RUN A CAMPAIGN >> Schools
Below is information on 11 schools that have existing committees.
Schools
with socially responsible investment committees:
Based
on research from the Boston College Global Justice Project
Last updated by other members of the Responsible Endowment
Coalition
Barnard College
Endowment: $129 Million
Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ACSRI)
The ACSRI acts primarily to vote on all social issues
proxy resolutions. Recommendations are reviewed by the
Board
of Trustees (BOT) for approval or rejection.
The ACSRI
is composed of two students, two alumnae, two faculty
members, and one non-voting administrator
from
the Investment
Office. The President appoints nominees from the
Student Government, the Faculty Governance and Procedures
Committee,
and the Associated Alumnae of Barnard College.
Unlike
most committees at other schools, the ACSRI reports
directly to the BOT. All proxy resolutions
and recommendations
are presented to BOT which proceeds to either approve
or reject them.
The University provides the Committee with IRRC
services via the Investment Office as well as current
endowment
information. The ACSRI did not have access to the
endowment portfolio
during the 2002-2003 school year, however the ACSRI
and the BOT agreed that the ACSRI could not properly
function
to
its fullest capacity without current endowment
information. Such information is now provided to
the ACSRI twice
a year and in each case no more than six months
out of
date. The
Committee can give investment information to the
college community verbally at any time. The Committee
can give
written information to the college community upon
receiving permission
from the Board of Trustees.
Brown University
Endowment: $1.46 Billion
Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility
in Investing
The ACCRI deals solely with shareholder
advocacy by voting on social issues proxy resolutions.
Approximately
thirty
resolutions are debated and voted on each year.
Currently
the nine-member ACSRI sends all recommendations to
the Proxy Committee, a subset of the Board of
Trustees Advisory and Executive Committee, which
has power of
approval or veto.
During the 2002-2003 year the
ACSRI developed a set of proxy voting guidelines
which has been approved
by the
Board of
Trustees. The ACCRI refers to them when reviewing
proxy resolutions and recommendations on resolutions
that
are covered by the
guidelines will no longer need approval. If issues
arise that are not mentioned in the proxy voting
guidelines, the ACCRI recommendations will be reviewed
by a sub-committee
of the Advisory and Executive Committee of the
President
for approval or veto.
The ACCRI meets on an as-needed
basis during the academic year. Many ACCRI decisions
are reached
through e-mail
discussion. Its nine members include three faculty,
two undergraduate
students, one graduate student, and three alumni.
The committee selects one member to serve as Chair
with
responsibilities to set meeting agendas, schedule
meetings, and moderate
meetings. All members have access to the IRRC services,
provided by
the Investment Office. The President's Office provides
a student research assistant to help with analysis
of proxy
proposals.
All meetings are open to the public except
those in which the ACSRI requests information regarding
a specific
holding
in the endowment portfolio.
The Investment Office
acts as support to the ACCRI. The Director of Operations
and one additional Investment
Office staff
person attend all ACCRI meetings as non-voting
participants. The Investment Office provides a
link between the
ACCRI and Brown's money managers in order to ensure
efficient
delivery
and return of proxy resolutions.
Columbia University
Endowment: $4.35 Billion
Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing
(ACSRI)
The ACSRI was created in 2000 to create
a channel between the university community and those
making
Columbia ’s
investment decisions. Before 2000, Columbia ’s
money managers voted with management on 100% of
all proxy resolutions.
Many Columbia faculty, students, and alumni found
such voting procedures inexcusable, leading to
the creation
of the ACSRI.
Created in conjunction with the ACSRI
was the Trustees Subcommittee on Shareholder Responsibility
(TSSR),
a corresponding three
member group of Board members that meets separately
but parallel to the ACSRI to review and vote on
recommendations.
The primary task of the ACSRI
is proxy voting, both on social issues and corporate
governance
issues
proxy resolutions.
Over the 2003 year the ACSRI reviewed and voted
on 132 proxies,
half of which dealt with corporate governance issues.
Of these 132 recommendations, 90% were agreed upon
by the
TSSR. The ACSRI can also make recommendations encouraging
shareholder
initiatives or social screening, but it has not
yet exercised the option to do either. The ACSRI
is currently
working
to compose a set of proxy voting guidelines.
The
ACSRI meets a total of six times during the summer,
fall, and winter. During these times they
decide
what issues they
would like to focus on, gather information through
the IRRC, ICCR, and Institutional Shareholder Services
(ISS),
and hold
a community meeting to hear what issues the University
community would like addressed.
