A Brief Guide to Property Control in the College of Pharmacy
by Ken Schroder, Assistant Inventory Control Officer
Revised February 2006
Contents
- Introduction
- Annual Inventory Procedure
- General Procedures
- New Purchases
- Donated Equipment
- Authorization for Off-Campus Use
- Use of UGA Equipment by Adjunct Faculty at Non-UGA Locations
- Warranty Returns/Exchanges
- Loose or Missing UGA Property Control Decal
- Surplus
- Trade-Ins
- Transfers of Equipment to Other UGA Departments or State of Georgia Entities
- Destruction/Cannibalization
- Theft/Loss
- Conclusion
Introduction:
As the College’s Assistant Inventory Control Officer (AICO) my role is to coordinate and document compliance with UGA property control regulations by the faculty and staff of the College of Pharmacy. The following information and procedures are intended to help you to comply with the property control policies and procedures of the University of Georgia.
Please remember that under state law, equipment does not depreciate over time; we remain responsible for the original purchase cost of each equipment item until such time as it is removed from our inventory. Do not assume that because an item is ‘old’, ‘junk’ or ‘obsolete’ that it is worthless from a property control perspective.
Annual Inventory Procedure:
Each spring, the College is required to complete a physical inventory of its equipment. The following information and procedure apply to this process:
1) Dean’s Office Personnel (me or student workers) electronically scan all visible UGA inventory decals on College of Pharmacy equipment located in the Pharmacy Building, Barrow Hall, Boyd Graduate Studies and Chemistry Annex. (Note: Because of incompatible room numbering format, it is not possible to scan numbers from equipment located at the Medical College of Georgia directly into the UGA database.) Only equipment that is visible and readily accessible will be scanned. We will not open drawers or cabinets or unpack cartons to access equipment except when assisted by users. The electronic scan file is sent to the Property Control Office.
2) The Property Control Office sends me a list of equipment items that were not scanned. I break the list down by department and distribute copies to the appropriate departmental Office Managers.
3) Departments further distribute and process the list according to their own internal procedures. Persons checking items off from the list must correct room numbers, note loose, damaged or missing inventory decals when appropriate and must initial each checked item or group of items. Please make notations of any available information about items that are not found, not believed to be the responsibility of the department, etc. When complete, the department Office Managers return the lists to me. I recombine the list and return it to the Property Control Office.
4) The Property Control Office sends me a list of items which have not been accounted for and which are subject to being deleted from the our inventory as unaccountable losses. I work with the responsible personnel in a final effort to account for the items in question. At the completion of this process, I submit the corrected unaccountable loss list to the Dean for his signature and return it to the Property Control Office.
5) The Property Control office updates our inventory records and forwards a copy of our unaccountable loss list to the UGA Internal Auditing Division for their review and possible audit.
6) The UGA Internal Auditing Division makes routine spot checks in the months after the completion of the College’s inventory. I assist the auditors in locating users and/or the equipment to be spot-checked.
General Procedures:
The following property control information and general procedures apply in the College of Pharmacy.
1) New Purchases New equipment is normally decaled automatically by the University Property Control Office. I assist Property Control Office personnel in locating equipment users and/or equipment to be decaled. Contact me if you have new equipment items that have not been decaled within a few weeks of receipt or if immediate decaling is needed, such as for equipment that is to be removed from campus. Please note that if you remove equipment from campus before it is decaled, the Property Control Office will require you to carry the equipment to their office in the Auxiliary Services Building for application of the required decal. Please inform me of any special circumstances, such as accessories or components that will be installed in an existing piece of equipment and so should be inventoried as part of the existing item, rather than being decaled separately. This will save time and confusion during your annual inventory.
2) Donated Equipment Donations of equipment to any University use must be reported to the Property Control Office so that the item(s) can be added to the inventory. If you receive donated equipment, contact me to arrange for the equipment to be reported and decaled.
3) Authorization for Off-Campus Use Under state law and for insurance reasons, all UGA equipment taken off campus must be properly authorized. This involves filling out a form that is available at http://www.busfin.uga.edu/forms/property_use.pdf. You can fill out the form on screen, print it, sign it, secure your department head’s signature and then forward the form to me. Such authorization must be renewed at least annually. Contact me to arrange for initial authorization or to modify or cancel an existing authorization. I will contact you when items authorized in your name come up for renewal.
4) Use of UGA Equipment by Adjunct Faculty at Non-UGA Locations Equipment can be provided to adjunct faculty. Such equipment is authorized for off-campus use by the same process as in procedure #3 above. Please remember that equipment provided to adjunct faculty for collaborative research or instructional purposes remains UGA property and must be returned to UGA when the collaborative research project, instructional activities and/or adjunct faculty status are terminated.
5) Warranty Returns /Exchanges When you return a defective piece of equipment to a vendor, I need the following information at the time the equipment is returned: (a) UGA property control decal number, (b) manufacturer’s equipment serial number, (c) brief description of the item, (d) vendor’s return authorization number. You should leave the UGA decal on the equipment unless you know for certain that the item will be exchanged for a new one. If the equipment is repaired and returned I will not need any additional information. However, if a new exchange item is shipped back to you, I will need a copy of the shipping manifest and the manufacturer’s equipment serial number, so that I can arrange for the Property Control Office to delete the old item from our inventory and to decal the new item.
6) Loose or Missing UGA Property Control Decal Contact me immediately if you discover that a UGA property control decal has become loose or has fallen off a piece of equipment. I will contact the Property Control Office to arrange to have the item re-decaled.
7) Surplus Contact me to arrange for removal of unneeded equipment from your area. Due to lack of storage space, I may ask you to provide me with a list and to simply tag equipment to be removed as “surplus”, leaving the items in your area while awaiting pick up by the UGA Support Services. In some cases, we may be able to remove surplus equipment from your area before Support Services arrives. It may be ok to place large, heavy and/or low theft potential items in the hallway or back dock area, but be please be aware that if equipment disappears from an unsecured location before it is picked up by Support Services, it will remain on your inventory and will then have to be listed as an unaccountable loss during your annual inventory.
8) Trade-Ins Trade-ins of used equipment toward the purchase of new must be approved by the University Procurement Office. If approved, an item to be traded-in must be listed on the purchase request for the new replacement item showing the UGA property identification number and trade-in allowance.
9) Transfers of Equipment to other UGA Departments or State Of Georgia Entities If, with departmental or college approval, you desire to permanently transfer equipment to a non-College of Pharmacy department at UGA or another State Of Georgia entity, contact me so that I can initiate the process. This will result in the item being removed from your inventory and added to the inventory of the receiving department or entity. Note: Under state law, it is not possible for the College to transfer, loan or sell UGA equipment to any non-State Of Georgia entity except in certain limited cases in accordance with the conditions of contracts and grants under which the equipment was acquired. Any such transfers must be approved by the appropriate department head and submitted to the Property Control Office and the Contracts and Grants Department.
10) Destruction/Cannibalization If you cannibalize or otherwise destroy a piece of equipment beyond use, contact me to request removal of the item from your inventory. Parts from the cannibalized equipment can be used to repair other equipment items without additional documentation. Please contact me if parts from cannibalized equipment are used to build up entirely new equipment items, e.g. computers.
11) Theft/Loss You must report any item that is missing and believed stolen to the UGA Police Department to establish the loss as a theft and then send a copy of the police report to me to request its removal from your inventory.
Conclusion:
I hope you have found this guide to be useful. Please contact me if you have any questions concerning property control issues in the college:
Ken Schroder, Logistical Support Manager
Room 140
College of Pharmacy
Phone 706-542-5295