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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: Claudia Frere
Title: Manager, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Office
Date survey submitted: July 23, 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: c
Proxy voting on environmental and social resolutions: c with additional activism
*Please provide URL or attach guidelines (optional).
The University delegates proxy voting to its investment managers with the proviso in its ethical guidelines that due consideration be given to corporate responsibility. Shareholder activity also includes letter writing campaigns and sponsorship of shareholder resolutions.
We have delegated the authority to vote proxies to our investment manager with the following exceptions that are included in our investment policies:
“Take action as appropriate in support of shareholder resolutions related to human rights violations in Burma.”
“Take action as appropriate in support of letters of engagement and shareholder resolutions related to human rights violations in the Sudan.”
2) If you answered "g" or "h" to question 1, please provide the following information about the committee:
UW answer: N/A
Name of committee:
Number of meetings held since August 2008:
Name of chair(s):
Position of chair (e.g., administrator, faculty, staff, student):
To whom does the committee report (e.g., Trustee Committee, President, Vice President):
Number of administrators on committee:
Number of alumni on committee:
Number of faculty on committee:
Number of staff on committee:
Number of students on committee:
Number of trustees on committee:
Total number of committee members:
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:
Trustees and senior administrators: d
Trustees, senior administrators and other select members of the school community: d
All members of the school community including faculty, staff, students and alumni: d
The public per open records law: d
The public: d
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 and c
Proxy voting records on environmental and social resolutions: b and c
Proxy voting records on corporate governance matters: b and c
To the public.
Proxy voting records on environmental and social resolutions: b and c
Proxy voting records on corporate governance matters: b and 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:
Available to trustees and senior administrators: b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, k, and l
Available to trustees, senior administrators, and other select members of the school community: b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, k, l
Available to all members of the school community, including faculty, staff, students, and alumni: b,c,d,e,f,and l
Available to the public per open records law: b,c,d,e,f,and l
Available to the public: b,c,d,e,f,and l
For privately managed funds, the State of Washington requires the disclosure the names of the non-public funds, the amounts invested in such funds and quarterly performance results. These disclosures are intended to provide the public with information about the overall performance of the privately managed endowment investments, while prohibiting disclosure of proprietary information that could result in loss to the endowment or to persons who provide the proprietary information.
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 and c
To the public: b and 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: a
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: a
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
The University is currently invested in renewable energy funds and energy-conscious real estate funds. The investment policies follow a set of ethical considerations, which state that due consideration shall be given to the degree of corporate responsibility exercised by the companies in which investments are made.
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: a
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: $2.2 billion
9/30/2008: $1.9 billion
12/31/2008: $1.6 billion
3/31/2009: $1.5 billion
6/30/2009 (to be submitted separately at a later date):
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