News and Announcements
SFSU’s 125th Commencement ceremony will take place Thursday, May 21, at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Staff and faculty are invited to serve as Commencement ambassadors and help support our graduates and their families during this historic milestone. Your participation plays an important role in creating a meaningful and memorable celebration for the entire SFSU community.
For 2026, the ceremony has been moved up by two hours. As a result, ambassador shifts will end significantly earlier than in previous years. Ambassadors will be scheduled 11:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m., rather than until 9:30 p.m.
All ambassadors are asked to receive approval from their supervisor and attend an informational training on Monday, May 18, 10 – 11 a.m., via Zoom, for their assignment.
Many assignments involve large amounts of walking and standing. If you require accommodations, please indicate your needs on the sign-up form under “Questions or requests.”
The University thanks you for helping make Commencement a special experience for our graduating students and their families.
For questions, please email Dania Russell at drussell@sfsu.edu.
SFSU’s 125th Commencement ceremony will take place Thursday, May 21, at Oracle Park in San Francisco. This milestone event brings together our graduates their families and friends to celebrate years of dedication and achievement. Faculty members are invited to serve as faculty marshals and play a vital role in supporting our graduates on this important day. Your presence adds warmth, guidance and a strong sense of community to this special day, helping ensure a smooth and meaningful Commencement experience for the Class of 2026.
For 2026, the ceremony has been moved up by two hours. As a result, faculty marshal shifts will end significantly earlier than in previous years. Faculty marshals will be scheduled 1:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., rather than until 9:30 p.m.
Many assignments involve large amounts of walking and standing. If you require accommodations, please indicate your needs on the sign-up form under “Questions or requests.”
For questions or more information, please email Ken Maeshiro at kmaeshir@sfsu.edu.
The Research and Education on Gender and Sexuality and the Health Equity Institute invite students, staff and faculty to join Queer at State. Queer at State is a social, educational and research-oriented campus community group that aspires to support and sustain the queer community at SFSU by providing a safe space for conversations about campus climate around queer and trans lives.
Its first meeting is on Monday, Feb. 9, 3 – 5 p.m., in HSS 355. All are welcome to join. For disability accommodations, please email Valerie Francisco at vfm@sfsu.edu.
For tenured and tenure-track faculty only: The Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) is offered to encourage eligible faculty to separate with severance at the end of spring 2026, as part of an effort to reduce SFSU’s budget deficit. The deadline to apply is Friday, March 13.
Eligibility requirements and other terms and conditions apply. Faculty must contact CalPERS to determine if they are eligible.
Per Academic Senate Policy No. S25-177, the Educational Policies Committee must inform the campus community of the following discontinuance proposal two weeks before Senate action. The Bachelor of Arts in Italian has been proposed for discontinuation and will be reviewed this semester.
To request more information or file a response, please email Claude Bartholomew at claude@sfsu.edu.
Per Academic Senate Policy No. S25-177, the Educational Policies Committee must inform the campus community of the following discontinuance proposal two weeks before Senate action. The Bachelor of Arts in German has been proposed for discontinuation and will be reviewed this semester.
To request more information or file a response, please email Claude Bartholomew at claude@sfsu.edu.
Per Academic Senate Policy No. S25-177, the Educational Policies Committee must inform the campus community of the following discontinuance proposal two weeks before Senate action. The Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies, offered through the College of Professional and Global Education, has been proposed for discontinuation and will be reviewed this semester.
To request more information or file a response, please email Claude Bartholomew at claude@sfsu.edu.
Encourage students to apply by the Sunday, Feb. 15, deadline to study abroad in summer, fall and/or academic year 2026. Please let them know that it is possible, especially financially and academically.
SF State Abroad offers exchange programs where students continue to pay the same tuition and access all financial aid. By studying at partner universities in countries where living costs are often lower than San Francisco, many students find that studying abroad costs the same — or even less — than staying here. Students can use financial aid, gain SFSU credit and enroll in major, minor, language and general education classes. Explore options on the SF State Abroad Database.
To learn more and receive help applying to SF State Abroad, students can email studyabroad@sfsu.edu and receive advising in person or via Zoom. The SF State Abroad office is in Village Building C, next to U.S. Bank.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) is hosting a symposium, “Human-Centered AI in the Classroom: Student and Faculty Voices” to be held Friday, May 1, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., via Zoom. CEETL seeks panelists to give 15-minute presentations on how they have addressed emerging AI technologies in their classrooms.
