News and Announcements
SFSU Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is launching its 2026 tax season, offering free tax preparation services to eligible individuals and families. Community members are encouraged to use this service or share the information with anyone who may qualify.
VITA gratefully acknowledges the strong support of the Accounting Department, Lam Family College of Business, the University Corporation, United Way Bay Area and the Internal Revenue Service. This program would not be possible without the dedication and commitment of our outstanding SFSU student volunteers.
Photo by Matthew Lester
SF State CREATE is launching a federal work-study undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activities (RSCA) program for spring 2026. Tenured/tenure-track faculty mentors in all colleges can apply to host paid undergraduate RSCA assistants.
Program highlights:
- No cost to faculty or departments; eligible students are funded through work study.
- Up to 15 student positions are available at $20/hour.
- Students can work 100 – 200 hours in spring 2026 dependent upon the level of their work-study award and financial aid package.
- Cohort model: Students meet monthly with SF State CREATE for professional development; program culminates in a spring RSCA showcase.
What to submit:
- Plain-language project summary (150 – 250 words)
- Expected tasks and skills you will teach in the first month
- Modality/location, typical meeting times and project timeline
- Any required skills vs. trainable skills
- Brief mentoring plan (check-ins, feedback)
- Indicate if you already have a student in mind for the assistantship or if you want SF State CREATE to help with recruitment, work-study eligibility confirmation or other placement considerations.
Please submit your project by Saturday, Jan. 31, via Qualtrics.
For questions, please email Kate Hamel, faculty director for Research Engagement and Development, at hamelk@sfsu.edu.
Academic Technology (AT) resumes extended hours on Monday, Jan. 26, to support evening classes. Spring semester hours are Mondays – Thursdays 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. and Fridays 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Visit AT in Library 80 or book an appointment via Microsoft Outlook. Contact AT by phone at (415) 405-5555 or by email at@sfsu.edu.
What’s new in AT:
- Catch up on Canvas tips and tricks
- Book an instructional design consultation with AT’s Teaching and Learning with Technology Team
- View technology resources and video help offerings (“One Little Thing”)
- Explore and innovate with the Digital Media Studio and MakerSpace
Photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice
The main Bursar’s Office has relocated to Student Services 103, as of Monday, Jan. 26.
All in-person services previously offered by the Bursar’s Office will continue to be available at this new location. The office appreciates your patience during this transition and looks forward to continuing to serve the campus community.
For questions and assistance, please call the Bursar’s Office at (415) 338-1281 or submit a ticket by email to service@sfsu.edu.
The Willie L. Brown Jr. Fellowship Program is now part of the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE).
This long-standing program supports student leaders interested in public service by placing them in impactful hands-on internships within local government. ICCE welcomes the fellowship program into its area, advancing the institute’s mission to expand civic and community engagement across campus and beyond.
ICCE is also excited to welcome Monica Barboza, who will manage the fellowship and support student fellows.
It is often said that the No. 1 regret of college students is not studying abroad. Many students dream of this life-changing opportunity but worry that it’s not financially or academically feasible. You can play a key role in helping them realize it is possible. Encourage students to start exploring their options now. The priority deadline is Sunday, Feb. 15, for programs in summer 2026, fall 2026 and the 2026 – 2027 academic year.
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.
Stay on track for graduation: Students can make progress on their major, minor or general education requirements and often get into the classes they need more easily abroad, as classes aren’t impacted or waitlisted. With preapproved courses in popular departments like Business, Psychology and Kinesiology, it’s easy to plan ahead.
Join us for the International Education Exchange Council Study Abroad Fair on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and Wednesday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., on the Quad. Students will share their firsthand experiences with peers.
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 Division of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning is searching for an interim associate dean of Academic Planning.
The successful candidate will have experience with program review/accreditation, program learning assessment and curriculum development. The role also supervises several staff members and works closely with the faculty directors of Experimental College and General Education. This interim position will be for no more than two years beginning summer 2026.
For more information, please email Associate Dean Kim Altura at kwidic@sfsu.
Join the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) on Monday, Feb. 2, 2 – 3 p.m., via Zoom for part one of the Transparency in Learning and Teaching Series (TILT). Anoshua Chaudhuri will lead this workshop with materials shared generously by TILT Higher Ed.
