August 2024 Newsletter

*This faculty learning community is being funded by a Department of Education AANAPISI REACH grant

Celeste Francisco
REACH Financial Literacy Coach

Email: cfranci1@sfsu.edu

Advising Hours: Monday & Tuesday 3 – 5 p.m. (SSB One Stop) Wednesday 3 – 5 p.m. (Zoom)

Joshua Reason joins the Department Africana Studies 

Joshua Reason joins the Department Africana Studies. Dr. Reason earned their PhD in Africana Studies with a certificate in Critical Ethnography at the University of Pennsylvania. They earned their MA in Latin American Studies with a graduate portfolio in LGBTQ Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and their BA in Latin American Studies at Carleton College. 

Monumental Reckoning

Mark Allan Davis and Dana King partnered with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department for “Monumental Reckoning.” The one-day live exhibit for Juneteenth featured 50 Black women, both cis and trans, as well as Black nonbinary people. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the event on June 20.  Davis is also published in the new anthology “Black Fire—This Time, Volume 2” (University Press of Mississippi).  New Perspectives in Africana Studies a co-edited book by Drs. Crystal Edwards and Abul Pitre with contributions from SFSU students is expected to publish this fall.

New Perspectives in Africana Studies

Crystal Edwards and Abul Pitre co-edited book New Perspectives in Africana Studies with contributions from SFSU students is expected to publish this fall.

Dorothy Tsuruta on the board of NCNW and NCBS

Dorothy Tsuruta served as President of the Golden Gate Section of National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), where she addressed the gathering at the Mattie Scott May 10, 2024 Luncheon for Mothers Who Has Lost Children to Gun Violence, and serves on the board of the National Council of Black Studies (NCBS).

Tiffany Caesar received a Institute for Civic and Community Engagement project grant

Tiffany Caesar received a Institute for Civic and Community Engagement project grant titled K-12 Students of Color Learning Initiatives In the Bay Area: Shared Experiences of Educators, Artists, and Activist in The Bay Area Impacting Education For Students of Colo and co-edited two journals on the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival 50th Anniversary, one with the JSU Researcher and Callaloo Literary Journal.

Doñela Wright receives tenure

Doñela Wright received tenure and promotion and published a chapter in Afrocentric Innovations in Higher Education called "Making Gumbo: Africana Studies and HBCUs at the Crossroads."

Antwi Akom leads the Africana Students Powering Action Research and Knowledge (SPARK) Program

Antwi Akom led the Africana Students Powering Action Research and Knowledge (SPARK) Program which is designed to recruit high school students to major/minor in Africana Studies.

Congrats to the various accomplishments of the  American Indian Studies Department faculty:

Edwardo Madril, will begin as an Assistant Professor in 2025-26

Baligh Ben Taleb received a Bruce and Nora James Visiting Scholar Award from the University of Nevada Reno (Summer 2024)

Robert Keith Collins published  “Local Knowledge and Museum Exhibits: The Relevance of Native America to Black History” In Native Truths, Our Voices, Our Stories edited by Alaka Wali. 

Save the Dates

(Vince Maggiora @ SFGATE)

55th Anniversary of the Alcatraz Occupation

Wednesday, November 13 and Wednesday November 20

In EP 116

Details forthcoming.

Congrats to the various accomplishments of the AAS faculty:

Arlene Daus-Magbual  was recognized as a Community leader for SOMCAN’s Reclaiming Our Space Art veiling and co-authored Building a Culture of Care: The Development of an Ethnic Studies Faculty Learning Community in AAPI Nexus and co-produced a short film called, Art of Work

Kira Donnell created lesson plan curricula/open source teaching resource for New York Times-featured documentary project on Korean adoptee experiences - Side by Side Project.  

Andrew Gutierrez received a national grant to implement pilot programs in SF, NYC and Hawaii supporting Queer & Trans BIPOC youth experiencing homelessness.

Claudia Lodia wrote "Pinay Femmes Dwelling in Hesitation: Spatiality Tactics in Urban Manila" is in press and is part of an anthology called: Queering the Urban Space.