CEETL is interested in instructor reflections on successes and challenges, faculty efforts to investigate students’ perspectives on artificial intelligence (AI) and learning, and faculty decision-making processes for integrating or resisting generative AI in the classroom.
To present, please sign up via Qualtrics and provide a title and brief (250-word) summary of your proposed presentation. The deadline for proposals is Monday, March 2.
The Professor Morris R. Lewenstein Memorial Scholarship is being offered and awarded by the College of Health & Social Sciences (CHSS) for students in the social sciences. The application process and review will take place this spring, and the scholarship will be awarded at the beginning of the fall semester. The scholarship is $2,500.
Ida J. Lewenstein, an SFSU alumna, is the widow of Morris R. Lewenstein, an SFSU professor who taught for more than 35 years in the Department of Social Science (Interdisciplinary Studies). He was the founder of the University’s first social science program, establishing it for aspiring social science teachers. Professor Lewenstein passed away in 2003 at age 79. In 2004, a granite bench on the Quad was dedicated in his memory. To continue honoring Professor Lewenstein’s significant contributions to SFSU, Ida Lewenstein stablished a scholarship fund in memory of her late husband to benefit students pursuing a major in the social sciences.
All applications must be completed and submitted through the Academic Works portal by the Wednesday, April 8, deadline. Email submissions are not accepted, and the deadline cannot be extended.
For questions, please email Nicole Corrales, office coordinator in the CHSS Associate Dean’s Office, at nmc@sfsu.edu.
CampusMemo has resumed weekly publication for the spring semester. Please submit items to CampusMemo via Qualtrics. The deadline is 5 p.m. the Tuesday prior to the week when you’d like your item to appear.
If your item is about an upcoming event, please also submit it to the University Calendar.
For questions, please email the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications at marcomm@sfsu.edu.
The SFSU Academic Senate will meet Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2 to 5 p.m., via Zoom for its eighth meeting of the academic year.
Agenda:
- The Executive Committee presents the following informational item:
- Fall 2025 Academic Senate Official Actions
- Recommendation from the Executive Committee in second reading:
- Revision to Senate Bylaws
- Recommendation from the Campus Curriculum Committee in second reading:
- B.A. in Chinese, Integrated Teacher Education Preparation: name change, revision of suspended program
- Certificate in Multilingual and Psychology Competencies: new program
- Certificate in Multilingual and Public Health Competencies: new program
- Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee in second reading:
- Revision to Academic Calendar
- Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee in first reading:
- Graduation Requirements for Baccalaureate Students
- Rescind
- Recommendation from the Student Affairs Committee in first reading:
- Administration and Processing of Student Course Feedback Forms
- Recommendation from the Faculty Affairs Committee in first reading:
- Tenured/Tenure Track Transfer
- Special At-Large Election:
- Vote for Executive Committee at-large member
- The Senate will hear a presentation from:
- Rob Collins and Dipendra Sinha, Academic Senate of the CSU senators (time approximate: 4 – 4:10 p.m.)
“The Stubborn 1,000: The Watsonville Canneries Strike” exhibit has been extended through Thursday, April 16, in the Special Collections Gallery on the fourth floor of J. Paul Leonard Library. This is a Labor Archives and Research Center exhibition. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Tuesdays – Thursdays. Admission is free.
Watsonville, in the heart of the agricultural Pajaro Valley, was once known as the “frozen-food capital of the world” with a large number of canneries processing the majority of frozen-food products sold in the United States. In September 1985, nearly half of the town’s 4,000 cannery workers went on strike to protest reductions in wages and benefits at the Watsonville Canning and Shaw Frozen Food Companies.
Curated by Associate Librarian Tanya Hollis and Cabrillo College Instruction Librarian Michelle Morton and drawing upon the collections from the Labor Archives and Research Center, “The Stubborn 1,000” tells the story of this historic strike. Led predominantly by Mexican and Mexican American women, the strikers went up against the cannery owners, the powerful agribusiness machine, local police and their own union, which had become entrenched and unresponsive. After battling for 18 months, strikers rejected an initial settlement negotiated by the union, pushing back against larger pay cuts and winning medical benefits for all workers, seniority rights and striker amnesty. But most of all, they gained organizing and leadership skills and a voice in the future of their community.
