<< Back to Report Card
With the publication of the College Sustainability Report Card 2010, more than 1,100 school survey responses from over 300 institutions are now available online. In total, these surveys offer more than 10,000 pages of data collected from colleges and universities during the summer of 2009. To access surveys from other schools, go to the surveys section of the website. To see grades, or to access additional surveys submitted by this school, please click the "Back to Report Card" link at the beginning or end of the survey.
Name: Kim Roundy, Sara Cleaves
Title: Vice President & Treasurer, UNH Foundation, Inc., Associate Director, UNH University Office of Sustainability
Date survey submitted: July 21, 2009
1) How does your school handle proxy voting on environmental, social, and governance issues?
(a) We do not have the ability to vote proxies as the entire equity holdings of the endowment are invested in mutual funds (e.g. CommonFund, Fidelity, Vanguard, etc.).
(b) We ask that our investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.
(c) We provide our investment managers with general guidelines that determine our proxy votes.
(d) We provide our investment managers with specific corporate governance guidelines that determine our proxy votes.*
(e) We provide our investment managers with specific environmental and social guidelines that determine our proxy votes.*
(f) A member of our school administration determines our proxy votes.
(g) A committee of administrators and/or trustees deliberates and makes decisions on proxy votes.
(h) A committee that includes student representatives deliberates and makes recommendations or decisions on proxy votes.
(i) School community feedback is incorporated into proxy voting decisions through town hall meetings or a website.
Your answers:
Proxy voting on corporate governance matters: A & H
Proxy voting on environmental and social resolutions: A & H
In the fall of 2009, the University of New Hampshire plans to ask the UNH Foundation Board and the USNH Board for approval to launch a new Sustainable Endowment Management Committee. The planned Committee would be comprised of faculty and staff from across the university (including from the UNH Foundation, Inc., and the University Office of Sustainability), students, and alumni. The proposal is that the Committee would be charged with making recommendations to the UNH Foundation (UNHF) Board of Directors -- including but not limited to the Asset Allocation Subcommittee – the UNH Interim Vice President for Advancement, the UNH President and Cabinet, UNH Chief Sustainability Officer, and University System of New Hampshire (where appropriate) on the adoption and expansion of policies and practices related to sustainable and socially responsible endowment management. The overarching goal of the Committee will be to guide the University in expanding and projecting its leadership in sustainable and socially responsible endowment management as part of its broader commitment to sustainability. The Committee would regularly and make its recommendations and the responses to these recommendations known publicly via the UNH Foundation and UNH University Office of Sustainability websites.
*Please provide URL or attach guidelines (optional).
2) If you answered "g" or "h" to question 1, please provide the following information about the committee:
Name of Committee: (proposed) University of New Hampshire (UNH) Sustainable Endowment Management Committee (SEMC)
Number of meetings held since August 2008: The University had plans to launch this Committee in 2008. Due to a restructuring/merger of the UNH Foundation and the UNH Alumni Association, and to changes in the leadership of the UNH Foundation, the Committee will now be convened in 2009, pending approval by the Boards.
Name of chair(s): Kim Roundy, Vice President & Treasurer, UNH Foundation, Inc.; Sara Cleaves, Associate Director, UNH University Office of Sustainability
Position of chair (e.g., administrator, faculty, staff, student): Staff
To whom does the committee report (e.g., Trustee Committee, President, Vice President): The UNH Foundation Board of Directors, the UNH President, the UNH Interim Vice President for Advancement, and the UNH Chief Sustainability Officer
Number of administrators on committee: 3 – the UNH President, UNH Vice President for Advancement, and UNH Chief Sustainability Officer are ex-officio members
Number of alumni on committee: At least 1
Number of faculty/staff on committee: At least 11 (1 rep from each college/institute-1 faculty from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, UNH Foundation, University Office of Sustainability, VP for Finance & Administration, Cooperative Extension, and UNH Manchester)
Number of students on committee: At least 2 (1 undergraduate, 1 graduate)
Number of directors/trustees on committee: UNH Foundation Board of Directors and USNH Trustees may participate at any time
Total number of committee members: At least 16 (more if ex-officio members or UNHF Board of Directors participate)
3) Please indicate what information about proxy voting records is made available to each of the groups listed under "Your answers" (select all that apply):
(a) No information is made available
(b) Votes cast on proxy resolutions only by category (and not company specific)
(c) Votes cast on proxy resolutions on a company-specific level
(d) Votes cast on proxy resolutions on a company-specific level, including the number of shares
Your answers: B
While this does not apply to USNH and the UNH Foundation as we do not have the ability to vote proxies, information about USNH’s and the UNH Foundation’s assets and letters sent to fund managers and to pooled mutual funds in which UNHF invests recommending changes to make those funds invest in more sustainable options like renewable energy or divest in unsustainable options such as companies that do business in Darfur, Sudan, are made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation. This information – along with how the UNH Foundation Board of Directors decides to move forward or not with recommendations made by the UNH Sustainable Endowment Committee – will also be made available via the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
Trustees/directors and senior administrators: Have access to all information, including communication with fund managers
All members of the school community including faculty, staff, students and alumni: Made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation and soon available on the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
The public: Made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation and soon available on the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
4) Where is information about proxy voting records made available?
