| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 45.17 |
| Liaison | Nina Bisbee |
| Submission Date | June 29, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Bryn Mawr College
PA-8: Committee on Investor Responsibility
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 2.00 |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Does the institution have a formally established and active committee on investor responsibility (CIR) that makes recommendations to fund decision-makers on socially and environmentally responsible investment opportunities across asset classes?:
Yes
None
The charter or mission statement of the CIR or other body which reflects social and environmental concerns or a brief description of how the CIR is tasked to address social and environmental concerns:
To: Board of Trustees
From: Committee on Investment Responsibility
Subject: Proposal to Amend Bryn Mawr’s Proxy Voting Policy to include Environmental Sustainability
Date: September 11, 2013
In 1991, the Bryn Mawr Board of Trustees adopted the policy that its Committee on Investment Responsibility would review shareholder proposals on social issues only if those issues had “a direct bearing on the mission of the College.” The latter have been defined narrowly. The College currently reviews resolutions focused on equal employment opportunity, board diversity, tobacco use by teens, corporate charitable contributions and support for animal testing as fitting within its scope of interests. The College routinely votes its shares “abstain” on all other shareholder resolutions on social issues. Responsibility for voting on governance or corporate issues proposed by the shareholders or management is designated to the relevant investment manager.
In recent years, members of the Bryn Mawr community and of the Committee on Investment Responsibility have discussed adding environmental sustainability to the list of social issues that fit within the scope of the College’s interests. Environmental sustainability is an increasingly important commitment of the institution, its faculty and its students. The College signed the President’s University and College Climate Commitment in 2007; a faculty/ student/ staff Environmental Sustainability Leadership Group has spearheaded various efforts to reduce our carbon footprint; the Tri-College Environmental Studies program was created in 2011-2012; and students have called attention to the signal importance of climate change to their future.
The Committee on Investment Responsibility thus recommends that the Board of Trustees approve adding shareholder resolutions on environmental sustainability issues to those on which the Committee on Investment Responsibility will be authorized to vote. The Committee recognizes that evaluation of such shareholder resolutions requires careful study. The Committee will work with students and with the College’s faculty and staff to provide opportunities for interested students to conduct research on such shareholder resolutions. The Committee will vote only on those environmental sustainability shareholder resolutions for which it can make an informed judgment; in other cases, it will continue to vote “abstain.”
It is important to note that most of the College’s investments are held in commingled funds where shareholder voting is not available to the College.
Approved by the Board of Trustees, October 4, 2013
Does the CIR include staff representation?:
Yes
Does the CIR include faculty representation?:
No
Does the CIR include student representation?:
No
Members of the CIR, including affiliations and role (e.g. student, faculty, staff, alumni):
The Committee includes Board Members and the Secretary of the College.
None
Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:
None Taken
Optional Fields
---
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.