News and Announcements
On Oct. 30, SFSU and Apple celebrated the 10 SFSU School of Engineering sophomores and juniors selected for Apple’s Next-Gen Innovators Mentorship program. Apple has partnered with 23 colleges and universities across the country to offer personalized 1:1 mentorship, collaborative learning experiences and exposure to a wide range of technical careers.
“I think there’s probably no more iconic company for the Bay Area than Apple, so congratulations. You came here to study, but your ultimate goal is to have a rewarding career,” said President Lynn Mahoney during the event. “The link between your studies and career is what you’re doing right now.”
As part of the eight-month program, students will be paired with an Apple engineer who will dedicate an hour or more each month to sharing knowledge and supporting the student’s growth. Throughout the program, mentees will have access to career development opportunities to learn how to craft a resume, careers in engineering, product deep dives, how to leverage LinkedIn and more.
“I’m so excited to be in this program to get an inside look into the industry, especially Apple. I hadn’t considered Apple a possibility for myself until now,” said Albany Lansang, a third-year SFSU Mechanical Engineer. “I hope to gain meaningful connections with my mentor, of course, and also between us mentees, and knowledge that will help guide me through the rest of my college career and eventually through my professional career.”
“I love computers. I love technology. It’s one of the first passions I had as a kid,” said third-year Computer Engineer Connie Lee. “I have the passion and drive to hopefully reach a point where I can essentially be proud of myself for getting so far. Honestly, Apple is a little bit of my dream company.”
Photo by Juan Montes
Who are you? How does your identity — your background, culture, home, life outside of your work — shape you as a professional? Why are all these important factors to consider when training engineers in fields that can appear rigid, technical and challenging? These are questions that drive SFSU School of Engineering Associate Professor Stephanie Claussen as an engineer and educator.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) named Claussen an NSF Early CAREER grant recipient to study how a student’s identity can inform engineering education at broad-access institutions, often defined as public colleges and universities — like SFSU — that admit 80% of applicants.
“The students who are thriving, who are successful, who are doing really well at San Francisco State and after … how are they doing that?” she said. “They are often facing huge challenges yet are doing great. We are trying to understand what they are doing and how can we [as educators] hopefully support other students in developing some of those same strategies.”
Many campuses have students who are low-income, first-generation, working full-time or supporting themselves and their families, Claussen explains. But these students disproportionately attend broad-access institutions, where this type of education research is lacking.
“You come here and you know you are one of many who come from one of those backgrounds. You’ll be surrounded by students who are just like you. I think that’s a really powerful thing,” she said. “Those students bring immense things to the classrooms. But their assets aren’t valued in traditional measures of education.”
For the project, Claussen will interview and follow the progress of Engineering students throughout their time at SFSU and as they transition to their post-university careers. She’ll study two groups: early (first- and second-year) and later (third-year and later) students. The project will document what students think are their assets and how they use these traits as they progress through their academics and transition into their career. Claussen will also interview faculty to understand their perspectives.
“A lot of this research has been student-focused, for good reason. But as we all know, faculty and staff play a vital role in supporting students, shepherding them, helping them be successful,” she added. Claussen will lead the creation of a community of practice for faculty and staff at SFSU and at other institutions, including other CSUs, to share the findings and foster a community with resources for engineering education.
Climate HQ is thrilled to announce its newest initiative, the Climate HQ Storytellers’ Lab, created with the School of Cinema Marcus Endowed Chair, Race and Resistance Studies Department and the Office of Sustainability.
As part of the launch, the initiative seeks four student fellows to produce audio/visual projects or films with a focus on climate, environmental and/or social justice topics. In particular, Climate HQ seeks projects that take an interdisciplinary and critical approach to storytelling.
The Storytellers’ Lab will provide support and mentorship to fellows who are telling their stories of struggle, action, community and resilience. Fellows will receive a $750 stipend to produce their projects.
Climate HQ would be most grateful if you would help share this unique opportunity with your students and colleagues by:
- Forwarding this announcement to your students
- Announcing this opportunity before or after class, and/or posting on Canvas
- Offer incentives for applying
- Encouraging your department, program or college to further share this call for submissions and participation
All current students — regardless of production experience — are encouraged to apply. Climate HQ strongly encourages student teams and/or groups to apply, especially those that represent different schools and departments on campus.
Projects must be currently in production or will be produced during the spring 2026 semester.
All genres (fiction, documentary, experimental, poetic, essay, animation, etc.) will be considered. Simple visuals such as graphics and pictures will also be considered.
