UF's investments could be made more transparent if UF President Bernie Machen approves the proposals of the Students for a Democratic Society.
In a meeting Friday morning, five members of the student protest group known as SDS urged Machen to disclose UF's investments details to make sure the school does not support companies that profit from the Iraq war.
Richard Gutierrez, a UF English and history senior and SDS member who was at the meeting, said the students gave Machen a three-page recommendation to create a transparency committee at UF.
Gutierrez said if Machen approves, the committee would investigate UF's investments and report its findings to UF's Board of Trustees.
He said Machen said he would give the group an answer by the end of the month.
"It's nice to know that the bureaucracy controlling UF is not so distant," Gutierrez said. "It's becoming a much better working relationship."
The committee would be made of four students, four faculty members and four alumni, he said.
It would make sure UF is not investing in any companies that support the military, animal testing or tobacco and would recommend socially responsible companies for UF to invest in, he said.
Gutierrez said SDS understands full disclosure of UF's investments could be detrimental for the school's earnings.
If UF makes all its investments known, many people might invest the same way, which would cause UF's dividends to decrease, said Steve Orlando, UF spokesman, in an interview in September.
UF's investments increased from ,585.7 million to ,1.2 billion in the past four years, according to UF documents. These profits are used for UF's resources and are exempt from open public-record laws, Orlando said.
No tuition money is ever invested, he said. UF only uses private donations or state grant money.
Gutierrez said one solution could be that UF would only disclose its investments to the committee and only do so at the end of each year.
SDS would also be satisfied if UF released a list of the companies in which it invests without disclosing the amount it spends on each.
For now, the discussion between SDS and Machen is running smoothly, Gutierrez said.
"We all came in suits," Gutierrez said of the Friday meeting. "We were dressed nicer than him."