(a) Information is not made available.
(b) Information is available at the investment office or similar office on campus.
(c) Information is sent to individuals upon request.
(d) Information is on the school website with password protection.
(e) Information is on the school website and is accessible to the public.
Your answers: While this does not apply to USNH and the UNH Foundation as we do not have the ability to vote proxies, information about the UNH Foundation’s assets and letters sent to fund managers and to pooled mutual funds in which UNHF invests recommending changes to make those funds invest in more sustainable options like renewable energy or divest in unsustainable options such as companies that do business in Darfur, Sudan, are made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation. This information – along with how the UNH Foundation Board of Directors decides to move forward or not with recommendations from the UNH Sustainable Endowment Committee – will also be made available via the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
To the school community.
Proxy voting records on environmental and social resolutions: Made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation and soon available on the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
Proxy voting records on corporate governance matters: Made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation and soon available on the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
To the public.
Proxy voting records on environmental and social resolutions: Made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation and soon available on the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
Proxy voting records on corporate governance matters: Made available to those who contact the UNH Foundation and soon available on the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
5) Please indicate what information about endowment holdings is made available to each of the groups listed under "Your answers" (select all that apply):
(a) No information is made available
(b) Asset allocation
(c) List of external managers
(d) List of mutual funds
(e) Equity holdings
(f) Fixed income holdings
(g) Real estate holdings
(h) Hedge fund holdings
(i) Private equity holdings
(j) Venture capital holdings
(k) Natural resource holdings
(l) Cash
(m) Other holdings (please specify): Liabilities and Operating Expenses
(n) All holdings
Your answers:
Available to trustees and senior administrators: b, n
Available to trustees, senior administrators, and other select members of the school community:
Available to all members of the school community, including faculty, staff, students, and alumni: b, n
Available to the public per open records law:
Available to the public: b, n
6) Please indicate where information about endowment holdings is made available to the school community and to the public:
(a) Information is not made available.
(b) Information is available at the investment office or similar office on campus.
(c) Information is sent to individuals upon request.
(d) Information is on the school website with password protection.
(e) Information is on the school website and is accessible to the public.
Your answers: B, C, E
To the school community:
To the public:
UNH Foundation endowment holdings, with a breakdown by asset allocation and performance, are available to the public via the UNH Foundation website at foundation.unh.edu. Records are available to the public upon request; information is provided in person at the UNH Foundation, Inc., Elliott Alumni Center location on the UNH Durham campus, and online. Online information can be found at:
The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) also produces a report that summarizes the asset allocation (listing all the various mutual funds within each category) and performance over the prior year for both the USNH-held funds and the UNH Foundation-held funds. Reports are accessible via the USNH and UNH websites.
The recommendations of UNH’s Sustainable Endowment Management Committee – including how the UNH Foundation Board of Directors acts on those recommendations – will be made available via the UNH Foundation and University Office of Sustainability websites.
7) Is your school currently invested in any of the following areas? (Please list all that apply.)
(a) Renewable energy funds or similar investment vehicles
(b) Community development financial institutions or community development loan funds
(c) On-campus energy and/or water efficiency projects through the endowment (as an investment and not a payout)
(d) None of the above
Your answer: D
UNH and the UNH Foundation continually explore investments in areas like renewable energy and community development in partnership with the UNHF Board of Directors, UNHF’s fund managers, and the UNH Sustainable Endowment Management Committee. As of July 2009, part of UNHF’s endowment is being invested in Vanguard Energy Fund Investor Shares, which invests in common stocks of U.S. and foreign companies engaged in the production, transmission, control, or research of energy sources, newer sources such as geothermal, nuclear, and solar.
