Student FAQs

You can now change your major completely online! Go to your Student Center through your Gateway. On the front page of your Student Center, click the drop-down menu and choose "Change Major." This can also be used to add minors or change concentrations (such as from Literature to Linguistics, etc.). Please contact the English Department if you have questions about this process.

Fill out the independent study petition. Have your advisor and/or your instructor sign and return it, along with a copy of your unofficial SF State transcript to HUM 484. You will be emailed a permit number.

There are many easy ways to find answers to this and other questions:

  • Check the syllabus given to you by your instructor on the first day of class.
  • Check the People page for specific information.
  • First Floor HUM 110
  • Fourth Floor HUM 404 (Foreign Languages Lab)

Syllabi are available to view in HUM 484 (the last five years are on file). You can also try to contact the instructor or the Department of English by email at engdept@sfsu.edu.

Sometimes instructors cancel classes for conferences, or hold class in a different room or the library and don't tell our office. A teacher will almost always post a note on the door if the class is being held elsewhere and will also have told the class, at the very least, the week before. If a teacher is sick, it will more than likely be posted in front of the classroom.

Humantities 480

We strongly urge you to speak to your instructor first about your concern. If this does not resolve the matter, then speak with the program coordinator, which you can find on our Advising page.

Have your first reader sign an add slip and return it to the graduate programs assistant. The add permission code will be sent to your email address.

Yes. Get the proper slip from the library, have your first reader sign it, and then return it to the library.

To teach composition, contact the Composition office (415) 338-2128. To teach ESL/CMS, contact the CMS Coordinator (415) 338-1320, HUM 482. To teach literature, send a CV and cover letter to the Department of English. To teach literature courses, you usually need a Ph.D.

Contact the Composition Office at (415) 338-2128.