Fourteen Projects From PSFA Selected to Receive Student Success Fee Funding

Projects originating from all seven schools within PSFA were selected, ranging from alumni panels to interactive workshops.

by Georgia Burgé

December 17, 2019

December 17, 2019

Each year, SDSU students are given the chance to submit ideas for academic-related programs to receive funding through the Student Success Fee (SSF). Out of the 91 projects selected to receive SSF funding this year, 14 of them came from the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts. The projects originated from all seven schools within the College and received over $225,000 in funding.

Established in 2014, the SSF is a mandatory fee included in students’ basic tuition payments. Ten percent of the fee is dedicated to enhancing student success through expanded academic-related programs, and the remaining amount is used to expand course selection and support more tenure-track faculty positions. This year’s winners were announced on November 15, 2019, and the approved programs will take place this upcoming spring semester.

Before being selected for funding, submitted proposals must be approved by three separate committees: a college review committee, a funding committee, and the Associated Students Board of Directors committee. Each project is evaluated on depth of experience, breadth of impact, and feasibility.

Read more about this year’s recipients from PSFA below:

School of Art + Design

We the People: 50 Years of Women’s Studies and Activism Through Art - Sepideh Shamloufard, MFA in Art

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, SDSU’s Women’s Studies Department will collaborate with the School of Art + Design to organize an art exhibition. We the People: 50 Years of Women’s Studies and Activism Through Art will be held at the SDSU Downtown Gallery in April 2020. The SSF funding will be used to support on-campus public lectures by two of the participating artists about sociocultural conditions impacting women’s participation in contemporary culture, and studio visits with the artists for School of Art + Design graduate students.

SDSU Design Week 2020. Design: Future of Design Tools. Contemporary ideas and practices in the field of design - Alexander Zimmerman, MFA in Art

SDSU Design Week 2020 is intended to inspire SDSU School of Art and Design students and its extended community by showcasing contemporary practices and new technologies in the field of design. This five-day event, set to be held in April 2020, will feature artist lectures, workshops, and panel discussions presented by visiting designers researching and analyzing the future of design tools.

MetalWorks Workshops and Video Documentary - Brandie Maddalena and Kline Swonger, MFA in Art

MetalWorks is a series of eight workshops and four labs over twelve weeks that will bring the spark back to the SDSU Sculptural Metals Facility. Taught by respected local artist, teacher, and SDSU metals alumna, Nicole Deline, MetalWorks will be available to current SDSU students. Additionally, a videographer will record the workshops to create a documentary that can be used by SDSU and the School of Art + Design as promotional material. The video will be submitted to the SDSU University Archive for all current and future SDSU student use and uploaded to YouTube as an instructional tool for the general public.

School of Communication

SDSU PSFA Society of Communication and Leadership - Laura Horton, MA in Communication Studies

The Society of Communication and Leadership (SoCaL) has secured funding for three academic enrichment opportunities. The first is to support up to 30 graduate students’ travel to the Western States Communication Association annual conference in Denver, Colorado. Second, is a speaker series in the spring semester bringing three leading academic and professional voices to the SDSU campus. These accessible lectures will provide undergraduate and graduate students with a real-life look at what one can do with a degree in Communication. Lastly, the School of Communication will host an alumni event during the spring semester. This event will invite School of Communication alumni back to the SDSU campus to network with current communication students.

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Innovation Design Lab - Josh Tenen, Hospitality and Tourism Management

In collaboration with the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, SCREAM (Students Creating Rides, Entertainment, Attractions and Memories) will bring together students from several different majors with a common goal of learning more about educational and career opportunities in the entertainment and attractions industries. The Innovation Design Lab, tentatively scheduled for April 2020, will feature a panel of guest speakers from the entertainment and attractions industry and an interactive aspect where students would be fully involved in the event.

School of Journalism and Media Studies

Empowering Identity to Unite Communities: Career x Identity PSFA x CAL Alumni Panel - Brandon Lim, Journalism

The College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts (PSFA) and the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) College Councils, in collaboration with OneSDSU, the Center for Intercultural Relations, and Career Services are bringing together distinguished minority alumni to share their journeys from SDSU to today in the form of a panel discussion. Students will engage with, and gain insight from, alumni career experiences. Proposed alumni panelists include Darla Anderson (Environmental Design, B.A.’82), film producer from Pixar; Destin Daniel Cretton (Theatre, Television and Film, MFA ‘11), Asian-American film director of Marvel’s upcoming “Shang-Chi;” Lalo Alcaraz (Art and Environmental Design, B.A ‘87), Mexican-American cultural consultant on Disney/Pixar’s “Coco;” Greg Bear (English, B.A ’73), science fiction writer and Comic-Con founder; and Irma Castro (‘73), founder of the Chicano Federation.

