March 3, 2025

Imagine walking from bed to class in your pajamas. A near-zero commute is just one of the reasons that living on the SF State campus translates to academic success and a fast track to graduation. Application for student housing at SFSU for 2025 – 2026 open March 3 at 9 a.m.  

All freshman applicants who have accepted their admission offer and submitted the housing application with their initial payment are guaranteed a bed in one of the University’s seven residential communities; new transfer students and continuing students must accept their admission offer and submit a housing application with their initial payment by Sunday, April 6, to receive a guarantee. All units are all-inclusive: fully furnished with Wi-Fi and utilities. They also offer exclusive student services, study spaces and shorter license terms than the standard 12-month duration on the rental market.  

“I feel it’s very beneficial to live on campus as a student — especially if it’s one of your first years away from home,” student Keely said. “It’s just nice to have others who are going through the same experience as you and who are able to relate with you about being a student and going through the college life.”  

SFSU research has found that students who live on campus are more likely to take additional units each semester. Their four-year graduation rate is 58% higher than students who live off campus. Additionally, first-year students who live on campus achieve a grade-point average 10% higher than those who live off campus.  

Based on a new survey of SFSU students and families compiled by Know Research and Lexicon & Line, more than two-thirds of first-year and returning residents find that living on campus has improved their academics. More than three-fourths of parents state that living on campus has improved their students’ academics. 

SFSU’s campus and residential community are equipped with security, including 24/7 availability for on-campus police and Residential Life staff, key access to all residential buildings, lighted pathways, emergency phones and a free accompanied safe-walking service. 

“At San Francisco State University, you can have peace of mind knowing that your student is in a safe living and learning environment where they are poised to grow professionally and personally,” said Jeny V. Patiño, associate vice president for Housing, Dining and Conference Services. “With a scenic location just one mile from the beach and free public transit throughout the Bay Area for students, a world of opportunity awaits outside your door.” 

A reduced-rate student housing program for first-time freshmen launched last year. The first program of its kind in the CSU system, it provides reduced rates for 725 students in any of the residential communities available to first-time freshmen who meet the qualifications to receive a Cal Grant A or B financial aid award.   

SFSU’s residential communities: 

• West Grove Commons opened in fall 2024. The 751-bed, six-story building for freshmen covers 120,000 square feet. Each floor is designed “pod-style,” including a shared all-gender bathroom and study and lounge spaces.  

• The Towers at Centennial Square is a 16-story high-rise with one- and two-bedroom suites for freshmen and sophomores. Rooms are double or triple occupancy with a private bathroom, kitchenette and a living and dining area.  

• Towers Junior Suites is a five-story building with partial suites, all for freshmen. Rooms are double occupancy and include a private bathroom. 

• The Village at Centennial Square, which opened in 2001, features two- and three-bedroom apartments for junior/senior transfer students and international students. Rooms are single or double occupancy with a private bathroom, full kitchen and a living and dining area.  

• Manzanita Square, built in 2020, is a mixed community for sophomores, juniors, seniors and transfer students interested in living year-round. This community offers apartment-style living: private bathrooms, full kitchen, and a living and dining area, with single and double occupancy available. The eight-story building also features lounge and study spaces, a gym and a community courtyard.  

• University Park North was built in the 1950s as the Stonestown Apartments before being purchased by SF State in 2005. It is a mixed community for junior and senior continuing students and graduate students. It has apartments of one, two and three bedrooms. Rooms are single or double occupancy with private bathroom(s), a full kitchen and a living and dining area.  

• University Park South, enmeshed with the Parkmerced apartment community next door to campus, is for junior and senior continuing students. It has apartments of one, two and three bedrooms. Rooms are single or double occupancy with private bathroom, a full kitchen and a living and dining area.   

Students will move into their new campus residences at SFSU in mid-August. Apply early for on-campus housing, as spaces are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.  

Learn about on-campus housing and apply online. 

Photo by Juan Montes

Elevate your skills with a diverse range of trainings offered by experts across the CSU system.

