News and Announcements
SFSU has modified its graduation requirements to better incorporate climate justice, which focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized and underserved populations and the ways frontline communities are often leaders in developing just climate solutions.
With this change, SFSU has revised its existing undergraduate Environmental Sustainability (ES) graduation requirement to include climate change and climate justice. The requirement, which is now called Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action (ESCA), officially makes climate justice a key pillar of the University’s curriculum.
“Because SFSU has a long history of social justice and addressing climate change, many of our students are already taking courses that touch on climate justice,” said Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Amy Sueyoshi. “This revision makes our commitment to providing climate justice education official even though we’ve been doing that already.”
This is the first time a major public university has required students to take a course explicitly on climate justice, not just climate change. The revised requirement is also the first of its kind within the CSU system.
The revision, which will be official starting fall 2025, is one of the many steps to better ensure climate justice education is prioritized at SFSU. The goal is that over time, more courses will be certified to meet this graduation requirement.
After completing this requirement, students will be able to analyze the problems and impacts of environmental issues and climate change and identify solutions to address the root causes and impacts of environmental and climate injustices.
“We are responding to the understanding that all jobs in the future will be climate jobs in some way. Our students, no matter their major and no matter their career, need to understand climate change because it is already impacting their lives,” said Autumn Thoyre, co-director of Climate HQ, a University-wide hub for climate-related activities at SFSU. “If you come to SFSU, you will learn about climate change and be ready for it in your career and civic life, you’ll be an informed voter and you’ll be ready for discussions with your family and friends.”
Will the ESCA requirement impact students’ path to graduation?
The revision will not change students’ current path to graduation. Courses currently fulfilling the old ES requirement will fulfill the new ESCA requirement. As of the 2024 – 25 academic year, this list includes more than 100 currently certified courses.
The ESCA requirement is an improved version of an already existing Environmental Sustainability (ES) requirement. The change officially requires all certified courses in this category to explicitly incorporate climate change and climate injustice, despite the likelihood that many of these courses already meet this requirement.
The ESCA requirement falls under SF State Studies, which are courses that do not have specific unit requirements. They are meant to ensure that students take a least one course in areas that the campus believes are important to graduate from SFSU. Like in the past, this requirement can still be met by any certified lower- or upper-division course in general education, a major or minor or an elective. While many certified courses are in STEM programs such as Biology and Geography, the list also includes courses in English, Ethnic Studies, History, Humanities and more.
In the future, all ES courses will undergo recertification to ensure they meet the new ESCA standard. Due to the recent approval, any new courses requesting ES/ESCA designation prior to fall 2025 must meet ESCA standards.
“I think it’s likely to bring new courses into the ES/ESCA requirement. For example, more faculty in the colleges of Ethnic Studies, Liberal & Creative Arts and Health & Social Sciences might say, ‘Look, we can fit this ESCA category even better than we could before because it matches the content areas students are asking to learn more about,’” said Thoyre.
ESCA origin story
SFSU’s Climate HQ was launched to better support climate change and climate justice work happening across the SFSU campus. The hub and its activities are comprised of students, faculty and staff. Two years ago, Climate HQ’s co-directors initiated the process of incorporating climate change into SF State’s general education — institutionalizing that all SFSU students would be informed in climate change-related issues.
Climate HQ already offers certificate programs, internships and fellowships to help SFSU students become leaders who center their work around equity. Their flagship Certificate in Climate Change Causes, Impacts and Solutions — open to all enrolled SFSU students and non-matriculated students — was designed based on student feedback and is intended to be flexible to complement students’ diverse interests. Thoyre notes that many certificate courses — which have to be at least 50% about climate change — already overlap with ES/ESCA courses.
“Since the launch of the climate change certificate, we’ve seen faculty incorporating climate change and climate justice into existing courses so they can be part of the certificate,” Thoyre explained. “Our hope is that the new graduation requirement will have similar effect across campus. We hope people will say, ‘I’d like my course to be ESCA certified’ and they’ll seek ways to integrate climate justice with their course’s content."
Learn more about Climate HQ and SFSU undergraduate graduation requirements.
Photo by Juan Montes
The SF State Safe Zone Ally program invites staff, faculty and administrators to become safe zone allies for the campus LGBTQ+ community. The Safe Zone Ally program’s mission is to foster a welcoming, inclusive and equitable campus environment by building a support network for people of all gender and sexual identities.