As striker Margarita Páramo explained: “We knew we had won, and we began to feel that we had won more than the strike; ganamos dignidad y un futuro bueno para nuestros hijos (we won dignity and a good future for our children).”
This exhibition is funded generously by the Friends of the J. Paul Leonard Library.
The campus community is invited to join Professor of Music Jassen Todorov and special guest Vedrana Subotić for an all-Beethoven musical performance on Monday, Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m., in Knuth Hall, Creative Arts building. Admission is free.
Encourage students to stop by the Study Abroad Fair on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and Wednesday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., on the Quad next to Malcolm X Plaza.
At the fair, students can:
- Visit country tables showcasing destinations where SFSU students can study abroad.
- Meet international students from those countries.
- Hear directly from SFSU students who have studied abroad.
Why study abroad with SF State Abroad? Students experience a lower cost of living in many countries, maintain access to financial aid while abroad, pay the same SFSU tuition and earn SFSU resident credit.
The deadline to apply for summer, fall and/or academic year 2026 is Saturday, Feb. 15. For questions, please email studyabroad@sfsu.edu or stop by the table at the fair.
As the CSU prepares to roll out its new systemwide employee intranet, CSU Connect, all employees are invited to an informational webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The webinar will give a brief overview of CSU Connect and showcase tools in the system that all employees can use.
Built in the Workvivo platform, CSU Connect will provide advanced capabilities for connecting and communicating. It will serve as the go-to place for systemwide news, events and collaborative projects. CSU Connect will replace the current systemwide intranet, CSYou, which will be decommissioned at the end of June.
The Digital Media Studio and MakerSpace hosts a virtual reality (VR) and retro gaming event on Thursday, Feb. 12, noon – 3 p.m., in Library 260. It is open to all SFSU students, faculty and staff.
Explore VR and spatial computing with hands-on VR/extended reality and Vision Pro demos. Create your own experiences and test your skills on a retro gaming console.
Join the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2 – 3 p.m., in Library 242 for part two of the Transparency in Learning and Teaching Series (TILT). A Zoom link is available on request.
Instructors will learn to apply Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) to an assignment, with particular attention to transparency around the use of artificial intelligence and workplace skills students are developing. The session will include peer review and collaborative “TILT-ing” of assignments. Participants are encouraged to bring an exam, assignment, or rubric that has been—or can be—TILT-ed for peer review.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) invites you to join a faculty learning square focused on supporting faculty, graduate teaching assistants and student wellbeing and mental health. It begins with a convening on Friday, Feb. 13, 10 a.m. – noon, and continues throughout spring.
Together, everyone will explore how mindfulness and related pedagogical approaches can support our own wellbeing while also promoting student wellness, inclusion and academic success during these challenging times. A central goal of the learning square is to develop and incorporate a mindfulness activity into courses in fall 2026. Topics will include activities to help with stress and anxiety, procrastination and cell phone overuse as well as nature-based practices, mindful listening and speaking, trauma-informed teaching and mindfulness within anti-oppression pedagogy.
Please visit the CEETL website to register for the Faculty Learning Community.
The “AI Literacy Essentials: Prompting for Practical Applications” course offers a focused exploration of prompting and iteration strategies for generative AI chatbots. It will be held Friday, Feb. 13, 2 – 3 p.m., via Zoom.
Through collaborative, hands-on activities and interactive exercises, participants will learn to write clear, effective prompts, apply refinement techniques, and assess AI-generated outputs for accuracy and relevance to achieve more reliable and useful results in a variety of practical contexts.
This course is an elective that counts toward receiving a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
Human Resources will offer the first Staff Forum of the semester on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 11 a.m. – noon, via Zoom. All SFSU staff, except management personnel plan employees and faculty, are encouraged to attend to keep up on SFSU happenings.
This Staff Forum will include remarks from President Lynn Mahoney, an update on the CSUBuy/Procure-to-Pay changes, a San Francisco Bay Region Network update and an introduction to the Student Care and Support Team.
Staff Forums are held monthly during the academic semester.
CalPERS-eligible faculty and staff are invited to a virtual CalPERS education class to help plan for retirement and steps needed. It will be held Friday, Feb. 20, 1:30 – p.m., and Friday, March 6, 9:30 a.m. – noon, via Zoom.