Upcoming trainings: 

• Friday, March 7, 11 a.m. – noon: “Dealing with Triggers” 
• Monday, March 10, noon – 1 p.m.: “Identity-First and People-First Language Within the Disability Community: Honoring How People Claim Their Own Identity” 
• Tuesday, March 11, 10 – 11 a.m.: “The Power of Empathy in Our Interactions with Others” (CSU’s Got Talent Session) 
• Tuesday, March 11, 10 – 11 a.m.: “How to Bring Your Best Self to Work” 
• Thursday, March 13, 10 – 11 a.m.: “Streamlining Workplace Learning: Practical Applications of Articulate Rise” 
• Thursday, March 13, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: “Developmentally Focused Evaluations” 
• Tuesday, March 18, 10 – 11 a.m.: “Foundations of Change Management: What You Need to Know” 
• Wednesday, March 19, 10 – 11 a.m.: “Emotional Intelligence” 
• Thursday, March 20, 9 – 10:30 a.m.: “Exposing Hidden Bias” 
• Monday, March 24, 9 – 10 a.m.: “A Culture of Connection: Finding Our Heartbeat Through Engagement and Belonging” 
• Tuesday, March 25, 10:30 a.m. – noon: “AI Playtime: Exploring AI for Work, Wellness and Creativity” 
• Wednesday, March 26, 10 – 11 a.m.: “Empower Your Mind: Transform Negative Thought Patterns” 
• Friday, March 28, 11 a.m. – noon: “Budgeting Made Easy to Meet Your Money Milestones” 

 Please register via the PDF document. 

Lynx Gallagher starts as the new Sierra Nevada Field Campus director on Monday, March 3. He brings a variety of expertise from his 25 years in environmental education and conservation biology.  

For the last 15 years, he’s been working on mycology and endangered avifauna (birds of a particular region) conservation. He has been a biologist and crew leader for conservation efforts in Hawaii, Alaska, Yellowstone National Park and the Channel Islands.  

He holds certifications as a wilderness first responder, aviation specialist, wildland sawyer and rescue diver. His background gives him ease working in remote backcountry settings, in academia and other settings. He is familiar with the field campus and has a deep understanding and passion for its mission.    

He hails from the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and has had a passion for the natural world since childhood. Gallagher obtained his B.A. in English from Appalachian State University and M.S. in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science from University of Hawaii, Hilo.

Per Academic Senate Policy #F19-177, the Educational Policies Committee must inform the campus community of the following discontinuance proposal two weeks before Senate action. 

Discontinuance has been proposed for the Bachelor of Arts in Family & Community Sciences and will be reviewed this semester. 

To request more information or file a response, please email Claude Bartholomew at claude@sfsu.edu. 

Conference & Event Services offers top-notch guest suites on campus, offering visiting scholars, interview candidates or special guests a comfortable and convenient place to stay.  

Guest suites feature junior one-bedroom apartments in the University Park North housing community. Each suite is fully furnished and equipped with contemporary amenities. Guests are a short walk away from University facilities, public transit and the Stonestown Galleria with shopping, restaurants and cafes. 

Please visit the Conference & Event Services website for details. To schedule a tour, please email Kyle Dong at hdcsces@sfsu.edu.

Explore SF State is the University’s signature spring event for admitted students and their families — a day for them to visit campus, make connections and learn about life as a Gator. You can help them feel that they’ve found their home at SF State by serving as a volunteer ambassador.     

Explore SF State will take place Saturday, April 5. Ambassador shifts are 7 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided for all who help for the day.  

Please sign up to be an ambassador via Qualtrics.

The Health Equity Institute’s newly created Research and Education on Gender and Sexuality Hub invites faculty to join a working group to shape its mission and vision and continue as affiliated faculty starting in fall 2025.  

The hub aims to create an interdisciplinary community of scholars, educators and activists at SFSU committed to exploring gender and sexuality and engaging with a broad audience of students, educators, advocates and professionals. 

