March 24, 2025

San Francisco State University (SFSU) is rolling out the red carpet for its newly admitted students with a special event designed to give them an inside look at life as a Gator. Explore SF State: Admitted Student Day will take place on Saturday, April 5, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., offering a day packed with opportunities to tour the campus, engage with faculty and get crucial financial aid guidance. The event serves as an introduction to the University’s academic and social community, helping students and their families make informed decisions about their future at SFSU.

A Day of Discovery and Celebration 

The day’s schedule includes multiple ways for students to explore their new academic home. Student-led campus tours will provide an overview of SFSU’s facilities, while prospective residents can take a housing tour to see inside a residence hall.

Attendees will also have the chance to engage directly with faculty members through academic showcases, lab and studio tours and info sessions tailored to specific majors. For students still deciding on a major, the event provides the perfect opportunity to explore different academic departments and meet with advisors.

Financial aid can often be a key factor in choosing a university, and SFSU aims to make the process more accessible by offering one-on-one consultations with financial aid counselors. With more than half of SFSU undergraduates receiving financial aid, new students are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to get guidance on their next steps.

Another highlight of the event is the Celebration Station, where students can officially commit to SFSU by accepting their admission offer. After doing so, they can ring the University’s celebration bell to mark the occasion and receive a free gift. 

Building Community and Winning Prizes 

Beyond academics and logistics, Explore SF State is about building connections. New students will have the chance to meet current students, staff and faculty to learn more about campus life and resources that support student success.

A little fun is also built into the day — students will receive a complimentary swag bag upon check-in, and those who complete the event check-in process ahead of time will be entered into a drawing for tickets to a San Francisco Giants game.

“Explore SF State is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience the University firsthand, meet their future professors and start building their support network before classes even begin,” said Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Recruitment Camille Rieck-Armstrong. “We want every student to feel prepared and excited for their next chapter.”

Following a national search, Andreana Clay will begin as the new dean of the College of Health & Social Sciences on April 1, 2025. 

Dr. Clay has been serving as the interim dean since July 1, 2023, and has exhibited exemplary leadership in the midst of significant enrollment and financial challenges. Her vision for the college is to foster an environment that prioritizes community, inclusion and collaboration among faculty and staff. She brings nine years of experience in higher education administration. In her continuing role she will oversee all academic, financial and administrative functions of the college, which includes diverse departments, programs and schools committed to equity and social justice.

For the past 22 years Dr. Clay has worked as a scholar, facilitator and community advocate in the fields of feminist studies, critical race studies, queer theory, music and social justice. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Davis, an M.A. from the University of Memphis and a B.A. in Political Science and Women’s Studies from the University of Missouri – Columbia. Dr. Clay has been a faculty member at SF State since 2003 and is the author of “The Hip-Hop Generation Fights Back: Youth, Activism, and Post-Civil Rights Politics,” which George Lipsitz described as a “deftly executed ethnography.” She has published additional articles in journals such as Social Justice, Critical Black Studies Reader and the Journal of Lesbian Studies.

Our provost thanks the search committee and the college community for their service in identifying the College of Health & Social Sciences’ new dean. Please join her in welcoming Dr. Clay to her new role.

An SFSU delegation led by University President Lynn Mahoney and Associated Students President Brandon Foley (far right) was in Sacramento last Wednesday to meet with elected officials during CSU Advocacy Day. Their goal: fighting the proposed 7.95% budget cut to the CSU. Also on hand to speak out against the cuts were SFSU Government and Community Relations Liaison Alexander Dursin (far left), Interim Chief of Staff Luis De Paz Fernandez (second from left), CSU Chancellor Mildred García (third from right) and Associated Students VP of External Affairs Andrea Soto. Want to lend your voice to those advocating against the proposed cuts? Use the hashtag #stopCSUcuts on social media.

March 24 – 28 is spring ’25 recess. During this time, Academic Technology (AT) will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We will resume our normal operating hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1 (campus is closed Monday, March 31, in observance of Cesar Chavez Day). Visit the Academic Technology website for more updates.

