News and Announcements
SFSU will begin accepting applications for fall 2027 admission Thursday, Oct. 1. Faculty and staff are encouraged to help spread the word to prospective students and families.
SFSU offers more than an education in one of the world’s leading hubs for technology, business, arts and innovation. CoStar ranks San Francisco as the No. 2 U.S. city to launch a career, while MSN.com ranks SFSU among the nation’s top 20 affordable colleges with high return on investment. The University’s more than 300,000 alumni have gone on to distinguished careers at organizations including Apple, Salesforce, Google, Sephora, OpenAI and Genentech and have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards.
SFSU also offers competitive tuition rates and a variety of financial aid opportunities, including hundreds of scholarships. Three out of five students pay nothing out of pocket for tuition due to financial aid grants, and 55% of the Class of 2026 graduated with no student debt.
Applying is straightforward: Only California State University minimum eligibility is required for admission, with no essays, SAT or ACT scores or letters of recommendation. SFSU also offers guaranteed admission to eligible military veterans and foster youth, graduating high school students in the San Francisco Unified School District and transfer students from City College of San Francisco.
Prospective students may begin their applications now and submit them beginning Oct. 1. The priority application deadline is Monday, Nov. 30.
Visit Cal State Apply to learn more and apply to SFSU.
Photo by Juan Montes
Frankie Sanchez returned to college in his late 30s with a clear idea of the career path he planned to pursue. He wanted to become the kind of mental health professional who had once helped his family.
Now, after earning a 4.0 grade point average at SFSU and graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Sanchez has received one of the California State University’s highest student honors: the CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement.
The award is presented each year to CSU students who demonstrate superior academic performance, significant personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.
He will put his scholarship toward the next chapter of his education at SFSU. Sanchez has been admitted to the University’s selective Master of Science in Clinical Psychology program, where he will prepare to become a licensed marriage and family therapist.
It is a career choice rooted in experience.
Sanchez grew up facing significant financial, emotional and structural barriers, including a disability and the death of a parent.
Sanchez sought mental health care himself following these experiences and credits his own therapist with helping him recover and eventually find his way back to higher education.
His experiences with grief have also shaped the work he wants to do.
In 2023, Sanchez lost a dear friend to suicide after a struggle with depression. Sanchez has written about the guilt he experienced afterward and the signs of his friend’s distress that became clear to him only in retrospect.
The experience ultimately pushed Sanchez to reconsider what he wanted to do with his life.
“In the stillness following his death, a sense of clarity emerged: I could no longer put off my own purpose,” he wrote in his award submission essay.
Sanchez left his previous career and devoted himself to studying psychology and working with people experiencing grief, trauma and mental health crises.
At SFSU, that commitment quickly became visible in the classroom. Along with maintaining a perfect GPA, Sanchez was invited as an undergraduate to guest lecture on end-of-life issues and facilitate weekly discussions with students studying the psychology of death and dying.
Faculty members unanimously endorsed his admission to SFSU’s Clinical Psychology graduate program.
Professor Shuyi Liu describes Sanchez as a student who brings intellectual curiosity to his studies while connecting psychological theory and research to larger cultural, social and clinical questions.
“Interpersonally, Mr. Sanchez is warm, respectful and reflective,” Liu wrote in support of his nomination for the Trustees’ Award. “He brings emotional maturity, cultural sensitivity and humility to his interactions, qualities ... essential for success in the mental health field.”
Professor David Gard, director of SFSU’s Motivation and Emotion Research Lab, put Sanchez’s academic record in perspective.
“As I think back over the 20-plus years teaching ... Frankie is among the strongest that I can remember,” Gard wrote.
Much of Sanchez’s education has taken place outside the classroom, as well.
He spent a year working as a crisis counselor with San Francisco Suicide Prevention, talking with people experiencing some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Sanchez said the experience showed him how shame, silence and stigma can compound suffering and gave him a deeper understanding of how trauma and suicidality are experienced across cultures and identities.
In 2025, he began volunteering as a grief support group facilitator with San Francisco Village and later trained to work with survivors of suicide loss. He also worked as a counselor at Edgewood Center, a residential mental health facility for teenagers who have experienced trauma and other serious challenges.
And as an end-of-life doula, Sanchez has trained to provide companionship and emotional and spiritual support to people approaching death and to their families and circles of care. The work can involve everything from helping someone reflect on their life and create a legacy project to supporting caregivers and simply being present during a person’s final days.