Participants will help develop the hub’s intellectual and scholarly programming, including mentorship opportunities for students, campus talks and book events, grant writing and building an intellectual community on campus. The commitment includes three working group meetings in March, April and May. Participants will receive a stipend for their participation. The first meeting will occur the week of Monday, March 17 (final day and time to be determined, depending on schedules). 

The hub is also affiliated with the undergraduate and M.A. programs in the Department of Sociology and Sexuality Studies. 

Please complete the Google form for more information or to express interest in joining the working group.  

 For questions, please email Alexis Martinez at alexisnm@sfsu.edu. 

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.     

Please view the call for applications via Box and complete the application by 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 1.   

 For questions, please email Climate HQ faculty mini grants coordinator Carolina Prado at carolinaprado@sfsu.edu.

The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) will host a mini-symposium, “Embracing and Resisting AI: Best Practices in the Classroom,” on Friday, May 2, 9 a.m. – noon, via Zoom. CEETL seeks panelists to share six- to seven-minute presentations on how they have addressed emerging AI technologies in their classrooms.  

CEETL is particularly interested in hearing from faculty about how they are teaching students about artificial intelligence (AI), how they are teaching them to work with AI in their disciplines; and how they are protecting student learning from AI shortcuts where necessary.  

To propose a presentation, please submit a 200-word summary via Qualtrics by Saturday, April 5.  

The SF State Academic Senate will meet Tuesday, March 4, 2 – 5 p.m., via Zoom for its 10th meeting of the academic year.  

Agenda:  

• Recommendation from the Executive Committee a consent item: 
• Revision to Policy on Program Sustainability, Continuance and Discontinuance #F24-177 
• Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee in first reading: 
• Revision to Department Chairs and Equivalent Unit Directors, #S24-145 
• Recommendation from the Educational Policies Council proposed discontinuances in first reading: 
• Certificate in Your and Human Services Nonprofit Administration 
• Certificate in Interdisciplinary Marine and Estuarine Science 
• Academic Senate will hear formal presentations from: 
• Andrew Roderick, assistant vice president of Academic Technology: “SFSU Computing Updates” (time approximate 3:30 – 3:50 p.m.) 
• Anna Titus, assistant vice president for Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation: “Title IX Updates” (time approximate 3:50 – 4:10 p.m.)

The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL)-organized faculty writing meetups provide opportunities for faculty to check-in briefly about their writing and ample 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 to Library 242 (snacks provided). Friday sessions are on Zoom. In March, Faculty will meet on March 4, March 14 and March 18. 

To RSVP and for the Zoom link, please sign up via Qualtrics. 

The “AI Literacy Essentials: Introduction to Generative AI” course introduces generative artificial intelligence (AI) to those with little or no prior experience engaging with this emerging technology. It will be held Tuesday, March 4, 2 to 3:30 p.m., via Zoom.

Participants obtain a foundational understanding of generative AI, its associated opportunities and implications, and basic strategies for composing and iterating prompts. Participants will 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.

Please visit the SF State AI website to register and learn more.  
 

The “AI Literacy Essentials: Prompting for Practical Applications” course offers a focused exploration of prompting and iteration strategies for generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like Microsoft Copilot. It will be held Wednesday, March 5, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., via Zoom. 

Through collaborative, hands-on activities and interactive exercises, participants will learn to write clear and effective prompts, apply refinement techniques such as prompt chaining, and assess AI-generated outputs for accuracy and relevance to achieve more reliable and useful results in a variety of academic and non-academic contexts. 

This course is required to receive a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program. 

Please visit the SF State AI website to register and learn more.

The School of Cinema and the Department of Mathematics present “Celebrating Black Mathmeticians” on Wednesday, March 5, 4 – 8 p.m., in Coppola Theatre, Fine Arts building. 

George Csicsery, SF State Cinema alumnus, will show two of his recent films presenting the contributions that Black mathematicians have made in the last 100 years. His film is the first effort to address this subject. He has made dozens of documentaries in his filmmaking career. In the last few years, he has created a number of films about prominent mathematicians.   