Safe Zone allies are active and visible volunteers who are open to talking to members of the LGBTQ+ community in a confidential and supportive environment. To become a Safe Zone ally, volunteers must complete a Safe Zone Ally training. Several Safe Zone Ally trainings are offered throughout the year.
The next training will be held virtually in two parts: Friday, April 4, 1 – 4 p.m., and Friday, April 11, 1 – 4 p.m. Participants must be able to attend both trainings and must pre-register via email.
For details and to register, please email Rick Nizzardini.
Academic Technology (AT) welcomes you to spring 2025. As of Monday, Jan. 27, AT has resumed extended hours to support evening classes: Mondays – Thursdays, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Fridays, 8 a.m. – to 5 p.m. Visit AT in Library 80, call (415) 405-5555 or email at@sfsu.edu.
AT has compiled technology guides to help new and returning faculty and students review its resources and recommendations for a wide range of critical technology needs. View technology resource guides by role:
Get help with AT services on ATHelp: Select a topic to view how-to guides or participate in the community forum to ask questions and share ideas. Find all of this and more at the AT Help Center.
And did you know AT makes video content? Watch AT’s YouTube channel.
New for spring 2025: the AI Literacy Education Program! To help prepare the SFSU community for an ever-changing technology environment, AT, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Information Technology Services collaborated to develop the AI Literacy Education Program. This comprehensive training program instills essential competencies for effective and responsible engagement with generative artificial intelligence (AI), both in personal and professional contexts. Core competencies of the program include the ability to understand, use, evaluate and ethically navigate generative AI to enhance human thought and work.
A Family Study Room is now open at the J. Paul Leonard Library! Room 263 has been specially furnished for adults and children to use together.
Here’s what you’ll find inside:
- Two desks with chairs and an adjustable-height standing desk
- Desktop personal computer
- Child-sized table and chairs
- Pack ‘N Play playard
- Infant seat
- Armchair
- Books and toys for various ages
- Whiteboard and markers
- Disinfecting wipes, handheld vacuum, trash and recycling bins
The room is available to the SF State community on a drop-in basis during main Library hours. Those accompanied by children have priority use of this shared space. Multiple families may use the room together.
The door is locked with keypad entry. Please visit the Book Checkout & Pickup Desk to get the code. Kid Kits are also available at the desk. The new Kid Kits are backpacks filled with age-appropriate toys, books and activities that students, faculty and staff can check out for up to four hours when the desk is open on weekdays.
The Library has more resources for families. A cabinet stocked with coloring sheets, books and toys is available in the Study Commons (room 42). A lactation room is in room 267 (Please register with Health Promotion & Wellness to gain access to all lactation rooms on campus).
Please visit the Kids and Families page for more information. For questions or comments, please email the Library’s Student Success and Engagement Team at libsse@sfsu.edu.
The Health Equity Institute (HEI) Faculty Scholar Program provides a fellowship year to full-time SFSU faculty to join the HEI in research, training and practice activities aligned with the core values and programs of the Health Equity Institute. Faculty scholars for 2025 – 2026 will be provided release time and a home at HEI to develop scholarship, grants, student programs and/or community activities.
For 2025 – 2026, HEI seeks scholars whose work aligns with and can strengthen HEI’s scholarship portfolio in health equity, with interest in a scholar ready to contribute to the newly integrated hub for research and education on gender and sexuality. Selections will be made based on review of an application letter outlining the faculty member’s area of focus and alignment with HEI, a proposed set of activities during 2025 – 2026 with a timeline of activities and how the potential year will benefit the advancement of the applicant and contribute to the HEI. Up to two faculty scholars will be selected for 2025– 2026.
Application letters should describe the scholar and their proposed contribution activities. Applications must be emailed by Saturday, March 1, to Laura Mamo at lmamo@sfsu.edu. Final funding is dependent on funding availability/approvals.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) Small Grants program supports new or ongoing research projects and scholarly activities, including creative works and community-engaged activities, that encourage application to externally funded opportunities and/or bring external recognition to the applicant and the University.
Grant amount and eligibility: $14,000 for an individual proposal; $23,500 for a collaborative proposal involving two or more faculty. All faculty must be SFSU employees. The application deadline is Friday, March 14, at 5 p.m. F
For details, including the request for proposals, please visit the application site via InfoReady. For questions, please email Thien Lam, grant development specialist.
