Frequently Asked Inventory Questions

 

What is the university’s definition of an “asset?”

Any piece that is separate has a useful life of more than one year and if added to another asset, changes, enhances or greatly extends the life of the asset. 

What is the university system for tracking assets?

AssetView.

What are the “required” inventory records? 

  • All capital assets - => $5K (Federal Mandate and Depreciation value set at university level) 
  • All computers – regardless of use or value (R572 State Mandate) 
  • Departmental non-capital assets with cost => $3k to $4999.99 (R572 State Mandate) 
  • All computers, laptops, and tablets
  • Export control items

What are “optional” inventory records (tagged at department’s discretion)?

  • Items that are targets for theft less than amount above (digital cameras, camcorders, microscopes)
  • Software
  • Tablets/iPads

What do inventory tags look like?

These are the 4 tags you may see on assets. Below is a link to the 4 different tag descriptions:

Inventory Tag Descriptions

Who are the people responsible for helping to verify my inventory?

  • Each department will have a Department Equipment Administrator (DEA) who will be responsible for identifying and tagging new assets, managing surplus, updating AssetView for required records, performing annual non-capital inventory, and being a liaison with Equipment Management Services.
  • Equipment Management Services (EMS) is responsible for training DEA and performing capital inventory.

I receive numerous emails about verifying my inventory.  Why so many?

Inventory is verified on a calendar year basis.  The inventory cycle starts on January 1st even if you just verified in December.  Emails asking to verify inventory begin May 1st.  If you verify and the DEA marks it as seen in AssetView, you should not get another email until the next inventory cycle.  Subsequent emails for nonverified equipment go out August 1st, Oct 1st, November 1st, and December 1st.  All assets are required to be verified by December 31st.  UWRL will require picture verification to be submitted every other year.

What is the UWRL procedure for tagging computer purchases?

See our UWRL Technician to get your computer tagged. 

I need to take my computer (or other asset) off premise.  What should I do?

If you need to use a computer or other piece of equipment off premises, please obtain your supervisor’s approval and complete the Equipment Off Premise Authorization Form found in Service-Now.  Once it is returned to campus, please notify the DEA so they can update AssetView.

I need to travel out of the country with my computer and/or equipment. 
Is this an issue?

All computers, every single one, are export controlled.  They are not tagged as such because there are no exceptions.  Surplus is aware as is Office of Compliance. 

If you wish to travel out of country with a USU-owned computer or piece of equipment, you must be aware that all equipment, including computers, needs to be authorized to take out of country. 

Find more information about traveling with inventory.

I would like to surplus an item no longer needed.  What should I do?

Equipment deemed no longer needed or useful to a university department or unit is declared “excess” and eligible to be disposed per university procedures as listed below.  All excess or surplus equipment is required to be handled by USU Surplus Sales.  No sale or donation may be arranged or completed until USU Surplus Sales has been notified and a course of action initiated.   

Any equipment/supplies/materials that are labeled as Property of U.S. Government may not be disposed, moved, or stored unless authorized by agency contracting officer responsible for that equipment.  Title and disposition of Government property must first be determined.  Contact Equipment Management Services and/or USU Government Property Administrator. 

