The directors of Associated Students Inc. discussed the independence gained from the California State University Chancellor’s Office by the passing of the Student Representation and Involvement Fee (SIRF), a $2 per semester optional fee.

Patrick Dorsey, California State Student Association liaison for Sacramento State said the fee is optional because mandatory student dollars can not be used to advocate for legislature.

“We want to be more separate from the chancellor’s office and be able to make more of our own decisions and effectively advocate for ourselves,” said Dorsey.

Dorsey gave a brief overview of the 400-page packet at the ASI board meeting as a special presentation on February 25 to walk the board through the steps related to SIRF information.

Sac State was classified this month as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI, in addition to already being classified as Asian and Pacific Islander-serving as well, said Provost Frederika Harmsen at an earlier special presentation at the ASI Board meeting.

“We just became an HSI campus,” said Harmsen. “We reached the magic of 25 percent and why that is so important for us is it opens up the doors to most diverse campus in CSU, we are in the top three.”

Caitlin Sandoval from the Student Affairs Crisis Prevention team discussed her organization and their efforts to help prevent crises on campus, including an emergency grant fund called the Hornet Proud Fund that can give each student in need up to $1,500.

“The mission of this team is to promote the health and safety of the campus community through early identification of behaviors and situations that have the potential to create risk of violence or harm to members of the community,” Sandoval said.

She said to call her office during her regular business hours at (916) 278-6060, why a student should do that, and what happens if some one calls her reporting an issue:

“If there is something happening on campus and a person is concerned about behavior that they see, or they talk to a student who has made them nervous about harming themselves or harming others, they can pick up the phone and call me,” said Sandoval. “The students, the staff, the faculty, and the campus community don’t have to figure out what to do next, they can call me directly and I can navigate the situation from there.”