irritated? Are you tired sitting at the computer? Do you experience back or neck pain at the end of the day? Attend the Holistic Health Lecture Series’ “Clear Your Vision” on Tuesday, Sept. 24, noon – 1 p.m., in HSS 306.
Meir Schneider will discuss the principles of natural vision improvement and simple strategies to prevent vision degeneration and improve vision and health.
The Holistic Health Lecture Series is sponsored by the Institute for Holistic Health Studies and the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism.
The Women’s Emerging Leadership Forum celebrates its 10th anniversary on Friday, Oct. 25, at LinkedIn headquarters, 222 Second St., in San Francisco. This event is hosted by the Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative in the Lam Family College of Business in collaboration with LinkedIn.
The forum is a learning community. This year’s theme is “Unlock Growth Through Lifelong Learning” through personal and professional development with interactive presentations and workshops.
Please visit the Lam Family College of Business website for details and to buy tickets.
Professor Emeritus of Art Dennis Ray Beall recently passed away. The printmaker, educator, curator and administrator was born March 13, 1929, in Chickasha, Oklahoma.
After high school, Beall joined the U.S. Navy which sent him to train at Electronics Materiel School on Treasure Island in San Francisco. After his training he spent 18 months in Japan. After his discharge in 1950, Beall enrolled at Oklahoma City University and, in 1952, he traveled throughout Europe. He was hired onto the crew of an oil tanker in Naples, which sailed to ports in the Persian Gulf, France and Italy. With the money he had earned, Beall was able to relocate to California in 1953, where he enrolled at SF State. Punctuating his studies with trips to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in 1958.
During his course of study at SF State, Beall produced a body of abstract expressionist color lithographs, which were created from single stones and transparent color washes. In 1957, his first solo exhibition at the East/West Gallery in San Francisco featured these lithographs. However, in 1958, Beall turned to intaglio printmaking with the assistance of John Ihle.
Beall was registrar at the Oakland Museum of California briefly in 1958 before becoming a curator at the Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts in San Francisco. He held that position until 1965 when he began his teaching career at SF State, where he taught printmaking. Beall was assistant professor of Art between 1965 and 1969, associate professor 1969 – 1976, and professor of Art 1976 – 1992. He was named professor emeritus in 1992. Beall was a member of the California Society of Printmakers and served as president in 1970.
Beall’s work has been featured in over 25 solo exhibitions and has been awarded an equal number of honors. Shown in over 200 exhibitions internationally, Beall’s work is held in the collections of the Janet Turner Print Museum at CSU Chico; the Cleveland Museum of Art; the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the Museum of Modern Art New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, the University of Oklahoma, Norman; the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; the Library of Congress; and the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts.
Image: “The Briar Has No Thorns” by Dennis Ray Beall/Courtesy of Annex Galleries
SF State Spotlight
An article in the San Francisco Standard on Sept. 11 highlights SF State’s new West Grove Commons residence hall as one of the city’s triumphs of housing development, noting that it was completed on time, within budget and with help of a California Higher Education Student Housing Grant and collaboration between SFSU, McCarthy Building Companies and EHDD Architecture.
The certainty in financing allowed SFSU to construct its first-ever housing project using state dollars, said Ron Kirkpatrick, director of Capital Planning and Special Projects.
“If we didn’t get this project right, no other [student housing] projects like this would get funded,” Kirkpatrick said. “We had one shot with this money.”
The Museum of the African Diaspora presents a virtual lecture with Artel Great, the George and Judy Marcus Endowed Chair in African American Cinema Studies, on Wednesday, Sept. 25. “They Not Like Us: Cinematic Visions of Afrosurrealism” explores the powerful and imaginative world of Afrosurrealism in contemporary American cinema.
Great is the museum’s inaugural Cultural Critic-in-Residence.
On Aug. 29 and 30, Associate Professor of Latina/o Studies Bárbara Abadía-Rexach attended the XI Seminario Internacional Conexiones Caribe, held in Santa Marta, Colombia. Abadía-Rexach presented on Afro-Puerto Rican music and its connection with the Great Caribbean. Her paper, “Músicas Borinkeñas en claves AFROcaribeñas,” discusses the historical and political context of Puerto Rico and how music genres, lyrics and performances have been denouncing colonialism, sexism, anti-Black racism and other oppressions.
Abadía-Rexach developed networks with scholars from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Curaçao, Martinique, Panamá and Venezuela during the international academic event.
Criminal Justice Studies Lecturer Faculty James Dudley comments to the San Francisco Chronicle in a Sept. 3 article about crime patterns in San Francisco. He says that the San Francisco Police Department “has really good strategies” for investigating and solving cases for violent crimes such as homicide and assaults.
“For violent crime, we have better trust,” he said, resulting in officers being “more likely to get reports and information from the public.”
Associate Professor of Journalism Ana Lourdes Cárdenas, Assistant Professor of Journalism Josh Davis, Criminal Justice Studies Associate Professor Carina Gallo and Associate Professor of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Shabnam Piryaei recently published the latest episode of their bilingual podcast, “Manos Arriba.” The episode, “I ain’t going to cry,” discusses the harmful — and often violent — ways that masculinity shows up in the U.S. carceral system, and offers possible outcomes for breaking destructive patterns.
This interdisciplinary collaboration was published in El Tecolote, the longest running bilingual newspaper that is printed in both English and Spanish in California. It is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Assistant Professor of Latina/o Studies Michael De Anda Muñiz and two of his co-authors were interviewed on a recent New Books Network podcast episode about their new book, “Imperial Policing: Weaponized Data in Carceral Chicago.”
Creative Writing Professor May-lee Chai and Asian American Studies Professor Russell Jeung are quoted in a USA Today article from Sept. 12. They debunk the racist “immigrants-eat-dogs” stereotype that Donald Trump stated in last week’s presidential debate with Kamala Harris.
The article highlights Chai’s recent viral post to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “I have heard the immigrants-come-to-town-and-eat-pets racist trope ever since I was a child. This is very old racism,” Chai posted.
Chai explores this racist trope in her classes as well as her 2011 novel, “Dragon Chica.”
Jeung notes that such stereotypes have consequences for immigrants, while benefiting the politicians who “create fear” by identifying scapegoats.
“They’re easy targets. They don’t really have that much voice if they’re undocumented,” he said. "Bullies pick on those who are easy to attack.”
SF State students created clothing made from paper tickets formerly used on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and displayed them at a fashion show. A Sept. 5 story on the BART website gives a preview of the fashion show, “Project Doneway: A Farewell to BART Paper Tickets,” which was held Sept. 14 at the Rockridge station.
“We gave our legacy cars a proper send off when they were retired, and our paper tickets deserve the same treatment,” BART Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost said. “Our paper ticket designs have long shown up in artistic Bay Area cultural references. This event was inspired by a dress made out of BART’s iconic blue paper tickets by Sean Porter nearly 10 years ago, and I wanted to offer students who rely on BART to get around the opportunity to showcase their talents.”