Dr. Fatima Alaoui - Board Chair
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Professor Alaoui (Ph.D., University of Denver) is a professor of rhetoric, social media, social movements and social change and coordinator of graduate studies in the department of communication studies at San Francisco State University. Her research engages critical rhetoric, political communication, digital technology and emerging media, gender and sexuality studies, transnational feminism and social change in a variety of contexts, including social movements, new media, political discourse and pop culture. More particularly, Dr. Alaoui’s scholarship considers how the often non-normative, un-institutionalized voices of resistance work to change their communities and how normative or institutionalized discourses reinforce their ability to maintain power.
Dr. Kira Donnell
Lecturer Faculty, Asian American Studies
Dr. Kira Donnell is Lecturer Faculty in the Asian American Studies department and the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Faculty Director at CEETL. She holds an MA in Asian American Studies from SFSU and an MA and PhD in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on Korean adoptees as individuals with agency and the development of an individual and collective Korean adoptee identity particularly as expressed through analysis of cultural productions. As a Lecturer Faculty member at SFSU, she is particularly interested in advocating for the support and recognition of Lecturer Faculty as well as exploring and implementing teaching practices and pedagogies that promote equitable and accessible learning experiences for students.
Dr. Brad Erickson
Lecturer Faculty, Department of Liberal Studies
Dr. Brad Erickson is a lecturer Faculty in Liberal Studies since 2015. Chapter President California Faculty Association SFSU, At-Large Senator of the Academic Senate. Chair of the CEETL advisory board. I've worked intensively with CEETL staff as co-chair of the AS Teaching Effectiveness Assessment (TEA) Task Force and participated in CEETL programs and courses. Campus policies and programs are often created around tenure and tenure track faculty as the norm in spite of lecturer faculty doing the majority of teaching. I hope to center the lecturer faculty experience in all considerations of teaching and learning.
Dr. Talía Guzmán-González
Senior Assistant Librarian
Dr. Talía Guzmán-González is a Research and Instruction Librarian and the liaison for the Graduate College of Education and the College of Ethnic Studies. She has been a member of the Advisory Board since 2022 and was on the committee for the recent search for the new CEETL Director. She hopes to bring a strong skillset in research, information literacy, and instruction expertise. She is also deeply interested in issues of equity, diversity, transparency, and fairness in hiring practices in Higher Education.
Tina Bartolome
Associate Director of Curriculum and Faculty Development, Lecturer
I grew up in San Francisco, got my BA from SFSU, and my commitment to education for liberation stems from being mentored by fierce educators, artists, and organizers of color who serve their communities. I am passionate about continuing this tradition..
Dr. Pavlína Látková
Professor, Department of Recreation, Parks & Tourism
Dr. Pavlína Látková, a Professor at San Francisco State University's Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, has dedicated 20 years to researching sustainable community-based tourism development. An advocate for socially responsible travel, she emphasizes cultural understanding, personal fulfillment and transformation, and community participatory engagement in sustainable development. Through her courses, blending experiential and service learning, Dr. Látková prepares students for careers in recreation, parks, and tourism. Collaborating with the San Francisco Bay Area community, she creates field-based experiences and leads impactful study abroad programs described by students as "life-changing”.
Dr. Kimberly D Tanner
Professor; Director of SEPAL
Biology education research, equity and diversity in science, science education research, science teaching methods for scientists, partnerships with K-12 schools, development of novel assessment tools, community college biology teaching, cognitive psychology research
Dr. Yiwen Chen
Professor; Marketing
Yiwen Chen is currently an Assistant Professor of Marketing. She received a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Missouri and joined SFSFU in 2022. Her research interests lie in social media marketing and influencer marketing. Yiwen teaches marketing research and marketing management and has developed two new courses in social media marketing and content marketing since joining SFSU.
Dr. Chrissy Yee Lau
Professor, Asian American Studies
Dr. Chrissy Yee Lau is an assistant professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. Her research and teaching interests include Asian American History, U.S. Women's History, California History, and Public History. She is co-editor of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice and author of New Women of Empire: Gendered Politics and Racial Uplift in Interwar Japanese America.
Dr. Sheldon Gen
Professor, Public Administration
Dr. Sheldon Gen is the interim Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs & Professional Development, and professor of public policy in the School of Public Affairs & Civic Engagement. He researches public participation in policy making.
Dr. Eileene Tejada
Lecturer Faculty, Department of Latina/Latino Studies
Former Faculty Director, Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum
Dr. Tejada is an anthropological researcher, ethnographic writer, and poet dedicated to decolonizing knowledge. Her current work focuses on Bomba, a cultural form from Puerto Rico that resists colonization and slavery, framed within the context of globalism. With over 30 years of teaching experience in English Composition, Literature, and Critical Thinking at Napa Valley College, and as a lecturer at San Francisco State's College of Ethnic Studies, she integrates Global South epistemologies to enrich students' cultural understanding. Dr. Tejada has also served as Academic Senate President, a commissioner for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and in various roles within faculty unions. Balancing her academic career with raising two daughters, she remains deeply committed to educational access and decolonization to promote equity in academia and beyond.