Those experiences have given Sanchez a specific goal for what comes after graduate school.
He plans to work as a mental health therapist in hospice and palliative care, with a particular interest in providing identity-affirming care to LGBTQIA+ people and their loved ones.
Sanchez is especially interested in the role of chosen family at the end of life. When health care systems or others fail to recognize those relationships, he says, people can find themselves separated from the people who matter most at precisely the moment they need them.
He eventually hopes to create a community-based organization that supports chosen families as they navigate death, complex loss and disenfranchised grief; grief that may not be fully acknowledged or supported by society.
The CSU Trustees’ Award will help Sanchez continue that work at SFSU, where he will move from studying Psychology as an undergraduate to training as a clinician.
His destination is already in sight.
“We all have a right to face the end of life in the care and companionship of our loved ones,” Sanchez wrote, “regardless of whether those relationships fit the expectations of our culture.”
Learn more about SFSU’s Department of Psychology.
Photo by Juan Montes
Join the SFSU AI Commons for the grand opening of the AI Studio on Tuesday, Sept. 29, noon — 2 p.m., in Library 260. New in the Digital Media Studio and MakerSpace, the AI Studio offers students unique opportunities to experiment, innovate and connect with AI technologies and tools.
The Human Resources (HR) Benefits team encourages you to review your benefits to determine if any changes will be made before Open Enrollment ends on Friday, Oct. 9. All employees can now make their changes directly through HR Self-Service via the Gateway.
Please visit the Human Resources website for full information.
Applications are open for SFSU Climate HQ’s paid Climate Justice Internship Program through Thursday, Oct. 1. Undergraduates from any major at SFSU can apply as long as they will be full-time in spring 2027.
Students will participate in semester-long internships where they will be matched with partner organizations committed to climate justice. They will complete a project that advances that organization’s work and gives them the opportunity to learn from seasoned organizers, activists and other professionals.
The Vista Room, the sit-down service-training restaurant, is open for lunch at 11:45 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. To make a reservation, please email the Vista Room at vista@sfsu.edu.
The SFSU Academic Senate will meet Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2 – 5 p.m., via Zoom for its third meeting of the academic year.
- The Executive Committee presents an informational item:
- Merger of Museum Studies and the History Department
- Recommendation from the Academic Policies Committee in first reading:
- Revision to Athletic Advisory Board, No. S92-175
- Recommendation from the Campus Curriculum Committee in first reading:
- Minor in Forensic Investigations: new program
- Minor in Operations and Supply Chain Management: new program
- Bachelor of Arts in Child and Adolescent Development, concentration in Elementary Education Integrated Teacher Education Program: new program
- Bachelor of Arts in Applied World Languages
- Certificate in Exercise Physiology
- Minor in German Studies
- Minor in Italian Studies
- Recommendation from the Campus Curriculum Committee in second reading:
- Certificate in Entertainment Design and Production: new certificate
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, concentration in Decision Sciences: name change and curricular changes
- Recommendation from the Executive Committee in second reading:
- Bylaw Amendment: Student Affairs Committee membership
- Recommendation from the Student Affairs Committee in second reading:
- Grade Appeal Practices and Procedures, No. F24-230
CSU Connect, the CSU’s new intranet, is now being used by more than 31,000 employees systemwide for resources, connections and collaborations. An introductory webinar, “The ABCs of CSU Connect,” will be held Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 11 a.m. It is open to all CSU employees.
Join the College of Ethnic Studies’ open house with representatives from the Master of Arts programs in Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1:30 – 3 p.m., in Ethnic Studies and Psychology 116 and via Zoom. They will discuss the application process, timelines and learning outcomes. They hope this is an opportunity for students to learn about the different career pathways in Ethnic Studies they can take after their undergraduate career.
The “Laser Cutting 101” workshop takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 3 – 5 p.m., in the Digital Media Studio and MakerSpace (Library 260). Learn the basics of laser cutting and create your own wooden keychain. Design and engrave your name, image or custom design onto wood.
Participants will be guided through the process of using the laser cutting machine, and all materials will be provided.
The All-University Committee on International Programs will host an International Coffee Hour for international and internationally minded faculty, administrators and staff Thursday, Oct. 1, noon – 1 p.m., in Library 286. College of Ethnic Studies Dean Grace Yoo will give a presentation about her recent experience with the International Education Administration Fulbright in Taiwan.