Grant preparation workshops will take place Monday, Feb. 10, 3 – 4:30 p.m., and Friday, Feb. 21, 9:30 – 11 a.m. Please RSVP via email to Kate Hamel, faculty director for research engagement and development, for the Zoom link.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) Affinity Group Catalyst Grants program supports the creation and development of interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research, scholarship and creative activities (RSCA) team projects that lead to external funding opportunities and/or elevate the University’s RSCA profile.
The grant amount is up to $15,000. Affinity groups must comprise three or more faculty members from at least two departments. Cross-college collaboration is highly encouraged. All faculty must be SFSU employees. The application deadline: Monday, March 17, at 5 p.m.
For details, including the request for proposals, please visit the application site via Qualtrics. For questions or to schedule a meeting to discuss proposal development, please email Kate Hamel, faculty director for research engagement and development.
Saturday, Feb. 15, is the study abroad priority deadline for students to be abroad during 2025 – 2026, fall 2025 and summer 2025.
On SF State Abroad programs, students enjoy:
- Cheaper cost of living abroad
- Access to their financial aid abroad
- Pay the same SFSU tuition
- Earn SFSU resident credit
Programs are available in 37 countries! Explore the SF State Abroad Database to see all programs.
Students can go abroad for their major or minor, upper- and lower-division general education and language learning.
Speak with international students and study-abroad alumni the International Education Exchange Council Study Abroad Fair on Tuesday, Feb. 4 – Wednesday, Feb. 5, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., on Malcolm X Plaza.
Please encourage your students to attend and follow SF State Abroad on Instagram. For questions, please visit the SF State Abroad website or email the Study Abroad Office at studyabroad@sfsu.edu. Advising is available in-person and via Zoom. The Study Abroad Office is in Building C of the Village at Centennial Square, next to U.S. Bank.
SF State Summer Kids Camp is a program designed for children ages 5 – 12. With a focus on creativity, exploration and adventure, this camp provides an enriching summer experience for children.
Each week, campers will engage in a range of activities and games, including arts and crafts, science experiments, outdoor adventures and more. Experienced counselors provide a supportive community for children to learn, grow and have fun.
Are you interested in working on climate change and justice in your research, scholarship or creative activities? Through the Climate Justice Leaders Initiative, SF State’s Climate HQ awards minigrants that bring together researchers from different fields to address climate justice goals.
These one-time minigrants will seed and support interdisciplinary research, scholarship and creative activities. Three to six grants between $5,000 and $12,000 each will be awarded (award period is June 2025 – May 2026). Applications are sought from teams comprised of at least two people who specialize in different disciplines, including at least tenured/tenure-track faculty.
The minigrants aim to:
- support faculty members incorporating climate change/justice into their research, service and creative activities (RSCA) for the first time
- deepen their inquiries into climate change/justice in a new way
- facilitate connections among faculty engaged in climate RSCA across campus and in the community
Climate HQ supports efforts to mitigate climate change and to address climate impacts through the interdisciplinary minigrants. The Climate Justice Leaders Initiative aims to strengthen climate justice teaching, research and outreach at SF State.
For questions, please email Climate HQ faculty mini grants coordinator Carolina Prado at carolinaprado@sfsu.edu.
The SF State Academic Senate will meet Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2 – 5 p.m., via Zoom for its ninth meeting of the academic year.
Agenda:
- The Executive Committee presents as informational items:
- Institutional Review Committee Dollar Target memo
- California Master Plan for Career Education
- Recommendation from the Campus Curriculum Committee as consent items:
- Bachelor of Arts in Race, Ethnicity and Health (BA-REH): reduction in units
- Master of Arts in Political Science (MA-PLSI): distance education authorization
- Graduate Certificate in Ethnic Studies (CT-ETHS): distance education authorization
- Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (BA-SOC): distance education authorization
- Certificate in Business Administration (CT-BA): distance education authorization and asynchronous
- Recommendation from the Campus Curriculum Committee in first reading:
- Bachelor of Science in Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management (BS-HTM): name change
- Bachelor in Music, concentration in Music Production (BM-MUSMP): degree type change
- International Relations Graduate Pathway Program (IRGPP-SELF): new certificate proposal
- Minor in Business Analytics: new minor proposal
- Master of Science in Accountancy (MS-ACCT): change designation, change core classes
- Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies, concentration in PK – 3 Integrated Teacher Education Program: concentrations
- Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies, concentration in Special Education Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP): concentrations
- Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies, concentration in Care and Education: concentrations
- Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies, concentration in Pre-K to Third Grade: concentrations
- Academic Senate will hear formal presentations from:
- Darlene Yee-Melichar, CSU faculty trustee: “CSU Update” (time approximate 3:45 – 3:50 p.m.)
