1. Overview

   This policy establishes a process for the recording, identification, and accountability for:

   1.  University owned movable equipment items having a minimum cost of five thousand dollars each and a useful life of over one year. This includes donated items and purchases with university funds, grants or gifts (green tag items);

   2.  Sponsor owned equipment (red tag items) in compliance with "Federal Acquisition Regulation" (FAR) and "Uniform Guidance" (UG).

2. Responsibilities

   The responsibility for equipment accountability is assigned to the appropriate administrator (in academic areas this is, typically the department chair; school center or institute director; or dean). In the rest of this policy, "department" will be used to refer to the administrative or academic area of accountability and its responsible leader.

   Departments are responsible for certifying the accuracy of equipment inventory records on a biennial basis for green tag items and on an annual basis for red tag items.

   It is the responsibility of the division of finance to maintain proper equipment records and to ensure that all items of equipment meeting the criteria in this policy are identified by assigning a tag number.

3. Departments must report changes in the status of equipment

   Changes in the status of equipment must be reported to the division of finance by the department that was accountable for the equipment. The equipment status change form is to be used for this purpose. Status changes are to be reported as they occur.

   Examples of status changes:

   1. Stolen

   2. Scrapped (i.e., sent to campus recycling)

   3. Traded in

   4. Returned to vendor

   5. Transferred to another department due to reorganization

   6. Transferred to another responsible person

   7. Relocated to a different room or building

   All equipment that is considered surplus is to be disposed of by contacting the moving and surplus department.

4. Use of equipment off campus

   Tagged equipment may be removed from campus only with the permission of the department. Equipment taken off campus must be under the supervision of an employee of the university. The request to take equipment off campus form must be filled out and a copy sent to the division of finance prior to taking equipment off campus, and again when the equipment is returned.

5. Audits

   Equipment inventories will be periodically audited by external auditors, internal auditors and university accounting personnel. Therefore, it is imperative that all transactions affecting movable equipment be properly recorded.

6. Procedures

   The procedures for equipment inventory control are at the following websites:

   1. University owned equipment:
      https://www.ohio.edu/finance/equipment-inventory

   2. Sponsor owned equipment:
      https://www.ohio.edu/finance/equipment-inventory

Reviewers

Proposed revisions of this policy should be reviewed by:

1. Controller

2. CFAO's

3. Faculty Senate

4. Deans

Forms, References, and History

1. Forms

   The following forms are specific to this policy:

   1. Equipment Status Change form is available online from: http://www.ohio.edu/finance/forms.

   2. Request to Take Equipment Off-Campus form is available online from: http://www.ohio.edu/finance/forms.

2. References

   The following items are relevant to this policy:

   1. Policy 55.071, "Disposition of Surplus Property."

   2. Policy 47.001, "Safety, Procurement, Operation, Maintenance, and Disposition of University Vehicles."

   3. Policy 55.002, "Use of University Resources."

   4. Policy 55.074, "Purchasing Card."

   5. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) & Uniform Guidance (UG) are available online linked through: https://www.ohio.edu/finance/equipment-inventory/

   6. Moving & Surplus request form-Surplus Pickup is available online at:  https://www.ohio.edu/moving-surplus

   7. Campus Recycling Large Item Pick-up Online Work Request is available at: https://www.ohio.edu/recycle/work-requests

3. History

   Draft versions of this policy that were circulated for review, their cover memos, their forms, and Reviewers' comments on them are available on the password-protected Review site.

   Prior versions of this policy were approved on:

   1. May 20, 2008

   2. August 10, 2004

   3. July 1, 1982

   4. April 28, 1978