Instructors will learn about the TILT framework and how to apply it to their assignments, syllabi, exams and other course materials. TILT-ing two assignments in a semester has been shown to improve student outcomes and course completion.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning’s (CEETL) 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 1 – 3 p.m. every first and third Tuesday (via Zoom and in Library 242) and every second and fourth Friday (via Zoom). The first meet-up is on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Snacks will be provided.
The SFSU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacy Education Program spring 2026 programming is now available for online registration.
The curriculum consists of two core prerequisite courses addressing effective prompting strategies for practical applications with chatbots and the critical analysis of generative AI and its outputs. The program also includes several elective offerings that cover specialized AI tools and role-specific AI best practices for faculty, staff and administrators.
In addition to these synchronous courses, participants receive access to an online Canvas course site containing supplemental learning materials, AI resources and assessments to measure learning. Through this program, you’ll cultivate substantive, transferable AI knowledge and skills to employ in their current work and beyond.
New for spring 2026:
- All core course offerings are now revised and reworked to fit a 60-minute timeframe.
- New topics and formats, including University role-based workshops and practical application of AI tools.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL)’s Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) Brown Bags are informal, come-as-you-are gatherings for GWAR instructors. They take place on Fridays starting Feb. 6 at noon via Zoom.
You can pop in with a question or stay for the conversation. The CEETL faculty director/Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum director will provide tips and resources, but in general, the content of the brown bags will be driven by you: What’s working in your classrooms? What are you struggling with? How to work together to improve teaching and support each other?
Please visit the CEETL website to register for the GWAR Brown Bags.
Mark your calendars for SFSU night with the Golden State Warriors as they take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m.
Your ticket purchase includes a special co-branded long sleeve T-shirt. Ticket prices range from $140 and up for the lower level to $80 and for the upper level.
The Fine Arts Gallery will host an opening reception for the “slow burn” exhibition on Saturday, Feb. 21, 1 – 3 p.m. Guest curated by Lorena Molina, “slow burn” centers how Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) artists use slowness as a form of refusal and a way to highlight the systems of oppression that structure their lives. Rather than treating time as neutral, the exhibition frames it as a political structure forged by histories of displacement, control and erasure. In doing so, “slow burn” opens space to listen, to grieve, to be intimate and to advocate for opacity and temporal self-determination.
Participating artists: Mara Duvra, Tesora Garcia, Maria Gaspar, Tianzong Jiang, Ana Mendieta, Joshua Moreno, Elaine T. Nguyen.
This exhibit will run through Saturday, April 4. Regular hours are Tuesdays – Thursdays, noon – 4 p.m., and Saturdays, Feb. 21 and April 4, 1 – 3 p.m., for receptions. Admission is free.
For more information, please email the Fine Arts Gallery at fineartsgallery@sfsu.edu or call 415-338-6942.
Image by Tesora Garcia
Environment, Health and Safety will host a certification and recertification training in first aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., in Library 286. The training courses will be split into two four-hour sessions.
The Office of Emergency Services partner with the San Francisco Fire Department to host a Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) certification training at SFSU from Tuesday, March 10, to Thursday, March 12, at the Student Life Events Center (Annex 1).
This training will be three full days, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. You must be present in person each day. For recertification, join on Wednesday, March 12.
SFSU Spotlight
Music Professor Jassen Todorov is the subject of a feature in Smithsonian magazine published Jan. 9, exploring his aerial photography.
“Jassen Todorov is a modern-day Renaissance man,” Tracy Scott Forson writes. “Originally from Bulgaria, he has traveled around the world performing as a violinist, and for more than 15 years has taught music at San Francisco State University. In between classes and concerts, he is also a pilot and photographer. Whether for a quick weekend trip from the Bay Area or a cross-country haul, Todorov travels in his four-seat 1976 Piper Warrior plane every chance he gets, documenting the world below.”
On Jan. 21, Associate Professor of International Relations Scott Siegel was a guest on the “AirTalk with Larry Mantle” podcast. He discussed the reaction in Europe to the United States’ aggression toward Greenland.
“So far in one year of the Trump administration, we haven’t seen anyone really pressure Trump enough to stop him,” Siegel said.