At the College of Health & Social Sciences, students develop their ability to make a significant, meaningful impact on their communities and society. Through classroom learning and practical experience, they receive professional preparation in a variety of fields promoting health, well-being and quality of life.
The College comprises a wide range of departments, programs, and schools with a shared commitment to equity and social justice. Students from our college can be found all over San Francisco — in schools, hospitals, social service agencies, governmental agencies, corporations, and other settings — translating knowledge into action to improve lives on multiple fronts. For example, our students work in health screening clinics making sure children and the elderly have access to flu shots; they work with the formerly incarcerated to help them re-enter society; and they put together makeshift workout centers in parks where families can exercise for free.
Our alumni make up vast segments of the city’s workforce. A great many members of San Francisco’s law enforcement community have earned their professional degrees at San Francisco State, as have a large percentage of the city’s nurses and mental health counselors. The College’s impact also extends beyond the Bay Area to the state and national levels, where it has helped shaped policy.
Faculty members at the College push the boundaries. Their research is rooted in a belief in the potential of scholarship to right a wrong. They engage in on-campus and community-based service that effects positive health, social change, intellectual growth and increased quality of life. In their teaching, they strive to cultivate environments committed to deep and meaningful learning experiences.
College of Health & Social Sciences Funding Initiatives
Scholarships
Scholarships provide much-needed support to students to defray the cost of attending the University.
School of Nursing
The School of Nursing is committed to meeting the need for more qualified nurses by offering high-quality, experiential instruction.
Pacific Leadership Institute
The Institute’s outdoor education program provides experiential education and leadership development for local youth, adults and corporate groups.
Food Lab Renovation
The Dietetics Program utilizes Food Lab for advanced instruction in food science. The Lab urgently needs updating to provide relevant training.
Willie L. Brown, Jr.
Fellowship Program
The Program provides SF State students who have faced barriers to pursuing a college education with professional experience in the public sector.
The Family Acceptance Project
The Project is the world’s first research, intervention, education and policy initiative that helps families learn to support their LGBTQ children.
College of Health & Social Sciences Stories
Trained as a preschool teacher in Mexico, Sanchez-Vaznaugh, now an SF State associate professor of health education, immigrated to the U.S. to join family members and had only recently learned English herself, through City College’s ESL program.
Zepeda’s academic trajectory first veered from the norm at 16, when he dropped out of high school to attend community college full time.
Miranda Orellana, a junior at San Francisco State University, snipped off a loose thread with her teeth and looked critically at the black, polyester taffeta jacket she was working on.
Soon after the November election, one of Gov. Jerry Brown’s last official acts will be announcing a new class of inductees to the California Hall of Fame. The governor and First Lady Anne Gust Brown choose from a master list of qualified candidates (a state resident for at last five years who embodies “the spirit of California and the California Dream”).
For More Information, Contact
Danielle Horcabas
Senior Director of Development
College of Health & Social Sciences
Email: dphl@sfsu.edu
Phone: (415) 338-3573