In 2009, UNHF and its asset allocation and management consultant, Prime, Buchholz & Associates, Inc. of Portsmouth, NH, also met with the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund (www.theloanfund.org) to explore possible investment opportunities. These conversations will be ongoing in 2009. The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a private nonprofit organization, was founded in 1983 with the belief that low-income people could build their assets and gain long-term economic stability if they could be connected to institutions and people with capital resources and the willingness to share them. One of the first statewide Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in the country, the Community Loan Fund focuses on helping people in New Hampshire to help themselves. Since its first loan of $43,000 in 1984, the Fund has made more than 1,400 loans totaling more than $100 million, and leveraging more than $348 million, to build housing, create jobs and support essential services like child care and community facilities.
In 2008, UNH and the UNH Foundation, Inc., explored the establishment of a new revolving energy fund that would invest in on-campus efficiency projects with $1 million of the Foundation’s endowment. New Hampshire state laws prohibit UNH from borrowing more than $500,000 from outside entities without approval of the NH Governor and Council, and such funds must be repaid within one year. As the UNH Foundation is an outside entity (it is its own an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization), and as a one-year payback period is not enough time in which to create a revolving fund, the University has decided to pursue other funding sources for an on-campus revolving energy fund, including through the sale of renewable energy credits (REC’s) from its EcoLine (landfill gas) project (sustainableunh.unh.edu/climate_ed/recs.html).
8) Is your school currently exploring investment in any of the following areas? (Please list all that apply.)
(a) Renewable energy funds or similar investment vehicles
(b) Community development financial institutions or community development loan funds
(c) On-campus energy and/or water efficiency projects through the endowment (as an investment and not as a payout)
(d) None of the above
Your answer: SAME AS QUESTION 7
9) Does your school have any investment policy provisions, or use any investment managers, that consider environmental/sustainability factors?
(a) No
(b) Yes (please describe)
(c) Currently under consideration (please describe)
Your answer: B
In spring 2008, the UNH Foundation began working with Prime, Buchholz & Associates, Inc. of Portsmouth, NH, for asset allocation and management consulting. Discussions on sustainable and socially responsible investing are an on-going central focus.
10) Does your school offer donors the option of directing gifts to an investment fund that considers environmental/sustainability factors?
(a) No
(b) Yes (please describe)
(c) Currently under consideration (please describe)
Your answer: B
Should a donor with a significant gift require as part of their commitment investment in sustainable and socially responsible funds, the UNH Foundation would work with its asset managers to add such investments to its investment portfolio on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, gifts can be directed to the endowment off which UNH’s University Office of Sustainability works, advancing sustainability both on and off-campus. UOS is the oldest endowed sustainability program in higher education in the US and was established in 1997 with a generous gift from an alumnus. Donors may also contribute to a wide variety of sustainability curriculum, operations, research and engagement efforts on campus – from the first organic dairy research farm at a land-grant university to James Hall (home to UNH’s Dept. of Natural Resources & the Environment and soon to be UNH’s first LEED-certified building) to UNH’s forthcoming new business school building, which will also be LEED and which will house innovative sustainability-related curricula, research and engagement related to business and economics.
Question 11 is for informational purposes only; responses will NOT be included in the Report Card evaluation process.
11) Please provide total endowment value as of the following dates:
6/30/2008: $125 million (the market value of all endowment funds, including life income and annuity funds)
9/30/2008: $115.9 million
12/31/2008: $102.3 million
3/31/2009: $96.2 million
6/30/2009 (may be submitted separately at a later date): Not yet available
MORE UNH INFORMATION
· Home to the oldest endowed sustainability program in higher education in North America, created through the generosity of a visionary alumnus, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) sets a good example of what colleges and universities—even those with small endowments and non-ivy covered walls—can do to advance sustainability. With its unique sustainable learning community model, this public university stands apart as a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution that thrives on turning the challenges of sustainability into opportunities. Learn more at sustainableunh.unh.edu and discoversustainability.org.
· In 2009, the University Press of New England published “The Sustainable Learning Community: One University’s Journey to the Future.” Authored by over 60 faculty and staff from across campus, the book highlights examples of how UNH has integrated sustainability across its curriculum, operations, research and engagement in the last 10-plus years. www.upne.com/1-58465-771-5.html
· UNH Foundation & University Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the UNH Magazine and Wolff, C.W. (June 2008). "Investing in a Sustainable Future: See It, Build It, Live It." (PDF): www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/SustainabilityatUNHFundraisingPiece2008.pdf
· Huddleston, Mark W. (2008). "Embracing Sustainability." Guest perspective on Solutions for our Future.org: www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/highereducationsustainability_huddleston2008.pdf
· Blanchet, Kevin D. (April 2008). "Sustainability Program Profile: The University Of New Hampshire's University Office of Sustainability." Sustainability: The Journal of Record, 1(2), pp. 114-118: www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/UNHJournalofRecord08.pdf
<< Back to Report Card