Faculty

In recognition of the importance of conferences in the professional development of scholarly skills and dissemination of research, the College of Health & Social Sciences is offering travel awards for faculty to support the presentation of their peer-reviewed scholarship at professional conferences. The award will cover expenses (hotel, airfare and conference registration only) up to a maximum of $1200 (no additional funding is available beyond the maximum); the maximum for lecturers below a .6 timebase will be prorated on the basis of their timebase during the semester they apply; lecturers at a .6 timebase or above will receive full funding up to the maximum of $1200.  Faculty on FERP are not eligible.  Support will only be awarded for one trip per fiscal year.

The conference must take place between 9/15/23 and 6/15/24. If approved, travelers must submit a) documentation to verify the acceptance of their peer-reviewed presentation and b) travel request and expenses through Concur to get their reimbursement from the University: in-state – two (2) weeks or sooner from travel dates, out-of-state – three (3) weeks or sooner from travel dates, international – seven (7) weeks or sooner from travel dates; conference registration requires approval of Concur travel request before paying for registration. Receipts will be due within 0-30 days of return and no post travel transactions will be allowed.

All faculty, including T/TT and lecturers, are eligible for the award. The review of applications will be on a rolling basis and will begin on September 5, 2023.  Half of the funding will be available for applications submitted between 9/5/23 and 12/21/23 and the other half for submissions between 1/3/24 and 5/15/24.  Awards will be given out on a first come basis during each application period according to need until the funds are gone.  

Cynthia Martinez, an assistant professor in SF State’s Department of Counseling, was drawn to SF State by the community, the spirit of activism and her department colleagues. She grew up hearing stories from her parents — who immigrated here from Guatemala — about coming to the Bay Area in 1967 and seeing the Black Panther Movement, Civil Rights Movement and Harvey Milk. “The spirit of San Francisco State has that, with ethnic studies and the inclusivity it is connected to,” she said.

Her scholarship interests lie in participant action research, including working with BIPOC families to create non-traditional therapeutic wellness groups and trauma-informed, antiracist advocacy and radical self-care for practitioners experiencing collective trauma.

Martinez appreciates her colleagues’ receptivity to her teaching style and her pedagogical frameworks centered on community organizing, popular education, trauma-informed clinical/school supports, decolonizing critical praxis and anti-racist advocacy. The reason for this, she said, is “because they themselves are striving to create an open and inclusive learning community for our students. And I deeply respect the work they have done.”

Albert de la Tierra, an assistant professor in Criminal Justice Studies, was drawn to SF State because of his department and its explicit attention to structures of power. Meeting the faculty in the Department of Criminal Justice Studies helped him decide that SF State was where he wanted to build a career. 

"The collegial culture that my senior colleagues and my department have built — because of the intentions they have to recognize, honor and value each other's humanity first, and to build constructive criticism from that appreciation of each other's perspectives — pushed me towards SF State,” said de la Tierra.

De la Tierra holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Sociology from the CUNY Graduate Center, a B.A. in Criminology, Law & Society from UC Irvine, and advanced certificates in the Psychology of Leadership (Cornell), Critical Theory (CUNY), and Women's Studies (CUNY). He has years of experience teaching introductory and advanced undergraduate courses on qualitative research design, criminal justice studies and various sociological theories. He tailors coursework to students’ positionalities to promote their ability to interrogate the culture(s) in which they live.

The two faculty members were asked to consider the above quote from Audre Lorde and how it applies to their work. Both expressed that focusing on being their authentic selves in their scholarship is vital. Martinez says this is something she has struggled with in terms of traditional research, which is often quantitative and framed in a way that is “for the community, not with the community.” Being trained as an activist community organizer, going into the field of psychology, and seeing people writing about multiculturalism and thinking about social justice, she aims to find ways to lift the voices of the communities she works with.

Martinez emphasizes the question she asks herself: “How can we bring the spirit of the families we are working with, and the activism of the people whom I learn from and continue to learn from?” While reading the book “All About Love: New Visions” by bell hooks, she was inspired by the idea that love is a verb, an action. This quote helps answer her question, "I feel most powerful when talking about this because it is grounded in my communities, in families, and is founded in a lot of love.”