Russell Jeung received a Lifetime Achievement Award from OCA San Mateo and presented at Asian American Foundation summit  and the Asian Society's Gamechanger.

Loan Le chosen by peers for "best article" award out of all articles published by the Journal of Political Science Education

Jonathan Lee received City of Concord and Congressional recognition for volunteer service that saved the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County from closing. 

Isabelle Pelaud co-edited with Lan Duong and Viet Thanh NguyenThe Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora (with UC Press, April 2025) 

Valerie Soe received RSCA grant to work on the Auntie Sewing Squad Lucas Artists’ while in residency at the Montalvo Center for the Arts in Saratoga there.

Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales received Pinay Pioneer Educator award and is Curriculum director for UCLA’s Foundations and Futures and serves as acting chair in secondary education in the College of Education  in 2024-2025.

Francis Wong wrote  “Moments” in the Journal American Music focused on the Asian American Jazz Movement and is featured in  an essay  on cultural activism and musicologist Ellie Hisama in A Cultural History of Western Music: In the Modern Age. 

Jeannie Woo received 2024 ICCE Call to Service Grant for The Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Biography Project 

Congrats to the various accomplishments of the  Latina/o Studies Department faculty:

Eileene Tejada will serve as the faculty director with The Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL).

Carolina Prado received a Project Development grant this year from the American Council of Learned Societies to work on her book project.  

Daisy Zamora’s Riverbed of Memory, translated by Barbara Paschke, was featured in the Pocket Poets series by City Lights publishers.

Leticia Hernandez will be included in the new publication, Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology, coming out this fall.  She received a grant from this project to host a series of poetry events, Ars Topográfica: Central American Poets Writing Home/Land, on campus and in the Mission in October. 

Michael De Muniz’s new co-authored book Imperial Policing was published by the University of Minnesota Press.

New faculty joining the department include new tenure track faculty member Michelle Parra and lecturers Richard Sarmiento and Julieta Kusnir.

Rama Ali Kased, Leora Kava, and Gopal Dayaneni  have been meeting regularly with the President, foundations, and students on divesting from weapons manufacturing.

Che Rodriquez worked with local community organizations to help pass a ceasefire resolution in South San Francisco.

Ponipate Rokolekuto co-edited a special edition of the Okinawa Journal of Island Studies and is serving as the PI for the CSU AANHPI Grant.

Larry Salomon worked with ETHS graduate student (now alumni) Sabreen Imtair to develop the first ever youth organizer training program with AROC (the Arab Resource and Organizing Center).

Karl Evanglista is developing new music documenting his family’s political history, underlining the relationship between activism in the Bay Area, the Philippines, and South Africa.

Falu Bakrania is deepening her work with Climate HQ.

Rama Ali Kased received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.

Metro is happy to report we have recruited a full cohort of students this fall, filling all 13 Metro Academies. However, given recent budget cuts, Metro will no longer offer tutoring services through our Academic Resource Center. We will instead work more closely alongside SF State’s Tutoring and Academic Support Center (TASC). 

We also have several significant staffing transitions this year: Metro’s Ethnic Studies Coordinator, Gustavo Lopez, has accepted a teaching position at Peninsula High School, and Metro alum Arianna Vargas will take over his role. Phonita Yuen is retiring at the end of August, and Mary Beth Love will begin FERPing in January 2025. Savita Malik will be the incoming Executive Director, and Rama Kased the Faculty Director. We are fortunate to have a team of long-standing Metro staff and faculty to help guide Metro through these transitions.

Business Process Refresh & Reminders

Please remember that our business staff need you to submit requests before you seek reimbursement for travel: 4 – 6 weeks before!

The grants will cover travel expenses up to $1,200.00 for domestic travel trips and $1,500.00 for international travel trips for presentation of a paper at a professional, peer-reviewed conference. Expenses eligible include by not limited to airfare, lodging, registration, membership, per diem up to actuals, ground transportation, and other related expenses allowable by the CSU Travel Policy. 