Offered directly by CalPERS employees, this webinar will explain retirement types, payment options, beneficiary and power of attorney details, online resources and more. Offered on two dates, both Fridays once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
Please RSVP via Qualtrics to the CalPERS retirement workshops.
For direct on-campus help, in-person or virtual, please email Mary Saw in the Human Resources Benefits office to make an appointment at msaw@sfsu.edu.
Small Group Instructional Feedback for spring 2026 begins Monday, Feb. 23. SGIF offers timely, mid-semester student feedback to help instructors refine their courses while the semester is still in progress. Participants both receive feedback for their own course and conduct one for a colleague. A $300 honorarium is provided.
Faculty are invited to register for the Small Group Instructional Feedback through Monday, Feb. 16.
The University Budget Committee (UBC) invites all employees to its first full meeting of the semester on Thursday, Feb. 26, 10 a.m. – noon, via Zoom.
Agenda items include: updates to Huron/Institutional Review Committee recommendations for Administrative, Academic Affairs and Student Retention; an introduction to pouring rights; and a brief Voluntary Separation Incentive Program update.
To RSVP, please email ubc@sfsu.edu.
UBC members offer drop-in office hours Friday, Feb. 27, 11 a.m. – noon, via Zoom for faculty and staff for conversations about budget-related concerns.
SFSU Spotlight
Early Childhood Special Education student Jennifer Lian Dudziec introduced San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie at the State of the City address on Jan. 15.
After attending City College of San Francisco, Dudziec joined SFSU as part of the Child Adolescent Development (Early Childhood) major and Special Education minor. She is completing her M.A. in Special Education and Education Specialist (Early Childhood Special Education) credential.
As she mentioned in the speech, Dudziec is completing her preschool/transitional kindergarten/kindergarten student-teaching experience at Slippery Fish Cooperative on Brotherhood Way in San Francisco. Slippery Fish Cooperative Director Sara O’Neill and the Slippery Fish team have been an instrumental community partner for our Early Childhood Special Education program.
“We are proud to call Jennifer one of our SFSU Department of Special Education students!” Special Education Professor and Chair Amber Friesen said.
Psychology Professor Zena R. Mello will be a keynote speaker at “The Next Big Ideas” conference hosted by Division 1 of the American Psychological Association on Feb. 20 – 21 at Arizona State University. She will present a talk titled “They will look at the shoes and make fun of them: Investigating Social Class Discrimination Among Adolescents.”
Economic inequality is one of the greatest challenges of our time, yet our understanding of how individuals treat each other differently because of their economic standing is limited. Recognizing this gap, Mello has pioneered a new conceptual model about social class discrimination among adolescents. The developmental period of adolescence is the focus given cognitive advances and identity formation. Robust findings from mixed-methods studies with adolescents demonstrate that social class discrimination includes overt and subtle acts, such as being teased or excluded because of the condition of one’s shoes. These experiences are uniquely linked to key indicators of wellbeing, including mental health, academic achievement and substance use, even after controlling for social class. Mello’s examination of social class discrimination represents a new line of inquiry with great potential to advance the field of psychology.
Professor of Counseling Tiffany O’Shaughnessy won a Shining Star Award at the National Multicultural Conference and Summit in Seattle. The award recognizes mid-career psychologists who demonstrate strong interest in multicultural research, teaching, advocacy, policy and/or clinical care. This award was created to recognize and support diverse professionals at a pivotal stage in their careers, offering encouragement and visibility for their continued impact. Nominees embody the core principles of multicultural psychology and demonstrate a continued dedication to promoting culturally responsive practices, social responsibility and systemic change within their field of expertise.
Assistant Professor of Art Lorena Molina is a finalist for the San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMOMA) Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA) Art Award.
Since 1967, the SECA Art Award has honored more than 90 Bay Area artists. The award spotlights exceptional Bay Area artists whose work at the time of nomination has not received substantial recognition from a major institution.
Winners will be announced in April. Their work will be featured in the SECA Art Award exhibition on view Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026 – Sunday, May 30, 2027.
Ben Zingos (M.A., ’24) is founder and executive director of Space Pirates Theatre Collective, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit immersive theatre company. It is dedicated to staging site-specific productions that elevate marginalized perspectives, prioritize artist equity and make theatre accessible through affordable pricing and unconventional venues.
Its upcoming season opens with Lanie Robertson’s “Lady Day,” an intimate and immersive theatrical experience re-creating one of Billie Holiday’s final concerts.