For de la Tierra, “daring to be powerful” means thinking about love and respect and analyzing scholarship, which can include problematic ideals. He says he considers it essential to be honest with the people he works with and those in his scholarship; he targets their work to demonstrate to his discipline that their work warrants a close reading and examination. “I want to push my people, my folks, beyond the frameworks that they are producing and reproducing.”

“Daring to be powerful is taking the risk of alienating myself from the small number of communities that I have in academia,” de la Tierra continues. He notes that it is easy to criticize backward frameworks or people one does not necessarily like. However, the whole goal behind academia and scholarship is to find colleagues who understand each other. “We are not here to only say what is good about what we do; the best thing I can offer and someone else can offer me is constructive criticism.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are frequently discussed in higher education, and SF State has long championed those values. On the subject of DEI in her own life, Martinez shares, “I live it every day, and so there is not a break… systemic oppression is a trigger of insidious trauma.” She focuses on intersectionality in how power differences play out in our lives and in the context of being Latin/Latinx/Latina. “What does that [intersectionality] mean when it has been grounded in anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity? … I often think about this in terms of identity, and it means intersectionality and how it comes across in class, race and gender.”

As people of color, both Martinez and de la Tierra have lived their whole lives contemplating not only DEI but also exclusion, marginalization, racism and the violence of the state through microaggressions. De la Tierra adds, “I have been reflecting on how I combat white supremacy in my community, how I subscribe to white supremacy ideologies without actually knowing, and how to work to undo that.”

De la Tierra believes that higher education aids in cultivating people who ask questions, are genuinely curious to know more and have the courage to question their beliefs and truths. “You can learn almost anything online… but the promise of being at a university, especially ours, is that you will be in a room with people who dedicated their life to becoming critical thinkers,” he said.

Asked why he chose SF State, Assistant Professor of Child & Adolescent Development Miguel Abad says, “San Francisco State University signifies access to higher education to young people who don't have that opportunity, have been pushed out of school, been written off, or have been told that higher education is not something they could strive to get into. San Francisco State has been that place to take in young people who aren't the traditional college-going story.”

Abad is a youth worker with more than a decade of experience collaborating with community-based and nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area in numerous fields, such as college access, career development, arts education and social movement organizing.

Angela Fillingim, a new assistant professor in the Department of Sociology & Sexuality Studies, says, “Relevant education permeates the entire school culture, not just in ethnic studies — which is the heartbeat that's embraced across the campus, but with a variety of different people with varying majors, and they all still feel that sense of community.”

A Salvadoran American sociologist, Fillingim centers her teaching and research center on social justice approaches to studies of race, human rights, social theory and Latinas/xs/os.

When discussing the theme of “When I Dare to Be Powerful,” based on the above Audre Lorde quote, both faculty members have similar experiences of pressure to conform to rigid ideas of what it means to be successful as an academic and how they put in the work to get away from finding validation in dominant norms.

Abad and Fillingim agree that daring to be powerful includes focusing on how to contribute to our community and the people they try to advocate for. Abad states, “It takes a lot of intention and awareness of the spaces you are moving in and a lot of self-reflection as to why you are doing something and who you are accountable for.”

Fillingim highlighted that after leaving graduate school, students learn to ask questions that call attention to the problems they face in the communities they come from. She says that power means “you must learn to be comfortable flipping the script and being at an institution where that is valued, centered in the students, and having a space that also values that work.”

Reflecting on how they face issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in their own lives, Abad and Fillingim say their experiences make them consider their own encumbrances to the struggles others may experience. They recognize in their own lives that to overcome these hindrances, they must aim to be grounded in a community where they work to support and acknowledge each other.

“Justice will look different for everybody, but the point is that you are working together to change something, and we can agree that change needs to happen,” Fillingim says.

