Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 36.77
Liaison Ashley Woolman
Submission Date Feb. 16, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Western Colorado University
PA-14: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.00 / 4.00 Tom Burggraf
Executive Director
Western State Colorado University Foundation
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total value of the investment pool:
16,000,000 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories::
Value of Holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g. renewable energy or sustainable forestry) ---
Businesses selected for exemplary sustainability performance (e.g. using criteria specified in a sustainable investment policy) ---
Sustainability investment funds (e.g. a renewable energy or impact investment fund) ---
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent ---
Socially responsible mutual funds with positive screens (or the equivalent) ---
Green revolving loan funds that are funded from the endowment ---

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:

Rather than owning individual stocks, the Western State Foundation owns “fund of funds” (essentially mutual funds) through Morgan Stanley, and the composition of each of these funds changes continually. This incorporates hundreds of moving equity and fixed-income pieces. As such, it is not possible to categorize our investments.


Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
No

A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
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The sustainable investment policy:

N/A


Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
---

A brief description of how the policy is applied, including recent examples:

N/A


Does the institution's sustainable investment policy include negative screens?:
---

A brief description of the negative screens and how they have been implemented:

N/A


Approximate percentage of the endowment that the negative screens apply to:
---

Has the institution engaged in proxy voting, either by its CIR or other committee or through the use of guidelines, to promote sustainability during the previous three years?:
No

A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
---

A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:

N/A


Has the institution filed or co-filed one or more shareholder resolutions that address sustainability or submitted one or more letters about social or environmental responsibility to a company in which it holds investments during the previous three years?:
No

Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:

N/A


Does the institution engage in policy advocacy by participating in investor networks and/or engaging in inter-organizational collaborations to share best practices?:
No

A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:

N/A


The website URL where information about the institution's sustainable investment efforts is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

We have been contacted in the past by students with AASHE materials requesting that Western State Foundation make a commitment to fossil-fuel divestment of the endowment. After discussing this with the Board on several occasions, the consistent response has been -- Because Western and the Foundation strongly support academic programs in both environmental sustainability as well as energy-industry related disciplines, limiting investments to one group’s preferences would be inconsistent with the values of the Foundation, as well as the diverse academic disciplines offered by the University.


We have been contacted in the past by students with AASHE materials requesting that Western State Foundation make a commitment to fossil-fuel divestment of the endowment. After discussing this with the Board on several occasions, the consistent response has been -- Because Western and the Foundation strongly support academic programs in both environmental sustainability as well as energy-industry related disciplines, limiting investments to one group’s preferences would be inconsistent with the values of the Foundation, as well as the diverse academic disciplines offered by the University.

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.