Property Disposal Checklist  

  1. Contact your Department Equipment Administrator (DEA) and inform them of the desire to dispose of property and provide the following information: 
    1. Asset/Barcode number if the asset is controlled or tracked by USU. 
    2. Property Description 
    3. Location of Property 
  2. Your DEA will contact the Controller’s Office Equipment Management Services (EMS) for the following information and to obtain disposal instructions: 
    1. Verify USU has title to the property and is allowed to dispose of the property.  
    2. Verify if the equipment has any Export Control restrictions that will affect the disposal. 
    3. Determine if equipment requires dismantling, Environmental Health & Safety involvement, etc. 
    4. It is the department’s responsibility to clean the storage/lab/containment areas prior to Surplus Sales pick-up.  See section for Disposal of Assets in Storage/Lab/Containment areas below. 
  3. Submit Asset Disposal Request form to Surplus Sales and Equipment Management Services. Surplus Sales will schedule pick up of property with Departments. 
    1. Assets to be disposed are identified by disposal tags with the appropriate information that corresponds with the Disposal Request Form. 
    2. Disposal Request form must be complete prior to pick up and a copy of the form included with the assets transported to Surplus Sales.  
      1. Ask Business Services to provide an index that can accept the surplus revenue
    3. Disposal form must be filled out completely and accurately.  “Box of Stuff” is an inadequate description. Please provide enough asset description detail for verification of items received at Surplus Sales. 
      1. Attaching a spread sheet or other list to the Disposal Request form is allowed as long as the disposal tags reference the list in an identifiable manner. 
    4. The following employee names must be included on the Disposal Request Form to complete the transfer of property from the department to Surplus Sales. 
      1. DEA or Department representative (Contact person for the disposal transaction) 
      2. Department representative who releases the assets to the Transportation personnel. 
      3. Transportation personnel: This is the employee who is transporting the property from the department to Surplus Sales. This employee might be from Surplus Sales, Facilities Moving, or a departmental employee. 
  4. All dismantling or teardown of assets must be done before surplus is contacted for pick-up.  This is the responsibility of the department.   
  5. Computers must have hard drives wiped. This can be done either by department IT before going to surplus or by surplus
  6. Assets must be placed in an area that is secure until transportation to Surplus Sales. 
  7. A department representative must be present when assets are picked up for transportation to Surplus Sales.  This representative must ensure the following: 
    1. All employee names associated with the disposal of assets are included on the Disposal Request Form and the form is dated with the pick-up date. 
    2. Make copies of the Disposal Request form. Send one to EMS and keep a copy in the Departmental records for two years. Copies of the form can be digital. 
    3. Access to the area(s) for pickup is open and available 
    4. All assets and supplies are taken that need to be transported to Surplus Sales. 
    5. The employee transporting the assets to Surplus Sales must take the original Disposal Request form with the assets. 
  8. Surplus Sales will receive the disposed property into their point of sale inventory system. 
    1. This is a manual process that involves verifying the asset/barcode numbers of disposed property against the Disposal Request form and entering those numbers into the POS system. 
    2. Once a month Surplus Sales sends a list of all asset barcodes received to Equipment Management Services. 
    3. Equipment Management Services deletes disposed assets from the Banner Fixed Asset Module and archives the assets in AssetView. 
  9. Surplus Sales evaluates property to determine salability and the following: 
    1. Property that has no salvage value is recycled or sent to the landfill.
    2. Property is offered for reuse to USU community and to public for sale. 

If these procedures are not followed and the signed documentation is not kept at Department level, any discrepancies will be reported as Lost on departmental annual inventories. 

Departments will not receive revenue from Surplus Sales if assets received are not documented with the proper information as directed above.   Revenue from the sale of non-documented assets will go directly to Surplus Sales.   

Equipment Assets are sold on site or require federal regulation 

  1. Assets not able to be taken to Surplus Sales may be sold on site 
    1. Follow listed steps as above except moving or transporting to Surplus. 
    2. Surplus Sales will advertise and accept best offer. 
    3. Reports will be generated to Equipment Management Services for archival. 
  2. If asset has special requirements to be sold (Airplanes, Helicopters etc.) 
    1. Follow listed steps as above except movement or transport.   
    2. Surplus Sales will advertise and accept the best offer. 
    3. Report will be generated to Equipment for archival. 

Are there special procedures for assets that are export controlled?

Refer to the Export Compliance Program Manual.

One of my assets is being moved to a different location on campus.  What should I do?

This form shall be filled out when equipment is known to have changed locations, responsible persons, etc. within the department. This is important to the F&A rate study for location and use, for annual reimbursement.  It will also help reduce time in performing the annual physical inventory.  Please return to your DEA.

I am or should no longer be the responsible person for an asset.  What should I do?

If both parties (the current responsible person and the person who’s custody will be transferred) agree, this form shall be filled out when equipment is known to have changed locations, responsible persons, etc. within the department. Please return to your DEA.

Can an asset be loaned to another department or institution?

Yes.  Depending on the type of loan and type of equipment, there may be varying parameters.  Please contact EMS for guidance.  Then please fill out this agreement and return to the DEA who will forward to EMS. 

Can an asset be transferred or sold to another department on campus?

Yes. Fill out this form. Report to DPA inventory number, description, name of department receiving, and new location. Must have signatures of responsible person from giving and receiving department.

Can an asset be transferred to another university or institution?

Yes. 