Fellowship applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20. Awardees will be notified by Wednesday, Dec. 3.
For more details, submission requirements and to apply, please view the form via Qualtrics.
For questions about the application, please email sustain@sfsu.edu. To learn more about the Storytellers’ Lab, including ways to participate or support this initiative, please email Erica Pulley at ericarp@sfsu.edu.
Are you interested in working on climate change/justice in your research, scholarship or creative activities? SFSU’s Climate HQ aims to strengthen climate justice teaching, research and outreach at SFSU. Climate HQ supports efforts to mitigate climate change and to address climate impacts through interdisciplinary mini-grants that bring researchers from different fields together to address climate justice goals.
These one-time mini-grants 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 January – December 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 mini grants goals are to:
- support faculty members incorporating climate change/justice into their research, service and creative activities for the first time
- deepen their inquiries into climate change/justice in a new way
- facilitate connections among faculty engaged in climate research, service and creative activities across campus and in the community
Apply by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21. View the call for proposals for application instructions and examples of completed projects.
For questions, please email Climate HQ Faculty Mini Grants coordinator Carolina Prado at carolinaprado@sfsu.edu.
Vote for your colleagues for Staff Council positions. The voting period is open through Friday, Nov. 21.
Vacancies:
- Unit 1: one seat
- Unit 2: one seat
- Unit 5: one seat
- Unit 6: one seat
- Unit 7: one seat
- Unit 8: one seat
- Unit 9 (General technical support): one seat
- Unit 9 (Technical data support): two seats
For questions, please email the Staff Council askstaffcouncil@sfsu.edu.
Due to the Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday, Nov. 11, the SFSU Academic Senate will meet the following week on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2 – 5 p.m., via Zoom for its sixth plenary meeting of the academic year.
The deadline for nominations for Distinguished Faculty and Staff Awards is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14. Please submit applications via Qualtrics.
Please submit an application for an Exceptional Assigned Time Award by the extended due date of Friday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m.
Curious about how to use ChatGPT effectively? Join Academic Technology for “AI Commons: Chat GPT 101,” a 90-minute interactive session on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 10:30 a.m. in Library 282 and via Zoom.
This workshop will introduce you to the basics of ChatGPT, including how to get started, explore key features and use it responsibly and efficiently for learning, research and creativity. The session includes a live demonstration, guided feature overview, and a hands-on component where you’ll have the opportunity to experiment and ask questions.
The campus community is invited to join Professor of Music Jassen Todorov and special guest Vedrana Subotic for a musical performance on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 1 – 2 p.m., in Knuth Hall, Creative Arts building. They will perform two of Beethoven’s violin sonatas. This event is free.
The “AI Literacy Essentials: Critical Analysis of Generative AI” course explores the critical analysis of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to support responsible use of this technology. It will be held Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2 – 3:30 p.m., via Zoom.
Learn how AI models are trained and why misinformation and biases may occur in AI-generated content. Develop strategies to analyze AI outputs and assess AI tools for quality and ethical considerations. Participants will be expected to engage in the evaluation process through collaborative, hands-on activities and reflective discussions.
This course is an elective that counts toward receiving a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
The fall-semester Latinx Speaker Series begins with Jazdil Poupart-Feliciano on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2 – 4 p.m., in Library 121. Poupart-Feliciano will discuss her doctoral research on abolition, decolonization and activism supporting incarcerated folks and their families in Puerto Rico.
This event is hosted by the Latina/Latino Studies Department and the Latinx Student Center.
Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, please email Carolina Prado at carolinaprado@sfsu.edu.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) is excited to invite faculty and staff for a special evening visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) on Thursday, Nov. 13, 4 – 8 p.m., thanks to a generous donation of tickets by the museum. This will be a great opportunity to explore the museum’s exhibitions, connect with colleagues and engage in conversation around art, learning and creativity.
Plenty of spots are still open. Come for as long as you can. Please RSVP via email to ceetl@sfsu.edu by 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12. Details will be emailed after submitting your RSVP.
Get creative for Thanksgiving! Join Academic Technology for a fun and creative workshop where you will design and decorate your own mug using our Cricut cutting machine on Friday, Nov. 14, 1 – 2 p.m., in the Digital Media Studio and MakerSpace (Library 260).
Bring your own mug to personalize or use one provided. Limited supplies are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Perfect for cozy fall vibes or a handmade gift!
San Francisco Investment Services and Wealth Management invites you to a financial planning webinar on Friday, Nov. 14, 3 – 4 p.m., via Zoom, designed to help you take control of your financial future. Join San Francisco Federal Credit Union Financial Adviser Kevin Enomoto, a certified financial planner, for a practical session on budgeting, managing credit, investing wisely and maximizing your retirement plan.
