Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 67.20
Liaison Jessica Thompson
Submission Date June 20, 2024

STARS v2.2

Northern Michigan University
PA-9: Committee on Investor Responsibility

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 2.00 Jessica Thompson
AVP Sustainability
People Culture & Wellbeing
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a formally established and active committee on investor responsibility (CIR) or equivalent body?:
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:

Please see the investment policy: https://nmu.edu/policies/1194


NMU's Board of Trustees has a Finance Committee (https://nmu.edu/boardoftrustees/finance) which is responsible for the guidelines for short-term and long-term investments; and adopted a sustainable investment policy in December 2023: 



  1. Northern Michigan is committed to promoting sustainable investments when selecting investments in the Endowment Fund. The Committee understands that sustainability aligns with the University’s core values and may consider sustainability when selecting investments. The goal is to increase sustainable investments by 15%

  2. The Endowment Fund will divest from direct or indirect ownership in companies involved in the extraction, production, and distribution of fossil fuels by 2028.


Does the CIR include academic staff representation?:
No

Does the CIR include non-academic staff representation?:
Yes

Does the CIR include student representation?:
No

Members of the CIR, including affiliations and role:

  • Ms. Alexis M. Hart, Board of Trustees, Vice-Chair (not staff)

  • Ms. Melissa A. Holmquist, Board of Trustees (alumni)

  • Ms. Brigitte R. LaPointe-Dunham, Board of Trustees (alumni)

  • Mr. Gregory J. Seppanan, Board of Trustees (alumni)

  • Mr. Stephen E. Young, Board of Trustees, Chair (not staff)

  • Dr. Brock F. Tessman, University President (non-academic staff)


None
Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:

The Board's finance committee adopted a sustainable investment policy in December 2023: 



  1. Northern Michigan is committed to promoting sustainable investments when selecting investments in the Endowment Fund. The Committee understands that sustainability aligns with the University’s core values and may consider sustainability when selecting investments. The goal is to increase sustainable investments by 15%

  2. The Endowment Fund will divest from direct or indirect ownership in companies involved in the extraction, production, and distribution of fossil fuels by 2028.


Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s committee on investor responsibility is available:
https://www.nmu.edu/Webb/MiscUploads/Policies/Final%20NMU%20Statement%20of%20Investment%20Policy%20Endowments%202023.pdf

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Final_NMU_Statement_of_Investment_Policy_Endowments_2023.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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