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Property Inventory and Management (C-42)

Original Implementation: September 28, 1996
Last Revision: July 21, 2009

Stephen F. Austin State University will comply with the State Property Accounting (SPA) policies and procedures, and SPA practitioner's standards. Property acquired under federal or state grants and contracts will be identified and maintained according to the same guidelines as the university's centralized property management and control described herein.

Stephen F. Austin State University shall be identified by SPA as an internal reporting agency.

Centralized property management and control is performed by the Procurement and Property Services Department. Property responsibility is delegated by the president of the university through the director of Procurement and Property Services to two property managers.

All references to financial responsibility are inherently understood to apply when employee negligence is involved.

PROPERTY RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Director of Procurement and Property Services and Property Managers - The director of Procurement and Property Services and two property managers are responsible for the overall management of university property, maintenance and control of centralized property records, and disposition of surplus and salvage property.

Department Head - The chair or administrative head of a department is designated "property manager" for the department. The department head may not delegate this responsibility. The department head may be held financially responsible for any property listed on his/her department property records.

Designee - The department head may name up to two designees to receive and submit property communications on his/her behalf. The designee(s) do not assume property responsibility or accountability in lieu of the department head. The designee(s) may not sign property documents on behalf of the department head.

Responsible Party - The responsible party is that employee who is entrusted with the care and safekeeping of specific pieces of property. The responsible party may be held financially responsible for any university property assigned to him/her. If the department head, or his/her designee, fail to assign property to a responsible party, the department head shall be listed as the responsible party.

All University Employees - All employees will receive the Property Liability Acknowledgement Policy advising that he/she may be entrusted with university property. The Property Liability Acknowledgement (See Property Liability Policy B-34) advises the employee that he/she will be held financially responsible for any property determined to be damaged, destroyed, missing, or stolen due to employee negligence.

PROPERTY DEFINITIONS

Property is defined and will be added to property records in accordance with State Property Accounting (SPA) rules and guidelines. The property managers, in conjunction with the director of procurement, and with appropriate administrative approval may determine additional equipment to be tracked in property records. All property definitions are stated in the Property Management Manual.
Property definitions include purchased or donated property. The department is responsible to notify the property manager of any donations to determine if the property must be added to property records.

PROPERTY VALIDATION
Each department head and responsible party is to exercise care and control over the property for which he/she is responsible. Property should be monitored on a perpetual basis. Various procedures for property validation include, but are not limited to, the following:

Annual Property Inventory Audit

The property office is in the process of converting all property to RFID tags.  While that conversion is on-going, once per year an Annual Property Inventory Audit will be conducted one of two ways:

  1. PHYSICAL COUNT: The department head is responsible to assign two individuals (the department head may be one of the two) to physically count and verify by tag number and room location all items on the official property report for the department. Each piece of property listed on the official property report must be visually viewed, and the official property report checked, marked, or otherwise noted confirming existence of the property, its location and the responsible party. Property not located must be documented with an explanation as to the last known information regarding its location. Missing or Stolen Property Reports may be required.

    2. The Property Inventory must be completed and the official property report and certification returned to the property manager by the deadline stated in the Annual Property Inventory instructions.

  2. RFID SCAN: The department head is responsible to assign one individual (the department head may be this individual) to identify and open doors, cabinets, storage areas, etc. for property to be scanned by property staff. If available and at the property manager’s discretion, scanners may be checked out to departments to complete scanning. After scanning is complete, the property managers will produce exception reports, which will be generated and forwarded to the department head and designee for resolution. Missing or Stolen Reports may be required. After all exceptions have been resolved an updated property list will be forwarded to the department head and designee for review and updating of responsible party names and property condition, and approval by signature and return of the Approval of Annual Property Inventory form.

Annual Property Inventory Deadlines

Departments failing to complete the Annual Property Inventory and return the official property report and certification or respond to exceptions and return the Approval of Annual Property Inventory form to the property manager by 5:00 p.m. on the deadline date will be given a 2nd deadline and will have all ordering, including P-Cards, shut down until the official property report and certification are received in the property manager's office.

Reports in campus mail will not be considered received.

Failure to submit the official property report and certification to the property manager by 5:00 p.m. of the 2nd deadline will result in department information, including, but not limited to, department name, department head and property values being reported to the Board of Regents at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Reports in campus mail will not be considered received.

