News and Announcements
Open Enrollment begins soon — This is your opportunity to review your CSU employee benefits and explore options for you and your family. Changes made will take effect in January.
During this time, employees can enroll or change health plans, add or delete dependents, cancel coverage or sign up for new voluntary benefits such as a Health Care Reimbursement Account for eligible expenses. Please visit the CalPERS website for details on health plans, service areas and benefit changes. If nothing will change for you, no need to act. If you wish to make changes to your benefits, please pay attention to deadlines. All forms are submitted via DocuSign. The Benefits Fair will be virtual again this year.
Please visit the CSU website for more information. For questions, please email a benefits analyst at benefits@sfsu.edu.
SF State is happy to introduce Alli Chat, the campus’ artificial intelligence (AI) texting robot, a support resource for students and their enrollment-related needs. Thanks to numerous campus stakeholders who helped develop Alli Chat’s brain, Alli Chat is a human-generated AI that has been built with our students and SF State in mind. It answers questions about registration, records, financial aid, student life and general campus information.
Through Alli Chat’s efforts – and its relatable, friendly and supportive tone – this new tool will help the University build a culture of help-seeking behavior on campus allowing students to get more assistance when they need it 24/7 via text messaging.
Following Alli Chat’s initial rollout in January, Alli Chat has initiated 34 enrollment-related interactive and action-oriented campaigns, reaching over 24,000 students, with a 30% average rate of interaction. Not only has this platform been well-received by students, but the responses are also helping campus leaders learn in real time SF State students’ behavior, challenges and bottlenecks around enrollment milestones. This helps inform and adapt processes and communications to best support students on their academic journey.
Join the Political Science Department’s virtual lecture series on the 2024 U.S. presidential election. On Tuesdays from Sept. 10 to Dec. 3, faculty members will present on various election topics and themes, followed by Q&A moderated by Associate Professor Rebecca Eissler.
Members of the campus community and alumni may attend any session. Please visit the University Development website for more information and to sign up.
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
Students, staff and faculty are invited to meet with Provost Amy Sueyoshi during her open office hours in fall 2024. Meetings will occur 8 – 9 a.m. on varying Thursdays through December depending on the provost’s availability.
All meetings will be in the Provost’s Office in Administration 455. Breakfast refreshments will be provided.
Please reserve your time via Qualtrics to discuss any topic.
Small Group Instructional Feedback (SGIF) is a formative, mid-course check-in process, organized by the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning, to gather information from students about their learning experience to inform pedagogical decisions during the semester. Instructors will work with a small group of colleagues from different departments to receive and provide feedback for each other.
SGIFs will run between weeks 5 and 10 of the semester; participation should take no more than six hours of faculty time. Eligible faculty will receive a $300 stipend.
SGIFs are available for in-person or online synchronous courses only. Limited spots are available. Please register by Friday, Sept. 20.
The Muslim Tech Collaborative (MTC) is coming to SFSU, joining 11 other universities across the country! MTCSFSU is a student organization that unites students who want to strengthen the Muslim community using their technical skills.
MTC will work on technical projects for clients, professional development opportunities such as resource banks, fireside chats, skills-based workshops, industry mentorship, networking opportunities and much more. Everyone is welcome!
Students interested in joining MTCSFSU can sign up via Google Forms. Please follow the Muslim Tech Collaborative at SFSU on Instagram for events.
Encourage your students to study abroad next semester! The priority application deadline for spring 2025 is Sunday, Sept. 15, at 11:59 p.m. Students can explore options in 38 countries on the SF State Abroad Database and apply. It is free to apply.
In-person meetings are held Wednesdays, 2 – 3 p.m., in The Village at Centennial Square, building C, room 138. RSVP for a Zoom meeting on Fridays, 2 – 3 p.m.
Students can also attend SF State Study Abroad’s first-ever “study hall” in the Division of International Education to work on their application with an adviser. It will be held Thursday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. – noon, in building C of the Village.
SF State Abroad also has advising hours and is happy to answer questions via email at studyabroad@sfsu.edu.
The SF State Academic Senate met on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at Seven Hills Conference Center.
The Senate:
- Adopted by general consent: substantive decrease (21 units to 15 units), minor in Philosophy
- Heard in first reading: resolution in Loss of Confidence in the CSU Chancellor and Board of Trustees Ability to Effectively Consult with Faculty On Changes in CSU Curricula
- Heard a presentation from Student Affairs and Enrollment Management about the Children’s Campus
View the full agenda, meeting materials and minutes on the Academic Senate website.
The Office of Human Resources (HR) continues its free presentations on topics to benefit employees. SF State’s partnership with LifeMatters and other campus partners bring these learning opportunities virtually.