Over the proxy-voting
season (between early March and late May when most
publicly-traded corporations
hold
their annual
meetings) the ACSRI meets one time per week. Each
proxy resolution is reviewed separately and voted
on. All
ACSRI proposals
to the TSSR include the ACSRI proposal, the company’s
response, and the IRRC and ICCR response.
The ACSRI
is composed of four students, four alumni, four
faculty, and two non-voting administrators,
the Vice President
for Finance and the Director for Shareholder Responsibility.
The President appoints members after they are nominated
by the student government, the divisional vice
presidents and
deans, or the office of University Development
and Alumni Relations.
The Director for Shareholder
Responsibility is a position created for the sole
purpose of providing
support to
the ACSRI. The duties of the Director include organizing
meetings
and public forums, writing annual reports, acting
as a spokesperson for the ACSRI, answering questions
from
the
University community
and updating information for the University community.
Columbia makes available to the University community
annually a list of those domestic and foreign corporations
managed
in its endowment. The list is updated at the end
of every fiscal year. Current endowment information
is
available
to the ACSRI upon request.
Each committee member
of the ACSRI receives access to the IRRC.
Harvard University
Endowment: $18.8 Billion
Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility
Harvard was one of the first schools to adopt
a system for promoting Socially Responsible Investing.
Its
two-committee structure and focus on shareholder
advocacy have helped
to
set the precedent for nearly all university SRI
policies.
The twelve-member ACSR sends recommendations
to the two-member Corporation Committee on Shareholder
Responsibility
(CCSR)
which has final authority to reject or approve
recommendations.
Since 1972 the ACSR has stayed a steady course
of primarily promoting SRI through shareholder
advocacy,
namely
recommendations on proxy voting. However, it has
also had the option
of recommending social screening and shareholder
initiatives. A recommendation
to screen corporations profiting from the sale
of tobacco was approved by the CCSR and implemented
successfully
in
1990. Recommendations to communicate with corporate
management are fairly common and often approved;
twelve such communications
were made in 1998. When approved, the CCSR will
take
the initiative to communicate specific issues with
corporate management.
The ACSR commonly reviews
and makes recommendations on approximately one
hundred proxy resolutions
during the
year, the vast majority
falling within the proxy voting season. Resolutions
are considered on a case-by-case basis before a
recommendation is made by
a majority vote of ACSR members. Recommendations
are made with consideration of Committee discussion
and
IRRC
background
material. CCSR decisions are made with consideration
of Committee recommendations and CCSR precedent
on comparable issues.
During the 2002 proxy season, the CCSR agreed and
approved 77% of all ACSR recommendations, partially
agreed with
11% (wished to abstain rather than vote for or
against), and
disagreed with none. The agreement and approval
rate since
1972 is about 75%.
The ACSR is composed of four
students (one undergraduate and three graduate
students), four faculty, and
four alumni; all serving two-year staggered terms.
They
are nominated
by the student government, school deans, and the
Alumni Association, and appointed by the president.
The president
appoints a
Chair from the faculty members. The CCSR is composed
of the Treasurer and a member of Harvard’s
Corporation Committee. The ACSR is supported with
a part time secretary
who sets
agendas, schedules meetings, and composes annual
reports. The CCSR is provided with a full time
secretary who
fulfills similar duties.
The ACSR meets every Monday
evening during the proxy season. A week beforehand
each member receives
a
list of all upcoming
resolutions to be discussed as well as a briefing
paper with ACSR and CCSR precedent, IRRC company
reports,
and individual
Committee research. Each Committee member is assigned
a specific number of resolutions to brief the ACSR
on. After
the briefing
the ACSR will discuss and vote on a recommendation
against, for, or abstention.
Smith College
Endowment: $824 Million
Committee on Investor Responsibility (CIR)
The
CIR was created in 1979 to create a forum for discussion
about shareholder advocacy towards corporations
doing
business with South Africa . The primary goal of
the CIR remains
shareholder advocacy, but it has also made recommendations
regarding
social screening.
The CIR has formed a proxy voting
guideline that is annually reviewed and updated
when the need
arises. When the issue
of a proxy resolution is clearly addressed by the
guidelines,
Smith’s money managers will vote according
to the guideline. If the issue is not addressed
in the
guideline, the CIR will
discuss the resolution and make a recommendation.
Regarding social screening, the Board of Trustees
approved recommendations to screen from its portfolio
corporations
profiting from tobacco sales and Talisman Energy,
a Canadian company that does business with the
military regime governing
Sudan.