Computer Inventory

In addition to the Annual Property Inventory Audit, departments must complete an annual Computer Inventory to facilitate the purchase of campus-wide software licenses and annual analysis of computers for the university Computer Replacement Plan.

Spot-Check Audit

Property spot-check audits will be conducted by property personnel in a routine fashion to allow independent verification. Spot-check audits will not be performed during annual property inventory.

Monthly Transaction Statements

Transaction statements listing all additions and deletions to each department's property records will be provided monthly to the department head and his/her designee(s).

Adjustment Of Property Records

The following property information must be updated throughout the year as changes occur. Procedures for making these changes are outlined in the Property Management Manual.

  1. Department Head - procedures apply to both outgoing and incoming department heads (interim or permanent); information regarding the change must be completed within 30 days of assuming or relinquishing duties.
  2. Responsible Party - procedures apply upon transfer or termination of any employee listed as a responsible party on department property records; information regarding the change must be completed within 30 days of the transfer or termination.

USE OF STATE PROPERTY

University property may be used only for state/university purposes. University property in the custody of any Stephen F. Austin State University employee may not be loaned, sold, traded, thrown away, cannibalized, or disposed of in any manner without the prior authorization of the property manager.

Removal Of Property From Campus

University property may be taken off campus only for official business of the university or another state agency. The individual taking equipment off campus assumes financial responsibility and must complete a Removal of Property from Campus form in accordance with procedures outlined in the Property Management Manual.

Property may be taken off-campus for a specific period of time, in which case property will be verified for return on the specified date.
Property may be taken off-campus for an indefinite period of time, in which case the Removal of Property from Campus form must be completed annually. Annual verification of the property will be included in the Annual Property Inventory Audit.
Items containing potentially sensitive, private or confidential information are not to be stored in any leased premises unless specifically authorized in writing by the President. These items include but are not limited to computers, electronic or digital storage devices, and paper documents. Certain off-campus facilities may lack the security necessary to protect such sensitive information.

Loaning Property To Another Agency

University property may be loaned to another state agency or institution of higher education. The president must approve the loan of the property in writing and receipt of the property must be acknowledged in writing by the head of the borrowing agency.

TRAINING

Mandatory training is required for all department heads, designees, and responsible parties. No prior training will be considered in lieu of this requirement. After initial training, refresher updates are required every 2 years. The property managers will accommodate special needs and special training times as needed or desired.

SALVAGE AND SURPLUS PROPERTY

Salvage Property

Salvage property is any personal property which through use, time or accident is so depleted, worn out, damaged, consumed, or outdated that it is obsolete and/or can no longer serve the purpose for which it was originally intended. Salvage property may be discarded or retained for cannibalization of parts, but should be identified for deletion from property records with appropriate documentation and property manager approval.

Surplus Property

Surplus property is any personal property that is in excess of the needs of the department and which is not required for its foreseeable future. Surplus property may be new or used but must have additional useful life. Surplus property may be deleted from department property records as follows, with detailed procedures described in the Property Management Manual:

  1. Trade-In toward the purchase of new property - trade-ins must be included in solicitations and/or negotiations prior to issuing a purchase order or contract, not added after completion of the purchase process.
  2. Transferring Property to another Department - property may be transferred from one department to another by completing a Property Transfer Form (PTF). Procedures for completion and routing are in the Property Management Manual.
  3. Transferring property to Surplus - property may be transferred to surplus by completing a Property Transfer form (PTF). Procedures for completion and routing are in the Property Management Manual. Property transferred to surplus is available, without cost, for transfer to any department in need of such property. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis.

PROPERTY DISPOSAL

University property is to be disposed of as allowed and described in the Property Management Manual, with the exception that disposition of property acquired through federal or state grants and contracts must respect the terms of the grant or contract under which it was acquired. The property manager will determine the disposal option that complies with SPA rules and guidelines and best meets the needs of the university.

All property sales, including scrap metal, are to be overseen by the property office.  All funds from sale proceeds will be deposited to the general fund (if originally purchased from state funds) or the surplus account (if originally purchased with local funds), unless otherwise approved by the vice president for finance and administration.  Such approval will be restricted to situations where the proceeds will be returned to an income-generating department such at the soils lab, beef farm, etc. or where the proceeds will provide an off-set to a large project purchase such as a road bus, etc.

