Inventory

Definition: Equipment includes personal property that maintains its identity in use, with a cost (or value if donated) greater than $10,000, and a useful life of more than two years. Federally funded purchases of equipment greater than $5,000 are included. Weapons, vehicles, and computers or other electronics are included regardless of costs.

Capital assets include land, buildings, works of art, historical treasures, and library collections.

Policy: All equipment and capital assets, as defined above, will be recorded in the ISRS equipment/capital asset module.

Procedure: Equipment will be marked with a state sticker before it is delivered to the department. There are two exceptions:

• If the item is designated “to be set up by vendor”.
• If the item is too small or unfamiliar and cannot be identified.

If an item qualifies as an exception, it will be marked under the supervision of the department.

Upon receipt of the equipment, the department will complete the “verification of location” form and return the form to Inventory Control. Upon receipt of the form, Inventory Control will record the asset in the ISRS equipment/capital asset module.

See Also:
Minnesota State Capital Asset Procedure 7.3.6 for more information on capital assets such as land, buildings, capital improvements, infrastructure, leases and library collections.

Definition: A department may declare a tangible asset to be surplus property when they no longer have use for it.

Policy: Departments should periodically review state property items in their possession and notify Inventory Control, in writing, when an item is no longer of use to them. Inventory staff will pick up and remove the item.

If the item still has value to the University it will be placed in storage until it can be re-issued to another department. If the item no longer has value to the University, it shall be sold, traded in, transferred, or destroyed.

Procedure: When a department has a surplus property item, they should notify Inventory Control in writing. Inventory staff will pick up the item and determine whether it has any remaining useful life and whether it is still of value to the University.

If the item is still of value to the University, it will be re-issued to another department when there is an established need.

If the item is no longer of value to the University, Inventory will dispense the item using one of the following methods:

• Asset transfer to another state agency or political subdivision
• Auction
• Negotiated sale
• Pre-priced sale
• Sealed bid
• Trade in
• Junk
• Garbage
• Recycle

Inventory Control may place surplus property items in the Inventory warehouse to be stored for later disposal. Items may be taken directly to a metal salvage yard if they are determined to be junk at the time of pick-up. All computers and electronic equipment are to be taken to Asset Recovery Corporation C & T Systems.

Also see:
Minnesota State Surplus Personal Property/Building Disposal Procedure 7.3.13

Definition: Gifts and grants are contributions to the University in the form of real property (land), personal property, or cash. Personal property may include rare books, prints, antiques, art works, or equipment.

Policy:The President of the University has the authority to accept gifts or grants other than real property on behalf of the University. Gifts of real property must be formally accepted by the Minnesota State Board of Trustees. All gifts and grants over $100,000 must be reported to the Minnesota State Board of Trustees.

All gift acceptance forms must be approved by the University President. Grants are approved by the President or his/her designee.

Gifts intended for the purposes performed by a foundation should be accepted by St. Cloud State University Foundation, Inc.

Procedure: Most Gifts will be donated to the SCSU Foundation and transferred to the University. Please contact the SCSU Foundation to complete their Gift-in-Kind Acceptance form.

Gifts donated directly to the University (not common) require valuation. When the apparent value of a gift is less than $100,000 it may be valued by a University employee with some expertise, such as a librarian or professor of art. When the claimed value of a gift exceeds $100,000 it should be valued by an independent, expert appraiser. Business Services will record gifts and grants in ISRS. Each fiscal year the University will report gifts and grants exceeding $100,000 in value to the Minnesota State Board of Trustees and the Office of the Chancellor.

Also see:
Minnesota State Gifts and Grants Acceptance Policy 7.7

Definition: Employee personal property includes personal belongings brought into the place of employment frequently or for long term use.

Policy: When an employee brings a personal belonging to the workplace frequently or for long term use, the property should be recorded on the State Employee’s Personal Property form. The purpose of the form is to substantiate ownership of the personal property.

The types of personal property that should be recorded include items typically inventoried under the fixed asset system, or items of a pilferable nature.

Procedure: The employee should complete and sign the State Employee’s Personal Property form (PDF) and submit it to his/her supervisor. The supervisor signs the form and forwards the original to Inventory Control. The supervisor keeps one copy and returns one copy to the employee.

When the personal property is removed from the workplace, the supervisor should sign the bottom of the form and forward a copy to Inventory Control.

Also see:
Employee’s Personal Property form PS1077(PDF) 

Definition: Physical inventory is verification that all fixed assets are currently located on campus.

Policy: Physical inventories will be conducted every two years for all assets recorded in the equipment/capital asset module. A physical inventory of all assets with an acquisition cost or value of $10,000 or greater shall be completed on a yearly basis.

Procedure: After a physical inventory of a building has been completed the results shall be compared to the records in the equipment/capital asset module and differences shall be noted. When all the differences have been noted, inventory will work to track down those items that were not found in the initial inventory.

Items that cannot be located shall be considered stolen, reported to public safety and removed from the inventory listing. 

Definition: Works of art and historical treasures are items that are held for public exhibition, education, or research, rather than financial gain. They are protected, cared for, and preserved.

Policy: All works of art and historical treasures will be recorded at their historical cost (or estimated fair market value if donated) whether they are held as an individual item or as a collection. All proceeds from the sale of such items will be used to procure additional works of art.

Procedure: All works of art or historical treasures that have a value equal to or greater than $10,000 will be recorded in the ISRS equipment module for tracking. These items will not be capitalized or depreciated.