If Departing Faculty wants to take equipment assets to new institution 

  1. All equipment listed under current sponsored award may be transferred to the new institution if approved by sponsor.  
    1. Send a list of equipment that will be transferred to the new institution to Equipment Management Services. 
    2. Transferring institution is responsible for disassembling and moving equipment assets. 
  2. If equipment assets are not on current sponsored award(s) 
    1. Department Head and Dean must approve transfer of all equipment to the other institution.
    2. Equipment must not be needed by other departments within the college. 
    3. USU must have title to the equipment to authorize the transfer.
    4. If USU does not have title, the title holder must approve transfer of equipment to the new institution. 
    5. The new institution must purchase the assets from USU, per Surplus Sales procedures. 
    6. Follow disposal checklist to properly document sale. 
    7. Transferring faculty or institution is responsible for dismantling and movement of equipment assets to new location. 

Please fill out this form and return to your DEA or EMS.

Can an asset be donated?

Yes.  Please fill out this form and return to DEA or EMS.

If I intend to fabricate a piece of equipment what do I do?

Fabricated equipment will be reported to Equipment Management Services with the Intent to Fabricate Equipment form.  This allows Equipment Management Services to set up the correct files to support documentation of the asset(s) until completion.   

Supporting documentation for fabricated equipment should include:

  1. Description 
  2. Approximate costs to fabricate equipment 
  3. Equipment location 
  4. Responsible person 
  5. Index(s) that will be responsible for the costs of material and equipment that may be included in the build. 

Once the fabrication is complete, provide EMS with the final costs that paid for the fabricated equipment. If the equipment was fabricated with contract funds, title may vest with the funding agency depending on the terms and conditions of the sponsor award. 

When purchasing parts for the fabricated equipment, please let Business Services know so they can keep appropriate records.

I have sent an item to surplus, but it is still appearing on my inventory list?  What can I do to have it removed?

If you have followed the proper procedure to surplus an asset and it is still showing on your inventory list, contact the DEA who can look into the situation further.

Do I have the option to buy back the computer I have been using after I leave the university?

Yes, with the department’s authorization and following the procedure below:

  1. Contact Surplus Sales for authorization to sell the computer. 
  2. After authorization and amount are agreed on the computer must be sent to Surplus Sales for processing. 
  3. Surplus Sales is responsible for ensuring the computer hard drive is wiped and no Utah State University PII or Proprietary Information remains on the hard drive. See Surplus Sales procedures for sale of computers to external entities. 
  4. Payment is made to Surplus Sales  

My equipment is obsolete/not worth much.  What are my options to get it removed from my inventory list?

The only way to remove a piece of equipment that has been previously tracked is to cannibalize it. 

Common reasons for cannibalization:

  • Urgent need for parts: In emergency situations, cannibalizing equipment can provide immediate access to components, minimizing critical downtime.
  • Parts obsolescence: For aging machinery no longer in production, spare parts may be difficult or impossible to acquire through official channels.
  • Cost savings: Reusing parts from existing inventory can be more economical than purchasing expensive new components, especially for specialized or high-value items.
  • Environmental sustainability: In "reverse logistics," cannibalization is a way to reuse components from end-of-life products, reducing waste and the need for new raw materials. 

If you would like to cannibalize a piece of equipment:

  1. Faculty/P.I./I.T. should inform DEA of pending action
  2. Document asset(s) that will be cannibalized using a Request to Retire Asset form and send form to Equipment Management Services. 
  3. Department Head approval is required prior to cannibalization. 
  4. Consult with Environmental Health and Safety if needed. 

My inventory list has assets that aren’t very descriptive (such as “computer”) and I can’t remember what they are or can’t distinguish between them.  Is there a way to remedy this?

The DEA can add a longer description or a nickname to AssetView to help you distinguish them on your inventory list.  Please advise your DEA how you would like you inventory named.

I’m purchasing a piece of equipment or computer for use on a sponsored project.  Are there any special procedures to follow?

If a piece of equipment was purchased with federal money, it will need to have a federal government tag on it.  This does not necessarily mean that we need to give it back at the end of the project.  It just means that we need to mark the asset as Federal until the federal government says we get to keep it.  Each contract may vary, so check with sponsored programs to know who has title at the end of the contract.  AssetView has the capability of designating that an asset was purchased with federal funds but the title will remain with USU at the end of the award.  If you know that will be the case, please let the DPA (if under $5000) or USU equipment management (for capital equipment) know, and they will update AssetView. A computer is generally considered “supplies” but with new regulations the information they carry has to be tracked (PII and proprietary).