Schedule: 
4 p.m.: “Journey of Black Mathematicians, Part 1” 

5 p.m.:  Discussion with Csicsery 

5:30 p.m.: “Journey of Black Mathematicians, Part II” (San Francisco premiere) 

6:30 p.m.: Discussion and reception 
 

Faculty Affairs and the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning, with the support and guidance of the University Chairs Council and the Academic Senate’s Professional Development Council, are excited to offer professional development opportunities for associate professors. 

Join an upcoming workshop to develop an individual development plan — a tool to set goals, identify areas for improvement and track progress. Participants who complete a plan will receive stipends of $250, until funds are exhausted. Lunch will be provided. 

Schedule:  

(Associate professors with less than six years in rank): 

• March 5, Wednesday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Library 121 
• March 13, Thursday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Library 286 

(Associate professors with six-plus years in rank) 

• March 17, Monday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Library 286, or 
• March 20, Thursday, 12 – 3 p.m., Library 121 

Associate professors may register solo or as a group. Registering with peers is encouraged to facilitate peer accountability. If the above dates don’t work, groups of four or more associate Professors can schedule a workshop by emailing Interim Associate Dean Shelden Gen at sgen@sfsu.edu. 

Muslim Student Life invites the campus community to its iftars (communal dinners) during Ramadan on Thursday, March 6; Thursday, March 13; and Tuesday, March 18, at 6 p.m. at the University Club, Cesar Chavez Student Center.  

Please RSVP via Luma.  

Candidates have been selected to interview for the College of Health & Social Sciences dean. The campus community is invited to attend the candidates’ presentations followed by Q&A and a light reception in Library 244.  

Schedule: 

• Monday, March 10: Maruice Mangum 
• Tuesday, March 11: Yoshitaka Iwasaki 
• Wednesday, March 12: Andreana Clay 

For more information on the candidates and presentation times, please visit the Academic Affairs and Office of the Provost website.

The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) presents a workshop on student basic needs and parenting resources on Monday, March 10, 2 – 3 p.m., in Library 242 and via Zoom. 

Many SF State students attempt to achieve their college goals while raising children or struggling with basic needs instability. There are resources and strategies to help them succeed. In this workshop, Karen Boyce, director of Health Promotion and Wellness, and Ryan Farquhar, health communications specialist, will educate faculty on the needs of students, share resources that can help them and provide strategies that can be used in the classroom to help them succeed.

To RSVP and for the Zoom link, please sign up via Qualtrics.

CalPERS-enrolled employees who are ready to retire within a year are encouraged to attend a walkthrough of the retirement application on Tuesday, March 11, 2:30 – 4 p.m., via Zoom. This will help complete the retirement application. Human Resources CalPERS Retirement Specialist Mary Saw offers this workshop. 

Participants can bring their CalPERS retirement allowance estimate to this workshop (Please view the PDF document for instructions).  

Please RSVP via Qualtrics.

The campus community is invited to a presentation by Professor of Music Jassen Todorov, “Music, Flying and Photography – The Ultimate Experience” on Wednesday, March 12, 1 – 2 p.m., in Knuth Hall, Creative Arts building. This event is free.  

Todorov is the grand prize winner of the 2018 National Geographic Photo Contest. His images have been published and featured by National Geographic, the Guardian, Telegraph, Times, Figaro, Corriere della Sera, among others, and exhibited at the San Francisco and Chicago O’Hare airports, the Somerset House and London Heathrow Express and the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. An active pilot and flight instructor, he specializes in aerial photography, featuring both popular and remote parts of the world. 

For more information, please visit the School of Music website. 

Alexander Pokidchenko, piano, and Jassen Todorov, violin, will perform on Thursday, March 13, 1 – 2 p.m., in Knuth Hall, Creative Arts building. They will perform works by Beethoven, Faure, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin. This event is free.  

Pokidchenko has presented solo and collaborative recitals in Russia, Ukraine, Portugal, Germany, Austria, France, Bulgaria and the United States. In addition to performing, he often recites poems by Pushkin, Balmont, Chekhov, Henri as well as Indian and Persian poetry. Born in Rostov on Don, Russia, Pokidchenko graduated from the Tchaikovsky Music Conservatory in Moscow, studying composition with Chulaki and Nikolaev.  