All faculty (tenured/tenure-track professors and lecturers) who are presenting at a peer-reviewed conference are eligible to apply. The grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until the funds are depleted.

Application must include: 

1. 1-2 page CV
2. Abstract of the paper/poster to be presented
3. Letter of acceptance to peer-reviewed conference (must take place between August 21, 2024 and August 19, 2025)
4. Budget proposal for usage of funds 

Please visit the Collegewide Canvas page for full details and application form.

Contact

Faculty Travel Award application questions: Ty Maniulit, tymaniulit@sfsu.edu 

Travel questions: Marlena Jung, mjung1@sfsu.edu and Jack Mao, jackym@sfsu.edu

At academic senate on Tuesday September 2, 2024: Adrian Reyes Associated Students Ethnic Studies Representative,  Crystal Edwards (AFRS), Rob Collins (AIS),  Gabriela Segovia-McGahan (Staff representative) and Grace Yoo (Dean Representative).

The college is need of college representatives for these committees and others including:

One Lecturer Faculty  appointment on the Academic Senate 

 One faculty on the Academic Freedom Committee.

If you are interested in serving, please email Associate Dean Mai Nhung Le at mainhung@sfsu.edu

Applications are open for the Spring 2025 award period. Funding is from January 31, 2025, through May 31, 2025.

Award amount is up to $1,000.00 for one or two undergraduate student researchers only. No graduate students or graduated students.

Commitment from student: up to 50 hours spread over the semester, according to the schedule that best serves the faculty member. Students will be paid $20.00 per hour, and payment will be made through University Payroll.

For full-time Tenured and tenure-track faculty only.

Application must include:

1. One page faculty CV emphasizing research and scholarship success 
2. One-page description of the research project
   • What is the research project?
   • How will the work of a student researcher advance faculty’s professional development goals?
   • How will hours be assigned throughout the semester?
   • What will students learn from working on this project?

Applications due: Thursday, October 31, 2024

10 internships will be funded for Spring 2025.

Students funded through this grant must present at the Spring 2025 Student Showcase scheduled in May 2025.

Please visit the Collegewide Canvas page for full details and application form.

Please note that because of faculty errors in scheduling student work in the past, faculty members are responsible for tracking student’s work hours and ensuring they do not go over the allotment of 50 hours. Faculty who spend more than their allotment will be billed for the student work hours.

Faculty and staff should complete CSU Learn trainings in particular please complete 1) Data Security and FERPA, Gender Equity and Title IX, and CSU's Discrimination Harassment Prevention Program for Non-Supervisors

A reminder that faculty should complete all forms when taking students on off-campus field trips. Also, docusign has the waiver of liability form that may make it easier for faculty to get signatures. See here for more information.

There is a staff and faculty free week from September 8 – 14, 2024: Save the date!

For faculty & staff memberships there is a payroll deduction of $46/month. A fall semester membership would cost $230 while an annual membership would be $564.

You can now purchase massage therapy without an active membership! For a 45- minute massage session the price is $80, which includes access to the facility for the day.

Join us for Rec The Night on Thursday August 29, 2024 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.!

Your Employee Benefits

Open Enrollment 2024  |  September 16, 2024 - October 11, 2024

Open Enrollment is your opportunity to review your CSU benefits and explore your options for you and your family to make sure you have the best coverage for 2025.

The new CSU Open Enrollment website will be coming early September and will include updated information and resources for our valued employees,

The open enrollment dates starting on Monday, September 16 will close at 5 PM on Oct. 11 — no late forms are accepted.

All new forms will be loaded to Docusign on opening day (Sept. 16th) 

If you are not planning to make any changes to your benefits, you don't have to do anything.

Most common changes:

• Changing health/dental/vision plans
• Renew Health Care Reimbursement Account (HCRA/Dcra) *must re-enroll every year
• Enrolling in ARAG legal, additional insurance or other voluntary benefits 
• Enrolling in Pet Insurance
• adding /removing dependents
• Adjusting for changes in marital status/beneficiaries 

For more information and questions email benefits@sfsu.edu and/or call (415) 405-4004