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San Francisco State University

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
1600 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, California 94132
Phone
(415) 338-1111
Email address
ugadmit@sfsu.edu
School Information
"In 1899 as San Francisco State Normal School, a two-year teacher-training college. First normal school in nation to require high school diploma for admission." The university enrolls over 28,800 students, has over 1,900 faculty, and offers bachelors degrees in 72 academic areas, masters degrees in 62 areas, two doctoral programs, 16 credential programs, and 41 certificate programs across its seven schools. (Source: https://puboff.sfsu.edu/sfsufact/archive/1920/)
General Information
SFSU leadership have taken political action in support of anti-racist causes. In addition to re-allocating funds from policing and giving them to Black Lives Matter, university leadership has come out in support of the repeal of Proposition 209, a measure which prohibits racial discrimination in education. Additionally, the university announced a "fluid BLM agenda" although it has released specific details about the agenda. See developments below:

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • Over 400 faculty members attended the "How to be an Anti-Racist University" 2021 Winter Faculty Retreat.
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • The university's Center for Science and Math Education held an event titled "Community Learning Event: Anti-Racism in STEM Teaching at SFSU" to "develop individual and collective plans to actualize our commitments for anti-racist STEM teaching in the 2021-2022 school year."
Disciplinary Measures
  • According to the university's Black Lives Matter Spring 2021 report, the "Bias Incident Education Team launched in February 2021."
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • In a Chronicle of Higher Education job listing for an "Assistant Professor in Communication, Performance, and Race," the university says, "We are especially interested in qualified candidates with a demonstrated commitment -- through their scholarship/creative work, teaching, and service -- to anti-racism, inclusion, diversity, educational equity, and academic excellence."
  • According to the university's Black Lives Matter Spring 2021 report, "The Office of Faculty Affairs just completed its inaugural Faculty of Color Retention Program in which 14 Chairs participated in AY-long programming, including a CFA-run training on anti-racism, a faculty panel discussion on institutional racism, and Faculty Learning Communities focused on BLM and anti-racism in the university context. This was funded by a grant from the Chancellor’s Office, but the intent is to institutionalize it. It will continue next year."
  • According to the university's Black Lives Matter Spring 2021 report, "Once faculty searches begin again in 2021-2022, all faculty search committees will engage in the training on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Further, all search committees will be required to submit search plans that document efforts directed at increasing the diversity of candidate pools. Additionally, similar training has been implemented for all Student Affairs & Enrollment Management search committees, and other non-academic search committees."
Political Actions and Support for Anti-Racism
  • Reallocating funds from policing and giving them to Black Lives Matter and Anti-Racist Initiatives.
  • University President openly advocates for the repeal of Proposition 209 (A measure which amended the California State Constitution to prohibit discrimination in areas including public education http://vigarchive.sos.ca.gov/1996/general/pamphlet/209text.htm)
Program and Research Funding
  • The College of Ethnic Studies has a Race, Empowerment, and Justice (REJ) Project, which "supports faculty development in the College of Ethnic Studies in teaching, research, and creative projects. Within the College of Ethnic Studies, the Race, Empowerment, and Justice (REJ) Project supports faculty, units, departments and the college with projects that are extramurally funded."
  • The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) offers a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Micro-Course that "focuses on strategies for developing coursework, choosing resources and designing anti-racist programs that consider the wide variability of learners in higher education. Note, micro-courses are short courses that focus on one topic. The format is primarily asynchronous with one optional Zoom session, where faculty can share synchronous teaching strategies with colleagues." Faculty receive a $250 stipend upon completion.
  • The university's Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) offers a Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion PIE Institute which covers "accessibility and universal design for learning; microaggressions in teaching practices; anti-racism in designing assignments and assessments; and centering student voice and experience. Participants will receive expert feedback on their responses to prompts, as well as the opportunity for individual consultations via office hours." Faculty receive a $1,250 stipend upon completion.
Re-Imagining Policing
  • According to the university's Black Lives Matter Spring 2021 report, the university is still undergoing "Ongoing work to update and evolve UPD and Campus Safety." Current UPD officers and staff go through training on "Implicit Bias" and "Racism, Anti-Blackness, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Undocumented/Citizenship Status, and Trans Awareness," among other topics.
Resources
  • University Faculty and Staff compile reading list, including books which accuse America of systemic racism.
  • University released a BLM agenda timetable which includes student workshops on combating white supremacy and anti-racism programming.
  • The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL) offers "Anti-Racist Pedagogy Resources" and says, "A curated list of resources to support anti-racist teaching, because 'The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist’' (Ibram X Kendi)."
  • According to the university's Black Lives Matter Spring 2021 report, the "International Education and Black Unity Center presented collaborative workshops on Anti-Blackness in International Student Communities, Understanding Black Lives Matter in the U.S., and Understanding Intersectionality of Race, Class, Gender in the U.S." Additionally, the "Asian American and Pacific Islander Student Services hosted training and workshops to address Black community issues: Solidarity with Black Lives Matter, Understanding Anti-Blackness in AAPI Communities, and Inter-Ethnic Solidarity." Additionally, "Equity & Community Inclusion facilitated the Leadership for Social Justice series in 2020-2021, a series to provide training opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to reflect on campus climate(inclusive of Black student experience)."
Last updated October 11th, 2022
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