Shareholder Engagement

Overview

The Shareholder Engagement category examines how colleges conduct shareholder proxy voting. As investors, colleges have an opportunity to actively consider and vote on climate change and other sustainability-related shareholder resolutions. Forming a shareholder responsibility committee to advise the trustees allows schools to include students, faculty, and alumni in research and discussion of important corporate policies on sustainability. Such committees also offer exceptional educational opportunities at the intersection of policy, business, and sustainability. Points were awarded to schools that:

• Formed shareholder responsibility committees
• Voted on sustainability-related proxy resolutions (when such records were available) rather than letting investment managers handle proxy voting.

Key Findings

• Approximately one in eight schools has an advisory committee on shareholder responsibility. Twelve percent of schools have a committee of multiple stakeholders (e.g., students, faculty, staff, alumni) to help inform the trustees’ decisions on shareholder proxy resolutions.

• The average grade for the Shareholder Engagement category is D. For a summary of grade distribution for this category, please refer to the chart on the right.  

                                                                            Leading by Example