The voting period for the spring 2025 Staff Council elections is now open. As a member of the SFSU community, Staff Council wants your voice to be heard by voting for your colleagues for Staff Council positions.

The voting period for the Staff Council election, spring 2025, is March 17 – April 4. Cast your ballots using the voting link.

Current vacancies: 

• Unit C99: one seat 
• Unit 1: one seat 
• Unit 2: one seat 
• Unit 4: two seats 
• Unit 5: one seat 
• Unit 6: one seat 
• Unit 7: two seats 
• Unit 8: one seat 
• Unit 9 General Technical Support: nine seats 
• Unit 9 Technical Data Support: three seats 
• Unit 9 Research & Data Support: two seats 
• Unit 9 IT: four seats

Learn more on the Staff Council webpage. You can send questions to the Staff Council via email. They thank everyone for their contribution to the shared governance of San Francisco State University.

The SF State Academic Senate met on Tuesday, March 18, via Zoom. During the meeting, the Senate:

• Passed by general consent the following items: 
  • Certificate in Youth and Human Services Nonprofit Administration, discontinuance 
  • Master of Sciences in Interdisciplinary Marine and Estuarine Science, discontinuance 
• Heard in first reading the following: 
  • Revision to #S24-145 Departments Chairs and Equivalent Unit Directors 
  • Revision to #F14-147 Policy on Emerita/Emeritus Status 
  • Revision to #S20-151 All University Committee on International Programs 
  • Resolution Endorsing AS-3609-23 Encouraging Campus Faculty Legislative 
  • Revision to #S19-014 University on Written English Proficiency 
• Heard a presentation from: 
  • Karen Boyce, Health Promotion and Wellness director: “National College Health Assessment”  
  • Nancy Gerber, IRC chair: “Institutional Review Committee”

Teach your passion and earn units for doing it. Through SF State's Experimental College (EXCO), you can earn up to four units for teaching a class on a topic you choose — it can be anything. We are also piloting a community service learning opportunity to lead students in 20 hours of service with a campus-registered organization on a local Bay Area issue.

EXCO courses create a space for SF State students to develop leadership skills as they share their voices, backgrounds and passions in a mutually supportive community of peers. Particularly during the global pandemic, widespread racial justice demonstrations and remote learning, student-led courses empowered all students to practice critical thinking in a variety of topics based on shared knowledge and personal experience, which transforms traditional academia. Ultimately, EXCO teachers develop the topics they teach to engage peers in re-envisioning how the world works through each students’ knowledge. Past prominent EXCO courses include “Critical Character Study within Anime,” “Lucid Dreaming,” “Adventures in San Francisco,” “Introduction to New Queer Cinema,” “Writing on the Muni” and many more unusual and fascinating topics, all taught by undergraduate students.

Fill out an EXCO teacher application if you’d like to propose a class. Deadline extended to April 7. If you'd like more information, feel free to contact EXCO Director Dan Curtis-Cummins.

The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) organizes faculty writing meetups to provide faculty opportunities to check in about their writing and provide time to quietly work on individual writing projects.

The meetups are scheduled for every first and third Tuesday, and every second and fourth Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday sessions are hybrid; join virtually or come in person to Library Room 242; snacks provided. Friday sessions are on Zoom. In April and May, the meetups are: April 1, April 11, April 15, April 25, May 6 and May 9. Please RSVP for faculty writing meetups to get a Zoom link.

The Office of Faculty Affairs and the University Tenure and Promotion Committee (UTPC) invite tenure-track faculty and associate professors to participate in one of the retention, tenure and promotion workshops. Faculty who will be reviewed in the next few years are encouraged to attend.

The workshops focus on two phases of professional development so feel free to attend the workshop that best fits your schedule. Please RSVP to receive a link for the workshop. An invitation link will be sent to your SFSU email address the day before the workshop.