The two new faculty members emphasize the role of education in breaking barriers. Fillingim reflects on her experiences in the K-12 system that focuses on discipline and obedience instead of encouraging students to develop themselves. She can see this repetition with high schoolers she works with; many students come in with that socialization. “Focusing on education that is dedicated to understanding its students and making education meaningful to their daily lives, who they want to be as a person, and the choices they make —that is the kind of education that is revolutionary and necessary,” she says.

Abad touches on this topic with the classes he teaches, such as having his students read about Native American boarding schools and asking them to reflect on themselves and learn about or challenge their assumptions that education is always a good thing.

When working with students, whether in a college class or a community-based space, Abad tries to focus on promoting collaboration and teamwork. He is struck by students’ adverse reaction to teamwork. He says, “Not only in school but in society [students] are taught, or they come to learn that collaboration is this thing that is too hard and it holds them back as individuals or that it is this negative thing.”

“Education is a vehicle for delivering particular values, and the kinds of values I and others hope to deliver are those focused on radical transformation and social justice,” Abad says.

He recognizes the slow work of helping his students see how they are more powerful together, and how the changes they want to see in themselves and their world will only happen if they work together and express similar values.

Fillingim shares similar values about work needing to be put into the K-12 system. “There hasn't been significant change despite all this work that has been done… there needs to be thinking of education as relevant, grounded in community, grounded in self-actualization,” she says.

Fillingim and Abad both express hope that education centered on self-actualization is possible, and that through the continuous challenges we face, people are working to push through and advocate for social justice-grounded change within education.

A new report highlights the detrimental discrepancies between child neglect laws and child development research

For children, being allowed to walk to a playground or to school by themselves is an exciting achievement — a sign they’re becoming “big kids.” Developmental scientists agree: They say such moments are critical milestones in a child’s development. Yet there are many child neglect laws in the United States that conflict with research about childhood and may actually interfere with development.

A new Social Policy Report paper by San Francisco State University Assistant Professor Rachel Flynn and collaborators explores this conflict and asks at what age can a child perform tasks without adult supervision. The answer is tricky, the authors explain, but reducing the answer to an age range (usually in preteens to early teens) can have serious consequences. It can lead to parents and guardians being unfairly prosecuted and be harmful for families and children. To complicate matters more, broad child neglect laws dramatically vary across the nation.

“I like to think [the laws are] well-intentioned and meant to keep kids safe. But the fact that there are places in the country where it is illegal for a child to be alone at 10 or 12 or babysit for their younger siblings … most developmental [scientists] would never guess that,” said Flynn, an assistant professor in the Department of Child & Adolescent Development at San Francisco State.

These child neglect laws often do not align with developmental science research, the authors explain. Previous research in the United States and internationally suggest children undergo a shift to taking on more responsibilities around 5 to 7 years. To participate in independent activities, children need to reach developmental milestones in physical, cognitive and social abilities, and most children achieve these skills by 6 or 7 through experiences. A child’s ability to achieve these milestones are also dependent on many factors, so guidelines based on age alone without context are not effective.

“I think the other really big thing is remembering to keep this in the social justice lens … ,” Flynn said. “We’re really trying to drive home the idea that these child neglect laws can impact anyone anywhere, but children of color are particularly impacted …  They’re more likely to have touch points with child protective services than white children as a result.”

Well-meaning but misplaced reports of child neglect due to lack of supervision can strain child protective systems that are intended to protect children. Flynn hopes everyone — policymakers, developmental science researchers, grade-school educators, pediatricians, parents and social work hotline moderators — look at the research paper’s recommendations to begin mitigating the negative impacts of some laws.

“Hotlines were meant to help children,” Flynn said. “They’re not helpful when every person calls because of every situation that they personally disagree with, for example a child walking their dog around the block alone. That clogs up resources and keeps the true neglect and abuse cases from getting the attention.”

Flynn was surprised to see the lack of developmental research on this topic but attributes this to a lack of awareness. There are psychologists, educational researchers and health researchers doing relevant research, but they don’t all talk together.

While her own research usually focuses on the media’s impact on children and how it affects play, Flynn plans to take the lessons of her recent paper into her advocacy work. She has already talked to some policy makers and hopes to help educate hotline workers and others.

