the student experience

When San Francisco State University succeeds in realizing its vision, the student experience will be as follows:

San Francisco State University provides its students with an academic and personal experience that:

• Is both challenging and supportive;
  
  
• Is physically and programmatically accessible;
  
  
• Recognizes the variations in student circumstances and adapts the delivery of both academic programs and support services accordingly;
  
  
• Seamlessly integrates support services into the institution's academic fabric;
  Offers students a sense of campus community and opportunities for active involvement within it;
  
  
• Helps students gain a meaningful level of international understanding and global competence;
  
  
• Links the SFSU experience with the greater community through active civic engagement;
  
  
• Graduates women and men who are well-prepared in mind and spirit for positive citizenship and continues its relationship with them long after graduation through strong alumni ties.
  

The University achieves this through:

Strong Academic Support Systems for Students. Support begins with clear, streamlined admissions and enrollment procedures, moves through orientation, and continues throughout each student's career with ongoing, high-quality advising. The University makes use of student-to-student mentoring, cohort programs, and collaboration among faculty, staff, and students to provide academic support and encouragement. The University recognizes and meets the academic needs of its varied student communities, from at-risk students to the exceptionally capable, and provides opportunities for public recognition of student achievement.

Effective Teaching and Learning. Class availability and scheduling reflect the University's concern for student needs, enabling students to meet requirements and make good progress toward graduation. Working students have broad access to courses through the University's use of flexible class scheduling (e.g., weekend or evening courses) and delivery methods (e.g., online and off-site courses). The University continues to seek opportunities for instructional collaboration with other colleges and universities, particularly nearby community colleges. The campus provides an internationalized curriculum, as well as numerous study abroad opportunities and adequate support for them.

The University strives for close student-faculty interaction. To accommodate a wide range of student needs and learning styles, faculty employ a variety of teaching techniques in classes that are intellectually challenging and encourage active student engagement in the learning process.

The University also makes full use of educational technology to enhance teaching and learning, providing classrooms with technological and media access and assisting faculty in strengthening their knowledge of technology and its educational applications.

Increased Financial Security for Students. The University recognizes the financial stress that many of its students face and works actively to assist them in learning about and obtaining financial assistance, from both on- and off-campus sources. The University seeks ways both to increase student earning opportunities through campus employment and paid internships and to make these jobs "earning-learning" experiences, integrating them wherever possible with the academic program. The University also works to decrease major expenses for such items as housing, transportation, and child care, thereby maintaining SFSU as an affordable higher education option.

A Sense of Community and University Spirit. The University recognizes students' need for community as an important part of their SFSU experience. Accordingly, the University provides a welcoming environment that instills pride in SFSU and in being an SFSU student. It provides opportunities for students to interact with faculty in a campus setting that lends itself to reflection and thought. An active program of campus events and activities attracts both alumni and current students. The University embraces its international character and seeks to draw on it to enrich campus community. In and beyond the classroom, the University provides students with exposure to divergent views and encourages them to voice their opinions freely, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Comprehensive On-campus Amenities for Students. The University makes the campus a supportive and enjoyable place for students, meeting their physical and social needs as well as their time constraints. It does so by providing a comfortable, student-friendly campus setting that encourages community; allows students to relax and refresh themselves; eases their access to student services; and simplifies the processes and procedures that are necessarily part of student life.

Effective Professional Development and Guidance for Students. In addition to academic advising, students have ready access to information and counsel about their professional life after graduation. Through numerous partnerships with the business world, the University provides students with professional development opportunities and real-world experience. Mentoring of students includes a strong role for alumni, who offer career guidance and assistance.

Active Communication and Collaboration with the Community. The University fosters in its students a desire for community involvement and a readiness to give their time and energy to the community. The University also helps students to understand the role of alumni and fosters in both current students and graduates a desire to give back to the University and maintain a lifelong relationship with it.

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