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) invites the campus community to participate in “JEDI PIE,” representing a new hope to learn about culturally responsive pedagogy. This is the first course in a three-course series. “JEDI PIE” is an acronym for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Pedagogies for Inclusive Excellence.
The course starts Monday, Feb. 3, and will remain open rest of the year. Those who complete it by Tuesday, April 15, will receive a $250 stipend. A launch event will take place Wednesday, Feb. 5, at noon via Zoom.
For questions and/or to receive the Zoom link, please scan the QR code on the flyer or email CEETL at ceetl@sfsu.edu.
An Academic Technology course introduces generative artificial intelligence (A)I to those with little or no prior experience engaging with this emerging technology.
Participants in “AI Literacy Essentials: Introduction to Generative AI” obtain a foundational understanding of generative AI, its associated opportunities and implications, and basic strategies for composing and iterating prompts. Participants will be expected to engage in hands-on interaction with the Microsoft Copilot chatbot to begin generating practical outputs for personal and professional use cases.
This course is an elective that counts toward receiving a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
Schedule:
- Wednesday, Feb. 5, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Please register via Zoom.
- Thursday, Feb. 6, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Please register via Zoom.
Faculty: Did you know the Library has digital learning objects and lesson plans that can help you teach the research process? On Tuesday Feb. 11, at noon, learn about the Canvas modules, YouTube videos, lesson plans and handouts that are available to assist in scaffolding every step of the research process. Please register for the Zoom link.
Can’t attend the webinar but want to know more? Please register anyway to receive the recording and more information.
Do you think your college, department or unit would benefit? Please email Faith Rusk to schedule an in-person or online session specifically for your group.
Please join the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 3 – 4:30 p.m., in Library 242 for a workshop on incorporating undergraduate research experiences and creative activities into your courses and your own Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities (RSCA). Undergraduate RSCA is a high impact teaching practice that has been shown to increase student success and employability in the workforce.
Kate Hamel will lead the workshop and discuss SF State CREATE, the new hub for student RSCA opportunities on campus. Hamel is a professor of Kinesiology, faculty director of research engagement and development and a CEETL Advisory Board member. As is tradition with CEETL “Pints and PIE” workshops, a sweet treat will be provided to all attendees.
Filipino migrant workers have long been called upon to sacrifice their own health to provide care in facilities and private homes throughout the United States. What draws them to such exploitative, low-wage work, and how do they care for themselves? Please join the Health Equity Institute and Research & Education on Gender and Sexuality in celebrating Associate Professor of Sociology and Sexuality Studies Valerie Francisco-Menchavez’s new book “Caring for Caregivers: Filipina Migrants and Community Building during Crisis” on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 5 – 7 p.m., in Library 286.
In “Caring for Caregivers,” Francisco-Menchavez centers the perspectives of Filipino caregivers in the Bay Area from 2013 to 2021. The book illuminates their transnational experiences and their strategies and practices to help each other navigate the U.S. health-care system.
Francisco-Menchavez is an award-winning scholar-activist, researcher, writer and educator whose work calls attention to the experiences of Filipina migrants in care work industries and their indelible abilities to form solidarities and organize with one another. It is the inaugural book in the University of Washington Press’ Critical Filipinx Studies Series.
For disability accommodations, please email regs@sfsu.edu.
On Feb. 19 at 5 p.m., Public Health Lecturer Faculty Deborah Craig will present her documentary about Sally Gearhart’s long and rich life. The evening will begin with a prescreening reception, followed by the film screening, in Coppola Theatre, Fine Arts building.
Gearhart was a charismatic radical activist and academic who spearheaded the 1970s and 1980s lesbian feminist movement. She also co-founded the SF State Women Studies program in the 1970s, wrote cult-classic utopian fantasy novels (complete with flying lesbians!), helped establish a women’s land community in Northern California, and more. But although she worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Harvey Milk to defeat the anti-gay Briggs initiative in 1978, most people don’t know her name. The documentary hopes to change that.