“The question always is what age can kids be unsupervised? There’s no straightforward answer. It’s rooted in individual differences in context and cultures and variations,” Flynn said. “But we can provide some guidelines to really say that children are very capable at a very young age, and with experience children can be even more capable.”

Learn more about SF State’s Department of Child & Adolescent Development.

Republished from SF State News

Excellence in Teaching Award (Tenured Faculty): Sherria Taylor

Sherria D. Taylor, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Child & Adolescent Development, has been awarded the CHSS Excellence in Teaching Award for Tenured Faculty for the exemplary quality and impact of her achievements in pedagogy.

Taylor holds a doctoral degree in Family Studies from Loma Linda University with a concentration in Systems-Organizational Consultation and has been involved in research funded by HUD and the Family Process Institute related to family resilience and family support services among low-income families. As the former executive director and current director of program development and evaluation for the nonprofit agency Access for Community & Cultural Education Programs & Trainings (ACCEPT) in Reno, Nevada, she has been successful in securing over 1.5 million dollars in grant funding for community programming. Taylor and colleagues have produced peer-reviewed publications and reports that seek to change the odds stacked against BIPOC communities rather than asking BIPOC communities to beat them. Her research interests include family, community and cultural resilience and survivance through a lens of Indigenous and Womanist theories, mental health, compassionate inquiry as substance abuse prevention, family life education, social justice pedagogy and the buffering effects of spirituality.

Excellence in Teaching Award (Lecturer Faculty): Martin Dixon

Martin Dixon, M.Sc., lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology, has been awarded the CHSS Excellence in Teaching Award for Lecturer Faculty for the exemplary quality and impact of his achievements in pedagogy.

Dixon specializes in sport coaching, motor learning, and research methods. His teaching is underpinned by his coaching experience across a range of elite youth and college environments, including applying the principles of skill acquisition to the classroom. Dixon’s pedagogy is also informed by his current Ph.D. research into sport coaches’ reflection and cognitive appraisals of stress.

Excellence in Service Award: Sonja Lenz-Rashid

Sonja Lenz-Rashid, Ph.D., LCSW, has been awarded the CHSS Excellence in Service Award for her dedication to service activities that impact student success and enhance the SF State community.

Lenz-Rashid is a professor in the School of Social Work and a co-founder, faculty research evaluator and clinical supervisor for the SF State Guardian Scholars Program (GSP). Launched in 2005, the GSP serves more than 100 current and former foster care youth on campus annually and has an annual budget of over $1.3 million. The program boasts a 70 percent graduation rate, a 95 percent retention rate, and an 80 percent overall persistence rate. Lenz-Rashid works countless hours on the Guardian Scholars Program each year and has studied the outcomes of, and best practice models for, former foster care youth at the national, state and Bay Area levels. Her research and publications have provided valuable feedback to child welfare administrators, legislators, and program developers on how best to serve these disenfranchised young people using evidence-based practice. She has more than 25 years of experience serving vulnerable youth in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been at SF State since 2003.

Excellence in Scholarship Award: Julie Chronister

Julie Chronister, Ph.D., has been awarded the CHSS Excellence in Scholarship award for her support of student-initiated research that evolves beyond the requirements for a degree.

Chronister is a professor in the Department of Counseling and a faculty member in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2004. Her scholarship focuses on the meaning and measurement of social support for those living with psychiatric disabilities; the experiences of family members, caregivers and case managers living or working with persons with disabilities; the psychosocial factors that protect against internalized stigma and promote quality of life and mental health recovery among persons with psychiatric disabilities; and most recently, the lived experiences of disabled people during COVID-19 and the influence of social support, coping and empowerment on their experience.

Chronister has been the chair of two dissertation committees — one focused on Disability Identity and the other focused on the lived experiences of counselors of color. Chronister has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and books and has received various federal research and training grants from NIMH, HRSA, and RSA. She was recently awarded a $1.9 million grant to train counselors to work in integrated behavioral health in primary care. Chronister is co-editor of two books, has presented at numerous national conferences and is on the editorial board of several top-tier peer-reviewed journals.