Dr. Sara Baguskas
Assistant Professor, School of the Environment
Terrestrial biogeography; Plant ecophysiology; Climate change; Coastal fog; Mediterranean ecosystems; Water resource management; Urban ecohydrology; Science education and outreach.
Dr. Yikuan Lee
Professor, International Business
Professor Yikuan Lee is an associate professor in the International Business department at San Francisco State University. Her research covers new product innovation, innovation adoption, strategic marketing management in high-tech arenas, decision making, psychology and behavioral economics. She has published in Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Marketing Theory, and Journal of Business Research.
Dr. Frederick Smith
Associate Vice President, Equity and Community Inclusion
Dr. Frederick Smith is SF State's Associate Vice President for Equity & Community Inclusion. Previously, he served as the Director of the Cross Cultural Centers at Cal State LA from 2006 - 2019. Dr. Smith's research and professional interests focus on higher education and include: co-curricular learning experiences; the role of ethnic studies and cultural centers in student identity development and confidence building; campus climate experiences of historically marginalized and minoritized communities; retention and graduation of students of color in higher education; and collaborations between student affairs and academic affairs units for student success. Fred has a strong professional background developing collaborative programs, events, services, dialogues, and celebrations that bring the campus community together.
Dr. Jennifer Shea
Professor, Public Administration
Jennifer Shea is a Professor of Public Administration and Director of the School of Public Affairs and Civic Engagement. She is a community-engaged scholar whose work lies at the nexus of public policy and nonprofit studies, with research focused on public engagement and innovation in policymaking and implementation, organizational and policy learning, nonprofit finance, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Much of her research is applied, engages community members, and incorporates equity concerns from critical theoretical and practical perspectives. She is a co-founder and faculty affiliate of the Applied Housing Research Initiative (AHRI) and co-director of the Willie L. Brown, Jr., Fellowship at SF State University.
Dr. Sherria D. Taylor
Associate Professor, Department of Child & Adolescent Development
Dr. Sherria D. Taylor is an Associate Professor at San Francisco State University. She earned her doctoral degree in 2013 from Loma Linda University in Family Studies with a concentration in Systems-Organizational Consultation. Her dissertation was titled: A Family Resilience Model of Behavioral Health for Low-Income, Ethnic Minority Families. She 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. Dr. 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.
Dr. Arezoo Islami
Assistant Professor, GTA Coordinator
Arezoo Islami is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Science and Mathematics at San Francisco State University. Prior to that, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, where she also completed her Ph.D. Her main areas of research are philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of physics, and phenomenology. She has received several awards including Iranian Diaspora Research Fellowship, Marcus Early Career Research Award, Marcus Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and Extraordinary Ideas Grant(s). She is interested in studying the historical construction of knowledge in mathematics and physics and the philosophical consequences of their dynamic relationship.
Dr. Kate Hamel
Faculty Director, Department of Kinesiology
Dr. Catherine Lipson
Lecturer Faculty, Department of Secondary Education
Dr. Catherine Lipson completed her dissertation (Integrating Technology into Literacy Instruction for Students with Disabilities: Perspectives of Teachers and Students) in May 2017. She is a Teacher Educator at North Coast School of Education in Santa Rosa, CA and also teaches credential/MA courses at SFSU. Her research interests included teacher education to support language and literacy for typically-developing students as well as students with special needs. In the past, Catherine served as a high school resource English teacher and as a summer instructor for the Sonoma State University Rising Stars program. Each of these assignments involved developing or modifying curriculum to support literacy to meet the needs of all students including those with disabilities or English Language Learners. Her recent publications include:
Lipson, C. (2016). Teaching students with disabilities in multilingual communities: Why teacher education matters. Current Studies in Comparative Education, Science and Technology, 3(1), 104-120.
Lipson, C. (2022). Literacy Teachers and Technology Integration: Using the Activity Theory Model to Clarify Relationships. In R. Williams (Ed.) Challenging Deficit Thinking for Exceptional Education Improvement. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Lipson, C. (2025). Teacher Education and Human Rights for Students with Disabilities in Multilingual Communities. In K. S. Volkova, O. I. Rasskazova, M. V. Bilozerova (Eds.) Integration of social and emotional learning into education and social work in the context of inclusive and non-discriminatory approaches: Materials of the XII Scientific and Practical Seminar with the participation of an international expert circle, November 26, 2024. Kharkiv, UK: Municipal institution "Kharkiv Humanitarian and Pedagogical Academy" of the Kharkiv Regional Council.
Larry Birello
Director of Student Rights & Responsibilities