Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.54
Liaison Elizabeth MacKenzie
Submission Date Aug. 8, 2013
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

University of Iowa
PAE-17: Shareholder Advocacy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.00 / 5.00 Liz Christiansen
Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution filed or co-filed one or more shareholder resolutions that address sustainability during the past three years?:
No

Has the institution submitted one or more letters about social or environmental responsibility to a company in which it holds investments during the previous three years?:
Yes

Has the institution conducted a negative screening of its entire investment pool within the last three years?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution (or its foundation) has engaged in shareholder advocacy that promotes sustainability during the previous 3 years. :

The University of Iowa performs negative screens for investments in companies that do business in industries that are complicit in human rights abuses in Sudan1 and Iran2 since legislation prohibiting such investments was passed by the State of Iowa in 2007 and 2011, respectively.

On a quarterly basis, the University of Iowa screens its investment holdings for companies identified as meeting the criteria outlined in the footnotes below. A list of scrutinized companies is created and made public, and written notices are sent to each company to encourage them to cease its scrutinized business operations to avoid divestment. Letters are also submitted to managers of investment funds in which the University of Iowa indirectly holds interest in scrutinized companies, encouraging them to remove such companies from the fund.

1 Iowa Code Chapter 12F.
2 Iowa Code Chapter 12H.1


The website URL where information about the negative screen, divestment effort, and/or direct engagement with companies in which the institution holds investments is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.