In recognition of the importance of conferences in the professional development of scholarly skills and dissemination of research, the College of Health & Social Sciences is offering travel awards for faculty to support the presentation of their peer-reviewed scholarship at professional conferences.

The award will cover expenses (conference registration, hotel, airfare only) up a maximum of $1200; the maximum for lecturers below a .6 timebase will be prorated on the basis of their timebase during the semester they apply; lecturers at a .6 timebase or above will receive full funding up to the maximum of $1200.  Support will only be awarded for one trip per fiscal year.

The conference must take place by 08/30/23. If approved, travelers must submit a) documentation to verify the acceptance of their peer-reviewed presentation and b) travel request and expenses through Concur to get their reimbursement from the University: in-state – two (2) weeks or sooner from travel dates, out-of-state – three (3) weeks or sooner from travel dates, international – seven (7) weeks or sooner from travel dates; conference registration requires approval of Concur travel request before paying for registration. Receipts will be due within 0-30 days of return and no post travel transactions will be allowed. Tenured/tenure-track faculty at all ranks and all lecturers are eligible for the award.

The review of applications will be on a rolling basis and will begin on September 26, 2022.  Half of the funding will be available for applications submitted between September 26, 2022 and January 30, 2023 and the other half for submissions between February 1 and June 30, 2023.  Awards will be given out on a first-come basis during each application period according to need until the funds are gone. 

Online application

In recognition of the importance of the acquisition of scholarly skills and the development of new research activities, the College of Health & Social Sciences is offering professional development grants this semester for faculty to acquire or expand new competencies, pursue new directions and support the dissemination of their scholarship.

The award will cover approved expenses (described below) up to a maximum of $2000 per faculty member; the maximum for lecturers below a .6 timebase will be prorated based on their timebase this semester; lecturers at a .6 timebase or above will receive full funding up to the maximum of $2000. Funds must be used for the approved purposes only and spent by June 10, 2023.  The spending and request for reimbursement deadlines are firm. The College will not process reimbursements after this date and will not approve exemptions.

Please review the allowable expense guidelines carefully and contact Assistant Dean Kate Hamel with any questions prior to submission (hamelk@sfsu.edu). Priority for funding will go to those applicants without other sources of funding for the proposal (start-up funds, department funding, internal/external grants). We especially encourage applications that center racial, intersectional, and social justice in teaching, scholarship and research.

Grant Categories (may only apply for one):

• Short Training Course, Workshop, Continuing Education Program, or Specialized Conference that relates directly to the faculty member’s professional development in the areas of teaching or scholarship.  The course or program must be completed by 08/30/2023. 
  • Travel to deliver a presentation at an annual conference will not be funded under this award (please apply to the CHSS Conference Travel Award Program).
  • Expenses may include registration cost if registered and paid for prior to 6/10/2023. Airfare and hotel costs can only be reimbursed if travel is complete before 5/30/2023 and reimbursement is processed prior to 6/10/2023.
  • Concur submission will be required if travel expenses are requested and the banned states regulations for travel will apply.
• Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Funding 
  • Supplies, data collection costs and project-related travel will be allowed (as per the guidelines listed in the previous category), and all funding must be spent prior to 6/10/2023.
  • Student assistants may be requested if all work is completed prior to May 26, 2023.
  • Participant incentives and gift cards are NOT allowed.
  • Teams of faculty may apply for a collaborative award to combine their individual maximum awards of $2000/faculty member.
• Consulting Fees for Statistical or Editorial Support 
  • Faculty may apply for one-time consultant services via a Special Consultant Agreement.  Upon award, the paperwork to request a special consultant must be completed by 3/31/23 and the work by the consultant must be completed by 5/31/23.  The consultant must be identified in the application and a copy of their CV submitted for review.
• Open-Access Publication Fees 
  • Article processing charges to support the publication of a faculty member’s scholarship in a reputable open-access journal will be allowed via a direct payment request up to the maximum award of $2000.
  • To be eligible, the journal must be fully open access, and the peer-reviewed article must be accepted for publication and the fees paid prior to 6/10/2023.  Hybrid journals are not eligible. 
  • Eligibility for open-access book publication will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
  • CHSS faculty co-authors may apply for a collaborative award to cover article processing charges that exceed the individual faculty maximum award of $2000 up to a maximum of $4999.