The CIR is composed of two students, two
faculty, two administrators, and two members
from the Board
of Trustees
who attend meetings
when on campus.
Smith College ’s Director
of Investments attends CIR meetings as a non-voting
member and
works as a
staff liaison
to the CIR, providing both updated endowment information
and IRRC reports to all members of the committee.
Stanford University
Endowment: $8.61 Billion
The Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility
Created in 1971 as a forum a conversation on
investing in South Africa , the APIR works in
conjunction
with the Board
of Trustees’ Special Committee on Investment
Responsibility (SCIR) to promote Socially Responsible
Investing.
The APIR functions primarily to make
recommendations to the SCIR regarding proxy voting
for resolutions
of both
social
and corporate governance issues. The APIR will
also make recommendations on any new issues that
necessitate
attention.
The APIR functions as a channel between
the University community and the Board of Trustees
by holding
public events where
specific concerns may be addressed by members
of the Stanford community.
The APIR is currently
developing a set of proxy voting guidelines.
Issues that have been included
in approved
guidelines include
corporate global warming, human rights, and
human rights in Burma . When these issues
arise in
proxy resolutions
they are voted on according the guidelines.
The
APIR is composed of twelve voting members including
four students, four faculty members,
two alumni,
and two staff
members. Members are nominated by the Faculty
Senate Committee, the Student Senate Committee,
and the
president. The CEO
of the Stanford Management Company is a
non-voting member except in the event of a tie.
A Chair
is elected by all
members and is responsible for scheduling
meetings, setting agendas,
moderating meetings, and conducting business
via conference call when necessary.
The APIR meets at least twice during the
year. To help in decision making the APIR
is given
current information
regarding
securities held as pooled endowment securities.
The University and the Stanford Management Company
provide staff and secretarial assistance
to the
APIR.
Swarthmore College
Endowment: $930 Million
Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (CSRI)
The CSRI focuses primarily on shareholder advocacy,
both by voting on all social issues proxy resolutions
and
introducing its own shareholder resolutions.
The
CSRI is made up of four students, one board member,
and three administrators (Vice President
for Finance,
Assistant Treasurer, and Investment Manager). The
Board member meets
when present on campus, but otherwise is present
only occasionally via conference call.
All research
for the CSRI is done by the four students. The
other four members of the CSRI serve to review
student recommendations,
make available access to research services, and
ultimately decide whether the recommendations will
be approved
or rejected. Swarthmore’s CSRI is unique
in this way because it is the only committee which
does not
report to the Board
of Trustees for a final decision to be made.
The
CSRI reviews and makes recommendation on approximately
ten social issues proxy resolutions each year.
Research is done using a copy of the resolution,
a statement
from the
management, the IRRC, the ICCR, Walden Assets
Management, and other non-profit advocacy groups.
The IRRC
is available to student members via the three
administrators on
the Committee as is current endowment information.
The names
to all publicly
traded holdings in the Swarthmore endowment are
available
to the college community.
The CSRI is unique
in that it reserves a significant amount of
time and energy for introducing its
own proxy resolutions.
Time is spent in the fall semester researching,
drafting, and submitting resolutions to corporations.
During
the 2002-2003 year the CSRI introduced a successful
proposal
calling for
Lockheed-Martin to broaden its anti-discrimination
policy.
Vassar College
Endowment: $547 Million
Investment Responsibility Committee (IRC)
The
Committee functions primarily in the realm
of shareholder advocacy. It makes recommendations
on
all proxy resolutions
related to social issues, periodically contacts
corporate management, and has the option to makes
recommendations
regarding shareholder initiatives, alternative
investing, and social
screening.
The Board of Trustees approved a recent
recommendation to invest a percentage of
the endowment in SRI
mutual funds. Vassar currently holds $4 million
in a Domini
Socially
Responsible
mutual fund, representing less than .5% of
the total Vassar endowment.
As of yet the Committee
has never exercised the two options of shareholder
initiatives
or social
screening.
The Committee
does not vote on proxy resolutions related
to corporate governance issues.
Approximately
forty proxy resolutions are voted on during
the proxy voting season.
A snapshot
of the
endowment is taken in February and run
against an IRRC list of
upcoming
proxy
resolutions which is available in March.
Those resolutions which Vassar is eligible
to vote
on are requested
from the money managers and then divided
between the eight
committee members for research and deliberation.
Recommendations, made
by a majority of committee members, are
sent to the complementary
Trustees Investment Responsibility Committee
for review which approves nearly 100% of
recommendations.