The Asian American Pacific Islander Womxn in the Arts Panel- Brandon Lim, Journalism

The (AAPI)phany Workshop Program, in collaboration with the Center for Intercultural Relations, will bring together 3 prominent Asian American womxn artists to share their struggles and triumphs in navigating their careers. The goal of the panel is to allow these Asian American womxn artists to share their experiences, narratives, challenges, and successes throughout their journey in the performing arts with the SDSU community in an effort to highlight and validate AAPI students’ experiences in the arts.

School of Music and Dance

Master of Music Graduate Recital in Collaboration with SDSU PSFA Students with Free Open Rehearsals, Sitzprobes, and Live Performance - Erika R. Gamez, Master of Music

SDSU’s highly acclaimed Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band will have the opportunity to hold rehearsals, sitzprobes, and a culminating recital performance for a large audience of SDSU students, local music educators, and students from around San Diego County. In the process, the students will collaborate across the College of PSFA and also have a chance to work with an orchestrator to create new arrangements of work specifically for these students and their performance opportunities.

Ricky Ian Gordon Music Collaborative - Catherine Durcan, Music

This event will allow voice and composition students to work with Ricky Ian Gordon, a world-renowned American composer of opera, choral works, musical theatre productions, and over 300 art songs, and Soprano Ann Moss, prominent recording artist and interpreter of American contemporary vocal music. The four-part collaboration will consist of private voice lessons with Moss, interactive lectures with both Moss and Gordon about collaborative composition, a public masterclass featuring 6-10 SDSU students performing selections from Gordon’s repertoire followed by a Q&A session, and a concert featuring 10-15 SDSU vocal majors, Moss, and Gordon.

SDSU Opera Theatre: Intensive Training Program (OTITP) - Sophia Gonzalez, Master of Music

The SDSU Opera Theatre: Intensive Training Program (OTITP) will provide aspiring performers attending SDSU an invaluable addition to their education. This workshop will take place over the course of 7 weeks and will feature four specialists from the surrounding San Diego Area and beyond. The program will include workshops in stage combat, recitative coaching, dance and a masterclass in audition technique. Finally, the participants will put on a performance at the end of the semester showcasing all the learned aspects of the residencies offered and allow students to perform scenes from theatrical productions.

Women in Music Conference - Kiya Klopfenstein, Music

Set to take place during Women’s History Month, the women in Music Festival is SDSU’s second annual celebration of women in the field of music performance and composition. Proposed guest artists include Dr. Chelsea Gallo of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Emily Threinen from the University of Minnesota, American prize-winning composer Jocelyn Hagen, and performance artist Amanda Austin of Omni Arts. Over the course of this three-day festival, guest conductors and composers will work with SDSU musicians, and lecture in conducting courses, while preparing ensembles for performance.

School of Public Affairs

Increasing Research Awareness and Interest in Criminal Justice Students - Christopher Teran, Criminal Justice

Members of SDSU’s Criminal Justice Student Association (CJSA) will attend the Western Society of Criminology (WSC) Annual Conference to be held in Phoenix, Arizona from Feb. 6-8, 2020. CJSA members who attend the conference will host a post-conference seminar for all CJSA members, CJ majors, and more.

Participating in 47th Annual Conference of the Western Society of Criminology in Phoenix, Arizona - Kazi Zinnat, MS in Criminal Justice and Criminology

The cohort of Criminal Justice and Criminology graduate students will attend the Western Society of Criminology (WSC) Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona from Feb. 6-8, 2020.

School of Theatre, Television, and Film

Across Campus Theatre’s: Much Ado About Nothing - Anne Marie Klups, Theatre Arts

SDSU’s Across Campus Theatre organization will present a site-specific production of Shakespeare’s famous comedy, “Much Ado About Nothing,” in May 2020. The show will be staged live around the SDSU campus on the first weekend of May. It will be free, open to the public, and ADA compliant.

To learn more about Student Success Fee and all of this year’s winners, visit https://provost.sdsu.edu/resource-management/ssfee/about.

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.

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