Word: acsr
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
While the ACSR has recently been linked in many minds with the issue of South Africa, last year's University financial report notes that the ACSR began by investigating shareholder resolutions about" consumer and environmental protection...
...ACSR was also designed to serve as a conduit between concerned members of the community and the Corporation. As Bok said at the time, "I look to the Advisory Committee as a link with different interested segments who can develop useful information and advice on forthcoming shareholder resolutions and other important issues of shareholder "responsibility." The ACSR began this task in earnest, investigating a wide range of ethical issues. ACSR members have traditionally spent much of their time writing to companies to inquire about their business practices, and sounding out interested individuals and organizations about their opinions of various companies...
...somewhere along the way, the ACSR began to stray from this original task of making recommendations on proxy votes on a case-by-case basis. Discussing specific examples has logically drawn the ACSR into attempts to form broader policy statements that would help set out consistent ground rules the University would use to guide its votes. In large part, these guidelines represent the ACSR's attempt to keep its recommendations consistent from year to year...
This consistency has proven to be particularly difficult to achieve because of the rapid turnover in membership on the ACSR. The Committee consists of 12 members; four alumni, four Faculty, and four students. Each serves for a two-year term, and many members insist that it takes a full year just to learn how the Harvard portfolio operates. This year, for example, seven of the 14 members will be leaving. Noel McGinn, a lecturer at the Graduate School of Education who is one of the outgoing members, says that this constant turnover prevents the ACSR from passing on a coherent...
...issues that come up before the ACSR, the question of how to handle Harvard's stock in companies having business in South Africa has particularly led the ACSR to make sweeping policy recommendations. The Committee made its first statement on the subject in 1978. This was a relatively specific recommendation that Harvard check that the companies it invests in abide by the Sullivan Principles, which set forth suggested minimum wage and labor standards for U.S. companies operating in South Africa. President Bok issued a policy statement that year agreeing with the ACSR recommendation, and stating that the University would divest...