The IRC is made up of
two students, two faculty, two alumni, and
two administrators;
the administrators
with the purpose
of providing IRC members with current
endowment information and communications with
the
Board of Trustees and
money
managers. All IRC members have individual
access to IRRC services.
Current endowment information regarding
publicly traded holdings is available
to the University
community upon
specific request.
Williams College
Endowment: $1.08 Billion
Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibilities
(ACSR)
The ACSR was founded in 1978 to serve as
a channel for concerns and suggestions the college
community
had about
Apartheid.
The Committee’s primary function is making
recommendations for social issues proxy voting
to the Finance Committee
of the Board of Trustees. The Committee can also
recommend other
action in the realm of Socially Responsible Investing
such as initiation of proxy resolutions or social
screening. Board
of Trustees maintains right of veto over all Committee
recommendations.
Williams College is eligible to
vote on approximately 45 social issues proxies
at the beginning of the
proxy voting
season in late February or early March. However,
by the time of the annual meetings in May about
half of
the
resolutions are dropped, either omitted through
the SEC approval or
settled
by dialogue with corporate management. This leaves
the Committee to review and vote on approximately
30 social
and environmental
proxy resolutions per year.
The Committee meets
during the proxy voting season. Meetings are
open to the college community. An
annual report is
put out by the chair of the Committee.
The services
of the IRRC are provided to all Committee members
via the Manager of Investments. Background
and Company reports
are sent to all Committee members two weeks before
the corresponding meeting.
The Committee is composed of two students, two
faculty, two alumni, two administrators (VP of
Finance/Treasurer
and Provost),
and one non-voting staff member. Faculty, administrators,
and alumni are appointed by the college President.
Students are appointed by the student government.
The Manager of Investments is the non-voting
member on the Committee who serves as a liaison
between
the Committee
and
the Board of Trustees. The Manager reviews all
Committee recommendations and votes them via the
Treasurer’s
Office. Due to the longstanding relationship between
the Committee, the Board of Trustees, and the Manager
of Investments,
the Manager approves 100% of Committee recommendations
and afterwards reports to the Board of Trustees.
The Manager
is also responsible for compiling annually a ten
page report of domestic stocks and bonds held in
the University
portfolio,
due at the end of the fiscal year, June 30th.
In
April 2004, the ACSR will launch a new website
to allow online access to a list of publicly held
companies
as of
the close of the last fiscal year (June 30, 2003).
In addition, the committee will publish online
its proxy
voting record
within one week after each resolution is voted
on at the annual general meeting. Both the portfolio
and
the proxy
voting record will be available to all on-campus
members of the community as well as Williams alumni
through
a password protected section of the website.
Yale University
Endowment: $11 Billion
Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility
Yale was also one of the first Universities
to formally address institutional SRI by creating
the ACIR in
1972 and later,
the corresponding Corporation Committee on Investor
Responsibility (CCIR). Both Committees are structured
nearly identical
to the guidelines set forth in The
Ethical Investor: Universities and Corporate Responsibility, a highly
influential book
authored
by three Yale professors and published in 1972.
Most University SRI policies today stem from the
blueprint
drawn out in
the pioneering text.
The ACIR is composed of two
students (one undergraduate and one graduate),
two alumni, two faculty, and
two staff members.
The ACIR does research on various issues and makes
recommendations to the CCIR regarding mostly proxy
voting and social
screening.
The only approved recommendation to
screen a specific industry from the Yale portfolio
was in the case
of South Africa
in 1978, when the University found business with
the Apartheid regime incompatible with the University
Mission.
An intense
debate arose around the issue of screening the
tobacco industry
with the two Committees agreeing to a strict set
of tobacco proxy voting guidelines rather than
social screening.
All members of the ACIR and CCIR,
as well as the entire Yale community, are
given access to IRRC
information via the web.
The ACIR reviews and makes
recommendations to the CCIR on approximately thirty
social issues proxy
resolutions
during
the year. The CCIR approves nearly 100% of all
recommendations.
The ACIR holds at least two public
meetings each academic year in order to promote
communication
between the
ACIR and the University community. The public
meetings are
a chance
for community members to address key social issues,
the role of the ACIR in dealing with them, proxy
voting, and proxy
voting guidelines.
Yale is unique in that it releases
its endowment holdings to neither the University
community nor
the ACIR. The
ACIR receives only individual proxy resolutions
with IRRC research.
Yale is unique in that it addresses
its private holdings in which the management
is unaffected
by shareholders.
If the ACIR and CCIR find their private investment
managers to have committed substantial social injury,
the University
will contact management and, if need be, “disassociate
from the offending investment.”
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