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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: Claire Burlingham
Title: Controller
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: H
Proxy voting on environmental and social resolutions: H
*Please provide URL or attach guidelines (optional).
For procedures, please see attached file entitled SRI Procedures for Proxy Voting
2) If you answered "g" or "h" to question 1, please provide the following information about the committee:
Name of committee: The Socially Responsible Investing Work Group
Number of meetings held since August 2008: 6
Name of chair(s): John Snow
Position of chair (e.g., administrator, faculty, staff, student): trustee
To whom does the committee report (e.g., BFI Committee, President, Vice President): Trustee Committee
Number of administrators on committee: 2 (one ex-officio)
Number of alumni on committee: 0
Number of faculty on committee: 2
Number of staff on committee: 2
Number of students on committee: 4
Number of trustees on committee: 2
Total number of committee members: 12 including the ex officio member
2008 answer: The Socially Responsible Investing Work Group, appointed by the Chair of the Board of Trustees Budget, Finance and Investment Committee, includes 2 trustees, 2 faculty members, 2 staff members, 2 undergraduate students, 2 graduate students, 1 administrative member and an additional 1 ex officio administrative member. This group is charged with reviewing issues brought forward by members of the University community in response to a call that is issued to the community by the University administration.
As additional information attached is a chart, Socially Responsible Issue Process, which shows the typical sequence of events for submission, review and action when an issue is identified. Also attached is the CSRI Charter, which establishes the University's commitment to not preclude social issues in making investing and proxy voting decisions.
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:all D
Trustees and senior administrators:
Trustees, senior administrators and other select members of the school community:
All members of the school community including faculty, staff, students and alumni:
The public per open records law:
The public:
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:
To the school community. B
Proxy voting records on environmental and social resolutions: B
Proxy voting records on corporate governance matters: B
To the public.C
Proxy voting records on environmental and social resolutions: C
Proxy voting records on corporate governance matters: C
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)
(n) All holdings
Your answers: all N
Available to trustees and senior administrators:
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:
Available to the public per open records law:
Available to the public:
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:
To the school community: B
To the public: C
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: Not yet.
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)—exploring but not invested
(b) Community development financial institutions or community development loan funds)—exploring but not invested
(c) On-campus energy and/or water efficiency projects through the endowment (as an investment and not as a payout) )—exploring but not invested
(d) None of the above
Your answer:
The Socially Responsible Work Group has been an engaged in an ongoing discussion of how to approach investment in renewable energy and climate change funds. In addition, the Investment Subcommittee of the Board of Trustees has discussed how they could create a forum for local community based investment opportunities to be presented to the group.
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:
UVM addresses investment policy through the Charter of the Committee on Socially Responsible Investing, which addresses environment and sustainability factors. In May 2008 the Board of Trustees passed a resolution that the University of Vermont will vote in favor of shareholder proposals that address climate change. See appendix to attached CSRI Charter.
10) Does your school offer donors the option of directing gifts to an investment fund that considers environmental/sustainability factors?
(a) Not exactly…see below
(b) Yes (please describe)
(c) Currently under consideration (please describe)
Your answer:
The University has specific endowments and gift funds that support programs for sustainable agriculture and environmental studies, including programs such as the CREAM program for the student managed dairy herd, the Balch fund for the Morgan Horse Farm, and scholarships for the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The University pools all endowment funds for investment through its Long Term Investment pool and does not direct specific gifts to separate investment funds. When the University passed a resolution for divestment from Sudan we moved our indexed U.S equity fund, part of the overall Long Term Investment Pool portfolio, from a commingled vehicle to a separate investment with a minority manager that was willing to create a separate Tobacco/Sudan free fund. The same approach has been used this year for resolutions about clustered munitions and depleted uranium.
The Office of Sustainability and Development and Alumni Relations have created a new Renewable Energy Fund for alumni and other donors to help finance campus renewable energy projects, complementing the student-financed and –run Clean Energy Fund. The alumni fund will be actively promoted after the first round of awards from the Clean Energy Fund in early 2010.
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: $329,775,592
9/30/2008: $291,888,631
12/31/2008: $248,767,851
3/31/2009: $241,300,289
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