The Carleton Responsible Investment Committee (CRIC) is hereby formed to advise the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees via the Vice President and Treasurer regarding ethical, social, and environmental issues that arise in the management of the college endowment.

Membership

CRIC will consist of nine voting members, including five students, two faculty, one of whom will be the chair of EthIC, and two staff. The Vice President and Treasurer and a Secretary will participate as non-voting members.

CSA Senate will select students, Faculty Affairs Committee will select faculty, and staff will be selected by the President of the College following a nomination process. Faculty and staff will serve three-year terms.

The members will elect one student and one faculty member annually to co-chair CRIC. The co-chairs’ responsibilities will include, but not be limited to: writing agendas, scheduling regular meetings, and enforcing the attendance policy. They will also ensure the preparation of the annual report.

Members will be expected to attend all meetings. Members are responsible for informing co-chairs of absences in advance of the meetings. If a member misses two or more meetings per term without notice they will be asked to resign from the committee.

Function

The primary function of CRIC will be to form voting recommendations on shareholder resolutions pertaining to ethical, social, and environmental issues. These recommendations will be presented for approval to the Investment Committee. CRIC can choose the number of shareholder resolutions it would like to review each year. CRIC is encouraged to complement its voting recommendation with an explanatory letter to the company in question.

CRIC may establish voting guidelines for voting shareholder resolutions, which will be reexamined at the beginning of every year. Approval of the guidelines requires a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of members present.

CRIC will consider action concerning, but not limited to; the transparency of the investment portfolio, the ethical nature of particular stocks, investment in social funds, the filing of shareholder resolutions, and community investment opportunities. Members of the Carleton community will be able to suggest topics of discussion directly to CRIC representatives.

The role of the CRIC is advisory, and the Investment Committee has final responsibility for the investment decisions of the College.

Procedure

Unless otherwise decided, the CRIC will hold biweekly formal meetings with all members. Subgroups may also meet during the interim. The beginning portion of the formal meetings will be open to the broader campus community, but the committee will retain the right to reconvene in closed session when necessary.

Approval of an action will be decided by a majority vote of members that are present. A quorum of six members is required for a vote to be taken.

To facilitate the work of the CRIC, the College will provide appropriate resources, to be determined by the committee and approved by the Vice President and Treasurer’s office, such as a proxy advisory service or a database of other shareholder initiatives. Additionally, the College will provide a list of their investments and will update the investment information at least once per term.

The Vice President and Treasurer is responsible for reporting recommendations to the Board of Trustees, although other committee members may be invited to attend Board meetings when appropriate. CRIC will send its recommendations to the Investment Committee prior to regular board meetings. However, recognizing that the timing of company shareholder meetings does not always coincide with that of regular Board meetings, CRIC may send recommendations to the Investment Committee between Board meetings. As outlined in Article VI of the Board Bylaws, Investment Committee members may approve these by a written action signed by a majority of Committee members. The Board of Trustees, in turn, is asked to provide CRIC an explanation in the event that it does not approve the recommendations.

CRIC will hold public forums at least once each academic year to gage the opinions of the campus regarding the topics it is considering and/or other investment concerns. CRIC members are responsible for soliciting input from the body they represent. In addition, the committee may occasionally invite other interested parties to the meetings to present when possible.

In order to keep the Carleton community informed on responsible investing matters pertaining to the endowment, CRIC will prepare on annual report of its activities during each academic year that will be published on the website and made available in the Vice President and Treasurer’s office. The report will consist of a brief summary of the year and CRIC’s formal recommendations to the Board of Trustees including the names of companies affected. Furthermore, the report will include the decision of the Investment Committee and the outcome of recommended shareholder resolutions.

CRIC will also maintain a website to be updated regularly. It will include the committee minutes, the schedule and agenda for upcoming meetings and public forums, copies of the annual report, and other information the committee finds relevant.

Every year before spring term appointments the committee will conduct a mandatory self-review, including a review of membership and committee procedures.