Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.40
Liaison Austin Sutherland
Submission Date Feb. 21, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Pennsylvania
PA-8: Committee on Investor Responsibility

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 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

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:

The Penn Social Responsibility Advisory Committee (Penn SRAC) advises the University Trustees and makes recommendations to the Trustee Proxy Voting Subcommittee of the Executive Committee concerning decisions on Proxy Voting. A Resolution to Establish Procedures for Proxy Voting was passed by the Executive Committee on May 15, 2003. The work of the committee is guided by the Statement on Responsibility Concerning Endowment Securities adopted by the Board of Trustees. The Penn SRAC advises the Trustee Proxy Voting Subcommittee and the President, with the following functions:
* Consider proposals from the University community regarding specific proxy voting, first determining whether or not there is an allegation of substantial social or environmental injury;
* Make clear and concise recommendations to the Trustee Proxy Voting Subcommittee, together with factual findings and analysis, for its consideration on how to vote proxies;
* Respond to specific requests from the Trustee Proxy Voting Subcommittee or President.
* The Social Responsibility Advisory Committee (SRAC) is composed of student, faculty, and staff representatives along with alumni representatives. SRAC designs shareholder engagement policies and practices that advocate improvements to the social and environmental performance of the companies in which Penn has holdings. Two of SRAC's Guiding Principles are related to Global Climate Change and Sustainability Reporting.
For more information, see https://secure.www.upenn.edu/secretary/SRAC.html


Does the CIR include staff representation?:
Yes

Does the CIR include faculty representation?:
Yes

Does the CIR include student representation?:
Yes

Members of the CIR, including affiliations and role (e.g. student, faculty, staff, alumni):

Penn SRAC consists of twelve voting members including:
* Four faculty members nominated by the Faculty Senate;
* Four students (two graduates and two undergraduates) nominated by the Undergraduate Assembly (one student), the Nominations and Elections Committee (one student), GAPSA (two students);
* Two alumni representatives appointed by the President;
* Two staff members appointed by the President.


Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:

In the past three years, besides their proxy recommendations, the SRAC has revised two guidelines and added a new guideline.
• Political Spending, Revised in 2015:
Support resolutions that ask companies to report on direct or indirect campaign spending. Support resolutions that ask companies to report on direct or indirect lobbying activities. Abstain on resolutions that ask for restrictions on political spending. Abstain on resolutions that ask companies to adopt codified board oversight policies on political spending, unless the conduct of a company in a specific instance merits such a resolution.
• Resource Extraction, Revised in 2015:
Support resolutions that ask for monitoring and disclosure of the environmental impacts of the company's operations, including resolutions that ask for the collection and disclosure of quantitative emissions data. Support resolutions that ask companies to adopt comprehensive sustainability strategies, including performance indicators, and to publish quantitative assessments of the strategies' effectiveness. Abstain on resolutions that ask companies to set quantitative emissions reduction targets.
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions, new in 2017:
Support shareholder resolutions seeking company disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, analyses of the impact of climate change on a company’s business activities, strategies designed to reduce a company’s harmful impact on the global climate, and company support of governmental policies to mitigate climate change and its harmful effects.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The submission relies on information related to the main, academic, West Philadelphia campus, but to more fully document efforts across the Penn system, information related to the Morris Arboretum and New Bolton Large Animal Center has also been referenced, and noted as outside the boundary of the main campus in descriptions. The information is used to enrich examples of University efforts and is not intended to be the primary justification for credits. The responses for each of the questions and sub-questions are drawn from University materials, both internal and public documents. Each section notes the website where the information can be found.


The submission relies on information related to the main, academic, West Philadelphia campus, but to more fully document efforts across the Penn system, information related to the Morris Arboretum and New Bolton Large Animal Center has also been referenced, and noted as outside the boundary of the main campus in descriptions. The information is used to enrich examples of University efforts and is not intended to be the primary justification for credits. The responses for each of the questions and sub-questions are drawn from University materials, both internal and public documents. Each section notes the website where the information can be found.

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.