MISSING OR STOLEN PROPERTY

Missing Property

Missing property is any personal property that has disappeared with no explanation, the loss of which must be reported IMMEDIATELY to the property manager.

A Missing or Stolen Property Report must be completed within 24 hours of reporting the missing property. As part of the report the department head must make a determination of negligence on the part of the responsible party. Failure to report missing property to the property manager IMMEDIATELY may result in a determination of negligence.

Any appropriations withheld from the university due to exceeding the allowed value threshold of missing property will be deducted from the budget of the department responsible for the property. The value threshold is based on the FY 02-03 Appropriations Bill, section 9.03.

Stolen Property

Stolen Property is any personal property that has disappeared by known theft, whether by forced removal, burglary, theft by employee, or other criminal act. Stolen property must be reported IMMEDIATELY to the property manager in conjunction with IMMEDIATELY filing a stolen report with the University Police Department.

A Missing or Stolen Property Report must be completed within 24 hours of reporting the stolen property. As part of the report the department head must make a determination of negligence on the part of the responsible party. Failure to report stolen property to the property manager and/or UPD IMMEDIATELY may result in a determination of negligence.

EMPLOYEE NEGLIGENCE

The president, director of procurement and property services, property managers, department head, or responsible party will be financially responsible for damaged, destroyed, missing or stolen property if negligence is determined.

Negligence is defined as:

  1. failure to exercise reasonable care and safekeeping for university property, resulting in its disappearance or theft;
  2. failure to exercise reasonable care to maintain and service property, resulting in deterioration of the property;
  3. evidence that property has been damaged or destroyed as a result of an intentional wrongful act or a negligent act.

When the property manager has reasonable cause to believe that any university property has been lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed through the negligence of an employee, an investigation will be conducted by the property manager. If the investigation confirms negligence, the following individuals/offices will be notified:

While the loss is pending with the AG’s office, SFA will determine the value of the property and give the negligent employee(s) an opportunity to provide a replacement or reimbursement to the university. The Attorney General’s Office may accept the action taken in the previous step and close the case or investigate and make a final determination of negligence – which may be greater or less than that determined by SFA. If the negligent employee(s) do not provide a replacement or reimbursement to the university, and negligence is determined, OR if the State Attorney General determines a greater negligence, the State Attorney General will make a written demand for reimbursement to the state.

The property manager in consultation with the department head will determine whether replacement of property or reimbursement of funds best meets the needs of the university. The property manager will determine the value of the loss to the university by considering two factors:

Value of the Property – the value of the property may be considered using any or all of the following information:

Value to SFA – even though property may have been fully depreciated, its value to the university may be considered to the extent it was used on a regular basis. This value may be determined in consultation with department representatives and internal Audit Services.

REPLACEMENT – If replacement is elected, the employee(s) must purchase property that is equal to or better in specification than the missing or stolen property. The department head or designee must confirm in writing that the replacement property is in the possession of the university and that it is equal or better than the original property. A copy of the specifications should be submitted along with the confirmation. Upon receipt of the confirmation and specifications, the property manager will prepare a tag to be affixed to the replacement property.

REIMBURSEMENT – If reimbursement is elected, the employee(s) must submit to the property manager payment for the property, or a copy of the deposit receipt documenting the reimbursement to the university. The property manager will file the deposit receipt with documentation supporting the reimbursement.

The department may elect to purchase replacement property that exceeds the specifications of the old. If this is preferred, pricing for specifications equivalent to the lost property should be determined, and submitted to the property manager along with a copy of the deposit receipt documenting the reimbursement by the employee(s). The department can then complete their procurement following standard procedures.


Cross Reference: Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 403.271-278; Tex. Gov’t Code § 2054.003(3)(A); Tex. Gov’t Code § 2175; Tex. Gov’t Code § 2203.004; Property Liability Policy B-34

Responsible for Implementation: Vice President for Finance and Administration

Contact for Revision: Director of Procurement and Property Services/HUB Coordinator

Forms: Annual Property Inventory Audit Certification (provided with Annual Property Inventory Packet), Change In Department Head (ITS Forms Server), Missing, Damaged or Stolen Property Report (ITS Forms Server), Police Report (available from University Police Department), Property Transfer Form (ITS Forms Server), Removal of Property from Campus Request (available on the ITS Forms Server), Salvage Property Request (ITS Forms Server)