~Brandeis InVEST~
Independent Voices for Endowment Sustainability and Transparency
working for responsible shareholder involvement and increased investment transparency at Brandeis
| Our Draft Proposal _______________________________________________________________________ PROPOSAL TO CREATE AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON SHAREHOLDER RESPONSIBILITY TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY With the approval of the Board of Trustees, the University will form an Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility to the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees. It will make recommendations, in the interests of the Brandeis community, pertaining to the management of the investments in the University’s endowment concerning social issues. The following basic guidelines are given for the formation and activities of the Committee and the relations between it and other parts of Brandeis University. 1. The Committee will be a permanent addition to the University. The Committee will maintain stable working relationships with the Office of the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President and the Board of Trustees. 2. To ensure that the Committee is broadly representative of the Brandeis community, it shall consist of eight voting members: two Brandeis faculty members, three undergraduate students, one graduate student, and two alumnae. Two administrators will serve as advisors and help guide the direction of the Committee. Student members of the Committee shall serve one-year terms; faculty and alumnae members shall serve two-year terms. Administrative members shall be reappointed according to the discretion of the University President. Terms shall be staggered to ensure continuity in the membership of the Committee and familiarity of members with investment issues. 5. To carry out its work, the Committee will need to be well-informed on the particular issues it chooses to pursue. Therefore, the Committee may ask to hear presentations pertaining to its work from concerned members of the Brandeis community, including students, alumni, faculty, and staff. It may also invite experts from inside and outside Brandeis University to provide the Committee with pertinent information. Concerned members of the community are also encouraged, through their own initiative, to present information relating to their concerns to the Committee. 6. The committee may request, on a confidential basis, sufficiently current information on University endowment holdings and investment management activity pertaining to issues under review by the Committee. The Committee's deliberations using such information will take place in closed session, and confidential information given the Committee regarding Brandeis’ endowment shall be used solely for Committee activity and not shared with anyone outside the Committee. 7. To keep the Brandeis community informed on social issues pertaining to the endowment, the Committee's formal recommendations to the Board of Trustees and the subsequent action or response by the Board of Trustees shall be made publicly available. The proxy voting record of the Brandeis University endowment holdings shall also be made publicly available. The Board of Trustees shall further make publicly available a list of known endowment holdings six months out of date. 8. The Committee will prepare an annual report on its activities to be released in May of each academic year. 9. The final fiduciary responsibility for the management of the University’s investments lies with the Board of Trustees. The Committee's recommendations to the Board of Trustees will therefore be advisory in nature. |
to contact InVEST, email our coordinator, Alex Melman, at amelman@brandeis.edu or talk to a member of InVEST.