This event will be co-hosted by the College of Professional & Global Education and runs a few times each semester. These coffee hours are an opportunity for units and departments to discuss issues related to international education, study abroad, visiting student programs and overall ways in which SFSU and our programs support our international students.
The committee recognizes that this is a complicated time for immigrants and international students. These meetings give faculty, staff and administrators an opportunity to hear about departments’ efforts to support internationalism and discuss issues related to studying abroad.
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 Thursday, Oct. 1, 1:30 – 2:30 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.
Registration via the AI website is required to enroll in the “AI Literacy Essentials” course.
How are students actually using artificial intelligence (AI): in education, their lives and as they prepare for future careers? Attend a panel of SFSU students in live conversation about how they use AI, where they see value and limitations, and how they believe this technology is changing their education and the workforce they prepare to enter. “Live from the Hackathon: SFSU Students on AI” will be held Oct. 2, noon — 1 p.m., with participants joining the conversation via Zoom. This webinar is open to the campus community. Registration is required.
Broadcast live from the “SF Hacks X GDG AI Hackathon,” student panelists will discuss AI in their coursework, the potential impact on careers and the opportunities, and challenges posed by the emerging technology. Audience members will hear directly from students and get a glimpse into the creativity, experimentation and energy happening throughout the hackathon. They will also have the opportunity to ask questions and engage directly with the student panel.
Join the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) for a faculty outing to Angel Island on Saturday, Oct. 3. Enjoy a day away from campus to connect with colleagues, explore the island and take in the beautiful Bay Area scenery. Additional details, including meeting time, transportation and itinerary, will be shared after you register.
The SFSU community is invited to come together for a memorial honoring our students, staff and faculty members who have passed away. It will take place Wednesday, Oct. 7, noon – 1 p.m., in the Garden of Remembrance.
This gathering will offer a space for remembrance and reflection as we recognize their lives, contributions and lasting impact on our University community. All are welcome to join as we honor their memories and support one another in community.
The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) invites faculty and staff to an experiential workshop, “Everyday Mindfulness: Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Practices for Educators,” on Friday, Oct. 9, noon – 1 p.m., in Library 242. Zoom is available on request.
Maiya Evans, an SFSU lecturer faculty and a health educator who holds a Master of Public Health degree, will lead the workshop. Participants will explore culturally responsive mindfulness practices for cultivating presence, connection and awareness in the classroom, while considering how mindfulness can be adapted thoughtfully to honor students’ diverse identities, cultures and experiences.
The Department of Economics will host the Third Betty Blecha Memorial Distinguished Lecture in Economics on Thursday, Oct. 22, in the Nob Hill Room, Seven Hills Conference Center. Tea and coffee will be served 3:30 – 4 p.m., followed by the lecture 4 – 5:30 p.m. A reception with refreshments will follow from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the SFSU community and affiliates.
Annamaria Lusardi, senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and director of the Initiative for Financial Decision-Making at Stanford University, will present “The Importance of Financial Literacy: Evidence from Many Years of Data.” Professor Lusardi will discuss how financial literacy has changed over time and across demographic groups, highlight the relationship between financial knowledge and financial behavior and consider the implications of these findings for teaching, policy and programs.
For questions, please email Venoo Kakar at vkakar@sfsu.edu.
SFSU Spotlight
Labor and Employment Studies Lecturer Faculty Faculty Jaz Brisack is mentioned in a Dissent magazine book review of Noam Scheiber’s “Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
In the review and the book, Brisack is credited with organizing workers at Starbucks Coffee Co. cafes in Buffalo, New York, to form a labor union.
American Indian Studies Lecturer Faculty Paul Steward recently received four Certificates of Recognition: from San Francisco Sup. Stephen Sherrill, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, State Sen. Scott Weiner and U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin.
The certificates praise Steward’s outstanding achievements as a musical artist, educator and cultural advocate. They highlighted his work in preserving his Elem Pomo cultural music and for his commitment to artistic excellence and education. They thanked him for his contributions to the arts, education and the community.
Steward said he is humbled and thankful for the recognition and promises “to carry on in his works to educate, to preserve, to make music and to bring joy.”
On Friday, Oct. 16, Steward will perform a special concert at Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco celebrating the music of Joe Louis Walker. Walker was a San Francisco Fillmore District-born and raised bluesman who rose to prominence with his 1986 album “Cold Is the Night.”