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POLICY 05:12:00

EQUIPMENT INVENTORY AND PROPERTY CONTROL

Purpose

To define processes and controls for capital equipment and sensitive minor inventory items
Definitions

Capital equipment is defined as any single item with a unit cost (or market value for donated items) of $5,000 or more (including costs to put the item into service) and a useful life greater than one year.
Sensitive minor inventory items are defined as items of a movable nature which are considered particularly vulnerable to theft and have a unit cost (or market value for donated items) between $1,500 and $4,999.99 and a useful life greater than one year. All weapons, regardless of cost, should be considered a sensitive minor inventory item.
Custodians are the individuals charged with tracking inventory items (both capital and sensitive), notifying appropriate staff if items are transferred, missing or damaged and ensuring that equipment is maintained in good operating condition.
Equipment Managers are the vice-presidents, executive directors or grant directors who share responsibility for inventory items under their supervision.
The Inventory Property Officer is the facilities staff member assigned with the responsibility of overseeing movement of inventory.
Policy

Capital equipment and sensitive minor inventory items are tagged and maintained in the inventory system. The inventory system encompasses all inventory transactions to include initial tagging, transfer processing, inventory verifications and disposals.
Procedures

  1. Tagging
    Capital equipment and sensitive minor inventory items that are purchased are identified by the account code assigned to them when a purchase order is processed. Donated items are documented with in-kind support from the college Foundation. Tags are affixed to the asset by Central Shipping & Receiving upon delivery and the item is assigned a location and custodian. Equipment managers have custodial responsibility for the equipment assigned to custodians within their department or working on their projects and both are to exercise due care and diligence in safeguarding the items. Items beyond the scope of this control policy (items that don’t meet the minimum cost, but have donor stipulations, grant-funding requirements, TAF tracking preferences, etc.) may be tagged and included in the college inventory system with approval from the Vice President of Administrative Affairs.
  2. Transfer Processing
    Custodians will notify the inventory property officer or appropriate business office staff by email or by completing an Inventory Transfer Form if an inventory item is moved between locations or between custodians. Transfers involving computer equipment should be initiated by contacting the Helpdesk.
  3. Equipment Inventory verifications
    A physical inventory of all capital equipment will be conducted annually by the equipment manager, the equipment custodian, an approved proxy or Facilities staff. Sensitive minor inventory items will also be inventoried. Sampling is an acceptable method of conducting inventory reviews of sensitive items. Location, custodian, and description changes needed for each item should be noted by the inventory reviewer. Upon verification, the inventory documentation (including needed changes) must be returned to the Business Office. Periodic sampling may be used by Facilities to verify inventory accuracy.
  4. Disposal of Property
    Items may be disposed of when they are determined to be obsolete, outdated, unusable, unnecessary or too expensive to maintain. A written notice, to be approved by the president or approved designee, will be prepared by the department requesting that the item be declared surplus, be approved for trade-in or be cannibalized (stripped of useful parts). Disposals will be carried out as prescribed by current TBR Policy 4:02:20:00.
  5. Missing Equipment
    If the equipment manager or custodian becomes aware of any missing items, they must immediately notify their supervisor and Central Shipping & Receiving. The custodian will complete the Missing Equipment Control Form and route the form to the appropriate approvers and notify campus police who will prepare a police incident report. The item will be removed from the department’s inventory and declared permanently missing after review by the Business Office and approval by the President.

 

Approved: Executive Council, March 4, 1991
Editorial Changes, May 24, 1993
Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, February 19, 1999
Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, June 15, 2004
Reviewed/Recommended: President’s Staff, March 30, 2009
Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, March 30, 2009
Reviewed/Recommended: President’s Council, January 25, 2016
Approved: President L. Anthony Wise, Jr., January 25, 2016
Reviewed/Recommended: President’s Council, June 27, 2022
Approved: President L. Anthony Wise Jr., June 27, 2022