VIDBE-Q 2026 Volume 71 Issue 3
As one of only two programs in California offering a credential in Teacher
of Students with Visual Impairment (TSVI), the San Francisco State University
program is an important contributor of educational professionals in the state. The
SFSU VI Program first began offering distance education courses for students
outside of the population centers of San Francisco and Los Angeles in the 1980s
and 1990s under the guidance of Dr. Sally Mangold. With the advent of the
internet and the proliferation of online coursework, the VI Program now stands out
as the only online teaching certification program in the SFSU Department of
Special Education and enables individuals from even the most remote areas of
California to obtain the TSVI credential.
Over the years, the SFSU VI program has employed a number of widely
recognized faculty members. In addition to the previously mentioned leaders from
the program's initial cohort of students, prominent state and national leaders such
as Dr. Amanda Lueck, Dr. Sharon Sacks and Dr. Yue-Ting Siu have all served as
faculty members in the SFSU VI Program. Current instructors include individuals
representing a wide range of experiences, professions and areas of expertise.
Among the instructors lending their knowledge in blind and low vision instruction
and assessment are practicing TSVIs and optometrists, current and former
employees of the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind, the president of the San
Francisco chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, employees from the
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