Although the film begins as a relatively straightforward biography of an overlooked heroine, it becomes a meditation on the symbiotic relationship between leaders like Gearhart and movements for social change. Finally, at the end of her life, despite the challenges of aging, her gift for reaching across the aisle sustain her in the end, inspiring today’s struggles for social justice and equality.
For more information and to RSVP, please visit the Department of Women and Gender Studies website.
Risk and Safety Services offers a series of “Ready, Set, Safety!” lunch-and-learn presentations beginning Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 11:30 a.m. in Library 286. These brown-bag talks are designed to inform the community of risk mitigation programs in place at SF State. Everyone is encouraged to attend and participate in these discussions as they offer an open forum for anyone interested in learning more about a variety of topics.
The Feb. 26 presentation will cover special events. Presenters will provide information on requirements for student organizations, colleges and departments when organizing an event.
SF State Spotlight
NBC News, KGO-TV and Axios each recently interviewed Professor of Asian American Studies Jonathan Lee about the significance of Lunar New Year. 2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake.
“It’s shedding the ego, letting go of the past, letting go of anger, letting go of love lost,” Lee said in the NBC News piece. “This is the year where that kind of growth — personal and macro, internal and external — is very much possible.”
“For people that grow up in this kind of cultural landscape with these types of stories and folklore, the snake is a representation of love,” Lee added.
On Jan. 29, SFSU employees from University Advancement teamed up to volunteer at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. Over two shifts at one of its San Francisco warehouses, they packed more than 1,000 bags full of fresh produce and other groceries. Almost 50,000 households rely on the food bank to put food on the table for their families.
Participants in this event included: Susan Alden, Kent Bravo, Mary Campbell, Christopher Clark, Bonnie Feinberg, David Fierberg, Marciana Flores Atkinson, Matt Itelson, Jeff Jackanicz, Caroline Johansson, Dafna Kapshud, Yasmine Khan, Soo Kim, Nicole Lange, Ken Maeshiro, Paolo Maralit, Guisselle Nuñez, Jamie Oppenheim, Senem Evrim Ozer, Kanaga Rajan, Alex Sanchez, Tina Speier, Joel Streicker and Thao Vo.
Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance Michael Schweikardt is the scenic designer for Off-Broadway’s new musical “The Jonathan Larson Project.”
When Jonathan Larson died unexpectedly at age 35, it was hours before his musical “RENT” took the world by storm. Larson was hailed posthumously as the voice of a generation, winning Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, and achieving his lifelong dream of changing Broadway forever … although he tragically wasn’t there to see it. In his apartment, he left behind hundreds of cassette tapes, scripts, music files, journals — boxes of his writing from shows that were never produced and projects that were never seen … until now.
“The Jonathan Larson Project” brings to the stage the extraordinary unheard songs of the writer who revolutionized Broadway. This powerful new musical asks how we can make a difference in the world today, with Larson’s voice reaching through time to inspire audiences. From presidential elections to environmental activism to creating and connecting despite every obstacle, Larson’s songs speak to our present time with stunning resonance.
The show includes cut songs from “RENT” and “tick, tick … BOOM!” as well as songs that have never been performed in a theatre before.
“The Jonathan Larson Project” is a world premiere musical conceived by Jennifer Ashely Tepper and directed by John Simpkins. It begins performances at the Orpheum Theatre in Manhattan on Friday, Feb. 14.
Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics Zubaida Qamar, published a paper titled “Differences in Cooking Behavior and Infrastructure by Food Security Status Among Historically Underserved College Students” in the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. This study examines how cooking confidence, behavior and kitchen infrastructure differ among low-income, first-generation college students at various CSU campuses.
Assistant Professor of Special Education Adam Graves has published a work in the Journal of Impairment and Blindness. It is titled “Review of Literature Addressing Biological and Social Responses to Touch: Instructional Implications.”
This publication provides critical support for the importance of individuals who are blind or have low vision to have control of their body to support more effective learning and independence. Rather than the traditional hand-over-hand guidance utilized, instructional practices that allow these individuals autonomy, independence and connectedness supported greater learning. Further, these types of practices challenged implicit social messages regarding dependency and subsequent social barriers.