• Thursday, April 17, 10 – 11:30 a.m.: Retention review (years 2 – 5) 
• Wednesday, April 23, 2 – 3:30 p.m.:  Promotion review (to associate and full professor) 
• Tuesday, April 29, 2 – 3:30 p.m.: Retention review (years 2 – 5) 
• Monday, May 5, 10 – 11:30 a.m.: Promotion review (to associate and full professor) 

Questions? Contact Interim Associate Dean Sheldon Gen at sgen@sfsu.edu.

Staff Council is excited to invite the campus community to an engaging and informative event. This workshop and resource event will focus on emergency, safety and well-being under the theme “building a resilient community.”

The event is Wednesday, March 26, 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. in the Science and Engineering Innovation Center room 116. Coffee and lunch will be provided. RSVP is required as the maximum capacity is 120. Staff Council looks forward to your participation.

Join Project Rebound and Reentry Studies for their second annual reentry simulation Thursday, April 3, from noon to 2 p.m. in Jack Adams Hall; doors open at 11:30 a.m. RSVP required.

Developed by students in the Prison Reentry Studies minor capstone class (PR500), this reentry simulation event will have participants put on the persona of a person who has just been released from a period of incarceration. Participants will see if they can navigate the stations — church, DMV, career center — and start again in society or if they are forced to commit more crime to survive. Project Reform has done similar reentry simulations. Learn more on YouTube.

Professor of Theatre and Dance Todd Roehrman invites the campus community to his conversation with special guest Distinguished Professor Deborah Nadoolman Landis, Ph.D as part of CINEMA 650: Filmmaking Master Class – Costume Design on Friday, April 4, 6 – 8 p.m. at the Coppola Theatre, Fine Arts Building. This event is free and open to all interested SF State students, staff and faculty, and members of the public. 

Costume designer and historian Nadoolman Landis is chair and founding director of the David C. Copley Center for Costume Design at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Her distinguished design career in film includes “The Blues Brothers” (1980), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), “Trading Places” (1983), “¡Three Amigos!” (1987), “Coming to America” (1988), for which she received an Academy Award nomination, and the groundbreaking music video Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (1983). She curated Hollywood Costume at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. She is the author of six books that look deeply into the history and practice of Hollywood Costume Design and is the editor-in-chief of the upcoming three-volume “Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Film and Television Costume Design” (2025).

The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL)’s course “A New Hope in the Return of the JEDI PIE” certificate series focused on culturally responsive pedagogy opened on Feb 3. The course will remain open the rest of the year but the last date to complete the course for a stipend and feedback is April 15. It is still possible to enroll and complete this asynchronous course by April 15. Register for the program.

We are excited to invite faculty to participate in San Francisco State University’s 124th Commencement Ceremony as a faculty marshal. This year's ceremony will take place on Friday, May 23, at Oracle Park. Your role will be crucial in ensuring the smooth procession and organization of the event. We appreciate your dedication to our students and the University community.

The assignments will be from 1:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Oracle Park.  Let's come together to honor the hard work and dedication of our graduates! 

As in years past, all faculty marshals are asked to attend an informational training in late May via Zoom for their assignment. Many assignments involve large amounts of walking and standing, so should you require any accommodations, please note them on the sign-up form under "Questions or requests.”

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Ken Maeshiro at kmaeshir@sfsu.edu.

The 124th Commencement ceremony of San Francisco State University will be held on Friday, May 23, at Oracle Park. This momentous occasion celebrates the achievements of our graduates, and SFSU invites the community to join us as an ambassador. Your involvement will contribute to an atmosphere of pride and joy, embodying the University's dedication to excellence and community spirit.

As an ambassador, your role will be crucial from 1:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., during which you’ll contribute to the smooth execution of the ceremony and creating lasting memories for our graduates and their families.

As in years past, all ambassadors are asked to: 

• Receive approval from their supervisor 
• Attend an informational training via Zoom in late May for their assignment

Many assignments involve large amounts of walking and standing, so should you require any accommodations, please note them on the sign-up form under "Questions or requests.” Your support will help make this a special event for our graduating students, their friends and family members.

Questions can be emailed to Dania Russell at drussell@sfsu.edu.