Join the Lam Family College of Business on Saturday, Nov. 15, 1 – 5 p.m., for TEDx SF State. This event will be held at the SFSU Student Life Events Center (Annex 1), on 1 North State Drive. The event is free and is open to the SFSU community.
Hear from thought leaders, innovators and change-makers who will share their forward-thinking ideas and actions. Connect with like-minded individuals and be part of a community dedicated to making a positive impact.
This event is sponsored by the Lam-Larsen Student Engagement Initiative and the Lam Family College of Business.
Please visit the Lam Family College of Business website to learn more and register.
The University Budget Committee (UBC) invites the campus community to its meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20, 10 a.m. – noon, via Zoom. The agenda includes an update on the San Francisco Bay Region Network, institutional resilience projects for Procurement and University Advancement.
UBC members represent staff, faculty, students and administrators. UBC will hold office hours via Zoom on Friday, Nov. 21, 11 a.m. – noon, for conversations about budget-related matters.
Please visit the UBC page to access slideshows and minutes from past meetings or request the recording from a recent meeting. Please RSVP for the meeting and/or office hours via email to ubc@sfsu.edu.
Join SFSU Navigator and E-Advising Coordinator Joshua Michael Rumley on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2 – 3 p.m., via Zoom for “Navigating Student Inclusion, Belonging and Retention with Navigate360,” a tour and tutorial of the student success platform Navigate360 (EAB Navigator). Explore Navigate360’s use for student outreach and support and discuss ways you might use Navigate360 to enhance SFSU student belonging and retention.
Amy Hittner, professor emerita in the Department of Counseling, a long-time devoted community member for the University, department and San Francisco community, passed away on Oct. 23. Her contributions and commitment to social justice and increasing access to education and employment has touched countless students and alumni.
Hittner graduated from SFSU with a Master of Arts in Counseling in 1969 and became a school counselor. She was hired by the University in 1977 and was appointed to a faculty position in the Department of Counseling in 1982. In addition to her service as faculty, Hittner served as the department chair from 1992 to 1995 and, then from 1995 to 1997, served as associate dean of the College of Health & Human Services (now College of Health & Social Sciences).
While at SFSU, Hittner was principal investigator and director of two multimillion-dollar, federally funded grants providing training opportunities for both Department of Counseling graduate students and others in the community. As part of the Safe Start federal grant, Hittner developed a consortium of eight local community colleges to train preschool teachers in violence prevention and intervention techniques. For the HealthPath grant, Hittner partnered with staff at the San Francisco Unified School District, City College of San Francisco and the schools of dentistry and medicine at University of California, San Francisco, to create programs to encourage disadvantaged high school and college students to pursue careers in the health professions. Hittner retired from the department in 2004.
Since her retirement, Hittner continued to contribute to the community as director of the San Francisco Democratic Women in Action and a board member for the Older Women’s League and Legacy Film Festival on Aging.
Honoring their mother, Hittner and her brother started the Sophie Hittner Scholarship to honor single-parent undergraduate students. They created the award to “honor Sophie Hittner and her dedication to the concept of family.” Following this commitment, in 2013, Hittner created another scholarship, the Amy Hittner Counseling Scholarship Fund, which has been awarded annually to a Department of Counseling graduate student of “exceptional scholarship and a clear, demonstrated dedication to multicultural persons.”
Her legacy is enduring both in the Department of Counseling and SFSU as a whole.
SF State Spotlight
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) congratulates faculty members and others for their recent grant awards.
Katharyn Boyer, director, Estuary & Ocean Science Center: $75,000 from Maxwell Hanrahan Foundation for “Field Research 2025 – 2028.” This grant supports undergraduate and graduate students conducting field research at the Estuary and Ocean Science Center.
Matthew Ferner, San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) director: $880,967 from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for “SF Bay NERR Operations Grant FY 25 – 26.” SF Bay NERR will continue to expand production of applied estuarine science, training and workforce development with the goals of strengthening coastal economies and increasing resilience of the nation’s open-water borders. NERR will continue to improve relationships with NOAA, designated state partners, place-based programs and regional estuarine management and economic sectors. NERR also will continue outreach and engagement activities with farmers, fishermen, coastal landowners, boaters, teachers, students and the public.
Hao Jiang, professor, Engineering: $103,254 from Department of Defense for “Applying Neuromorphic Computing for Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Radio Frequency (RF) Communication Systems.” The objective of this project is to design and implement a memristor-based circuit system to rapidly authenticate UWB wireless transceivers based on their un-demodulated RF fingerprints.