Todorov, a professor in the School of Music, has given numerous performances throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. A top prize winner of several national and international competitions, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Harid Conservatory, Florida, and his master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He is also an accomplished photographer and the grand prize winner of the 2018 National Geographic Photo Contest.  

For more information, please visit the School of Music website.

The panel discussion “Decolonizing Our Diets: Food Culture and Resilience and Resistance” takes place Thursday, March 13, 4 – 6 p.m., in Jack Adams Hall, Cesar Chavez Student Center. A panel of chefs will discuss how food culture has been and continues to be a container for both resilience and resistance amongst oppressed peoples. 

Panel: 

• Reem Assil 
• Bryant Terry 
• Samin Nosrat 
• Crystal Wahpepah  

This event is sponsored by the Climate Justice Leadership Initiative (Climate HQ), Department of Race and Resistance Studies, Associated Students Environmental Resource Center, School of Cinema Marcus Endowed Chair, General Union of Palestine Students and Department of Family, Interiors, Nutrition and Apparel. 

Please visit the Department of Race and Resistance Studies website for more information. 

The campus community is invited to a screening of “Keeper of the Fire,” a half-hour PBS documentary on the life and work of Professor Emeritus Alejandro Murguía. It takes place Monday, March 17, 3 – 5 p.m., in the Rosa Parks Room, Cesar Chavez Student Center. 

Murguía, former chair of the Latina/Latino Studies Department at SF State, and Emmy Award-winning filmmakers will attend. It will include refreshments and poetry recitations by Murguía and others. 

This event is sponsored by the Latinx Student Center in association with Associated Students, the Raza Faculty and Staff Association and the Latina/Latino Studies Department. 

Please visit the Latina/Latino Studies website for more information.

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.

Librarian Emerita Virginia Ann Greer Shadwick, a labor organizer who worked to achieve faculty status for CSU librarians, passed away Feb. 9, a few days after cruising through the Panama Canal. She was 82. 

She valued education, support for students and fair labor practices throughout her life, and she was valued in turn for her generosity, activism and dedication. 

Shadwick received her Master of Library Science degree from the University of Kentucky in 1967 and was hired as a research librarian at SF State in 1968. She served in numerous roles at the J. Paul Leonard Library over 42 years, notably as liaison to Ethnic Studies faculty and students. 

Kenneth Monteiro, professor emeritus in Ethnic Studies and Psychology, recalled her as “an incredible woman ... one of those open, gentle spirits” and “one of the cohort of librarians who protected the BSU/TWLF [Black Student Union/Third World Liberation Front] records from the trash bin. We and history owe them, owe her.” 

In the California Faculty Association (CFA) and its predecessors, Shadwick worked to achieve professional parity and contract inclusion for librarians as faculty, a decades-long effort for which she received the National Education Association’s Mary Hatwood Futrell Award in 2004 and which she documented in a 2014 report. 

She served as CFA president (1985 – 1989), president of the National Education Association National Council for Higher Education (1989 – 1995), and higher education director of the California Teachers Association (CTA) board (1995 – 2004). After retiring, she served on the Friends of the Library and SFSU Retirement Association boards. The Student California Teachers Association honored her on her retirement from CTA by creating the annual Virginia Ann Shadwick Human Rights Award. 

In response to personal loss, Shadwick established the Laila Uthman Scholarship for graduating students at Oceana High School in Pacifica who have faced personal and academic challenges. 

Shadwick was known among her friends as an avid birder and world traveler. In addition to attending conferences abroad, she made a point of visiting all seven continents. She enjoyed river rafting, and she trekked through tropical forests in South America to see exotic birds. In 2011, she was in Egypt when Arab Spring broke out. 

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Laila Jenan Uthman, and her husband, Gordon Shadwick. She is survived by her sister, Jean Greer Hogle, and brother-in-law, Joseph Hogle, of Roanoke, Virginia; her beloved nephew, Eric Pranzarone of Los Angeles; and a host of friends locally and internationally.