September and October workshops include:
- “Managing Multiple Priorities”
- “Investing with Savings Plus”
- “Mid-Year Budget Reboot with Patelco”
- “The Stress-Sleep Correlation”
- “Business Etiquette”
- “An Excel Primer: Raw Data to Summarized Findings”
- “Your Brand is Everywhere”
- “Information about Social Security”
- “Ten Steps to Financial Success”
- “Understanding your CalPERS Retirement Benefit”
- “Saving While You Work with a 401k/403b”
Want more? Consider other kinds of professional development, such as attending a campus budget meeting or attending events held during Campus Safety Week. Please RSVP via the HR events/training web page.
Expand your generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) toolkit. Academic Technology hosts “Beyond Chatbots: GenAI Images and Meetings” on Thursday, Sept. 12, 10:30 a.m. – noon, in Library 80. At this hands-on workshop, participants will harness the power of GenAI for image creation and virtual meeting transcription and support. Open to both beginners and advanced users, this event is a great opportunity to elevate your GenAI skills in a supportive environment.
Registration is required. Please visit Academic Technology’s website to learn more and register.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning presents a workshop series for instructors teaching Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. The theme of this series is “Pedagogies from the Global South.”
The first of three workshops will be held Monday, Sept. 16, 1 – 3 p.m., in Library 286 and will be an introduction to “Pedagogies from the Global South.” Other workshops in this series are: “Effective Practices in Reading and Writing” on Thursday, Oct. 7, 1 – 3 p.m., via Zoom, and “Assessing Writing” on Nov. 18, 1 – 3 p.m., in Library 286.
People who complete all three workshops will receive a badge. Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement instructors are encouraged to attend.
Intertek Group CEO André Lacroix presents “Leadership with SouI: Putting People at the Heart of Your Growth Strategy” on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., at the Downtown Campus on 160 Spear St., fifth floor. Refreshments will be provided.
In his talk, Lacroix reveals his model for business success, built over more than three decades with world-leading organizations such as Ernst & Young, Colgate Palmolive, PepsiCo, Burger King and EuroDisney. Lacroix attributes his success to taking an empathetic, humanist approach to driving sustainable value for all: customers, employees, shareholders, communities and society as a whole.
Please register by 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16. Please visit the Lam Family College of Business website for details and to register.
Campus Safety Week is a campus-wide effort to raise awareness about personal safety and the resources available for promoting health and safety in our personal and occupational environments. Join Environment, Health and Safety Monday, Oct. 14, – Friday, Oct. 18, for a week full of fun and informative trainings. Campus Safety tabling day is Wednesday, Oct. 16.
Please visit the Campus Safety Week website to register for upcoming trainings.
SF State Spotlight
Associate Professor of Liberal Studies Nick Sousanis and Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability Interim Director Emily Beitiks won the 2024 Gilbert Seldes Award for Public Scholarship. The award recognizes their piece “Comics Beyond Sight: A Highly Visual Case for Blind Access,” which was published in MIT Technology Review in June 2023.
Shabnam Piryaei, associate professor of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts, screened her documentary “No Separate Survival” on Aug. 25 at ARTogether in Oakland.
“No Separate Survival” is a documentary film and a community experience about asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border. Through a lens of creative expression, “No Separate Survival” allows asylum seekers to give voice to what it means to create home and seek safety. The film documents five years of workshops aiming to give migrants the tools to define their own stories through healing and creative arts. Y
Piryaei received funding from SF State’s College of Liberal & Creative Arts to produce the film as well as a grant from ARTogether in Oakland. The film also includes the stories of some SFSU alumni.
Professor of Counseling Tiffany O’Shaughnessy won a leadership award from the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Committee on Women in Psychology. She received the award at the annual APA Convention in Seattle in August.
The text of the award states: “The Committee on Women in Psychology of the American Psychological Association recognizes Tiffany O’Shaughnessy, Ph.D., as an Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to practice, scholarship, public interest, and service in psychology. Dr. Tiffany O’Shaughnessy is a leader with a steadfast commitment to women’s issues and the development of people in psychology. Utilizing a feminist and intersectional framework, her research has significantly advanced our understanding of gender identity and the intersections of race, class and gender. Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s clinical work showcases her dedication to providing culturally informed and feminist therapeutic care. Her scholarship is prolific and influential, with notable work such as the special issues on Anti-Racist Feminist Practice in Women and Therapy. Her research centers on women of color, sexual minority women and gender diverse people, informing inclusive therapy practices and policy change. Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s service spans several organization including divisions 17 and 35, and the Association for Women in Psychology. Her leadership as the collective coordinator of AWP (Association of Women in Psychology) highlighted her ability to navigate complex challenges with empathy and strength, always centering gender liberation. She is undoubtedly an exceptional emerging leader for women in psychology.”
Special Education Professor Amber Friesen and Associate Professor Maryssa K. Mitsch have collaborated with Janice Myck-Wayne from CSU Fullerton to write a white paper titled “The What, Who and How of Early Childhood Special Education Personnel Preparation in California.” The white paper was prepared for the California Partnership for Effective Practices in Transition and Inclusion Grant Project, funded through a State Personnel Development Grant in the Office of Special Education program in the U.S. Department of Education.