Yiwen Shen, assistant professor, Marketing: $41,507 from California Education Learning Lab for “Customizable AI Integration in Higher Education: Marketing Example.” This subaward from Cal Poly Pomona provides a comprehensive framework to integrate artificial intelligence into marketing education through a customizable and tiered approach.
Stuart Siegel, coastal resilience specialist, SF Bay NERR: $875,241 from UC San Diego/California Delta Stewardship Council for “Understanding Social-Environmental Interactions in Suisun-Delta Tidal Marsh Restoration.” This project aims to evaluate how and whether attributes of restoration projects correlate with ecosystem services. A focus is on discerning regional variations in key user groups and social constructs to enhance the effectiveness of these restoration efforts. The study examines relationships between restoration goals, social benefits and ecosystem services, providing valuable insights into how these factors contribute to community wellbeing and restoration project efficacy.
Anne Simonis, adjunct professor, Biology: $200,000 from Office of Naval Research “STEM Collaborative Ocean Research Experience (CORE): Student Research Network to Broaden Participation in Navy Careers.” This project develops a CORE network to support student research experiences in ocean acoustics. Students from underserved communities in California, Alaska and Louisiana learn the skills, tools and culture of science by conducting ocean acoustics research with active scientist mentors. Ultimately students will emerge with strong science identities, valuable research experiences and a supportive professional network to help them pursue the next steps of their careers.
Amy Sueyoshi, provost and vice president, Academic Affairs: $2 million from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for “San Francisco State University Disability Studies Initiative.” This initiative establishes two strategic tenure-track faculty lines in Disability Studies, creates a new Paul K. Longmore Faculty Director position and builds an endowment ensuring faculty leadership, student engagement and programming in perpetuity. This initiative will revitalize disability-centered scholarship and student activities at SFSU, strengthen partnerships with academic and community stakeholders including The Arc San Francisco, and create professional development pathways for all students.
Hui Yang, professor, Computer Science; co-principal investigator: Arno Puder, professor, Computer Science: $152,262 from California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office for “Enhancing Program Pathways Mapper (PPM) with Large Language Models (LLMs) to Further Assist Transfer Students.” Each year, tens of thousands of community college students in California transfer to a CSU or University of California campus. PPM has been shown to positively impact students, high school counselors, schools and the workforce while providing a technical solution to meet the Roadmap to Success and Guided Pathways goals. This project adopts a machine-learning approach, including but not limited to employing generative AI technologies such as pre-trained LLMs to further enhance the current PPM. Such enhancements will help support transfer students.
For more information about ORSP and grant-related news, sign up for its monthly newsletter by logging in to the mailing list manager with SFSU credentials and searching for “ORSP Memo.”
The Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications was honored recently in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Best of District VII Awards.
A music video, “SFSU Campus Housing: Where You Wanna Be,” won in the Videos: Student Audience (Short) category. The 72-second video features more than 15 students dancing in each of SFSU’s residential communities, from courtyard to hallway, kitchenette to laundry room. Earlier this year, the video won a gold Circle of Excellence Award from CASE. The production team comprises Videographer Juan Montes, Senior Strategic Communications Specialist Matt Itelson, Digital Community and Multimedia Specialist Tess Stevens and Student Production Assistant Corinne Allen. Associate Director of Creative Services Spring Nguyen and Director of Marketing and Brand Strategy Barbara Stein supervised the project. Other staff members served as onscreen talent and choreographers, including Digital Content Specialist Kevin Perez, Graphic Designer Alfredo Arzola Ibarra, Web Producer Cecilia Cao and Alumni Relations/Annual Giving Coordinator Paolo Maralit.
SF State Magazine was honored in the Design: Magazines and Periodicals category for both of its issues in 2024. Contributors include Stein; Graphic Designer Alexander Villagomez-Miranda; Montes; Director of Communications and Executive Editor Steve Hockensmith; Science Content Specialist Kanaga Rajan; Director of Communications, Foundation and Alumni Engagement Jamie Oppenheim; Graphic Designer Alfredo Arzola Ibarra; Web and Digital Design Content Specialist Adrian Domingo; Jamie and Phyllis Pasker Professor of History Marc Stein; freelance writer Ben Fong-Torres (B.A., ’66); freelance graphic designer Karen Q Kemp; freelance illustrators Elena Lacey, Olga Khaletskaya and Adam Villagin; Itelson; Allen; and Perez.