Application Requirements

Maximum one page summary of the proposed activity and how the funding will impact the faculty member’s development of their teaching and/or scholarship.

• Itemized budget for the proposed activity
• List of additional sources of funding
• Department Chair approval

A one-page final report will be due after the completion of the professional development activity.

Submit your application here

Born in Hungary, Schmid-Shapiro competed in the Olympics for her homeland in 1952 and ’56, earning a gold medal, two silvers and a bronze. She defected to the U.S. in 1956 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a Ph.D. in higher education from UC Berkeley. She came to SF State in 1963, serving as head coach of the women’s gymnastics team and teaching as a professor of Kinesiology. With her San Francisco State colleague, Blanche Drury, she brought gymnastics to California schools, teaching workshops, mentoring new coaches and guiding the development of the sport in our state. In her early days at San Francisco State, she taught gymnastic, rhythmic gymnastics and the gymnastics analyses courses for teacher preparation students. She also sponsored the Women’s Recreation Association. She went on to teach sport psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Schmid-Shapiro was a superb advisor for both students and faculty. She had very high standards and expected others to work hard to develop their best abilities — and she supported them through the process. She was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Schmid-Shapiro is survived by her husband, Charles Shapiro; her daughter, Aniko Molnar; and two granddaughters.

Ritter was a dedicated educator, counselor and social justice activist. His many contributions include work with the LGBTQ+ community, the Palestinian community, the Academic Senate of the CSU and the California Faculty Association (CFA). Most noticeable were his accomplishments serving as program director of Prevention Education Programs (PEP) within Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). He ensured students had access to information, counseling and resources on HIV/AIDS alcohol and other drugs, and sexual violence. He was also a lecturer in the Department of Counseling and touched many lives through all the years of teaching. He retired in 2016 after 32 years of service.

Ritter embodied the spirit of SF State and the wider San Francisco community. He was warm, compassionate, generous and kind. His nonjudgmental approach helped people develop compassion for themselves. He lived life every day to the fullest and died doing what he loved, in the place he loved, with people that he loved, and for a cause that he loved.

“Michael is loved by so many colleagues and alumni in the Department of Counseling and the loss ripples deeply with us. We fondly remember his warmth, energy and tremendous clinical expertise,” said Department of Counseling Chair Rebecca Toporek. “We had the fortune of his collegiality and leadership in an undergraduate peer counseling program in a partnership between Counseling and Psychological Services and the Department of Counseling. Through that, he not only taught the courses but also supervised and mentored many of our graduate students who assisted with the class while interning as mental health counselors on campus at the Peggy Smith Clinic. Teaching the peer counseling classes, Michael also had a powerful influence on students in our Counseling minor who aspired to become peer counselors, and many eventually apply for graduate training in counseling. Michael greeted every one of us with a warm smile, good humor and compassion. His spirit will continue to be strong with us.”

Ritter is survived by his spouse, Peter Toscani, and sister, Karen Ritter. Memorial services are currently in the planning stages for November, and information will be widely shared when it is available.

Eliason served as the College’s first assistant dean of faculty development and scholarship from 2015 to 2022 and taught in the Department of Public Health at SF State for more than a decade.

Previously, she spent 20 years on the faculty of the University of Iowa, where she was the first director of the Sexuality Studies Program and professor of nursing. She has a background in nursing and psychology, and has clinical and research experience in hospitals, clinics, community-based treatment agencies and a women’s prison. Eliason earned her Ph.D. in pediatric and educational psychology at the University of Iowa in 1984.

Her research interests are primarily in the area of LGBTQ health. In 2013, she received a lifetime achievement award for this body of work by a national advocacy group GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality.

She has written extensively about these issues and is the primary author of “LGBTQ Cultures: What Health Care Professionals Need to Know About Sexual and Gender Diversity,” the second edition of which was published by Lippincott in 2015.