.100 General

Responsibilities and procedures described in this section apply to the acquisition, transfer, disposition, reporting, and physical inventory of university assets. JMU procedures are applied in conjunction with the CAPP Manual and ASTM International E53 standards on Property Management Systems. These procedures are necessary to effectively manage and control university assets and to comply with federal, state, and university guidelines and generally accepted accounting principles.

.200 Definitions

.300 Responsibilities

.310 Fixed Assets

• To maintain the official fixed asset master file records for university assets.
• To summarize financial activity for inclusion in the plant fund portion of the University’s financial statements.
• To interpret and comply with university, federal, and state policies and procedures regarding fixed assets and surplus property.
• To manage the surplus property operations.
• To provide customer service for university departments.
• To coordinate the physical inventory process for the university annually.

.320 Financial Reporting

• To perform accounting and reporting for capital projects.
• To perform accounting and reporting for debt (bonds used to fund capital projects, capital leases, and installment purchases).
• To review and track lease agreements and the related payments for real estate buildings and equipment.
• To summarize financial activity for inclusion in the plant fund portion of the university's financial statements.

.330 Department Heads

• To ensure that equipment belonging to their department is adequately controlled and safeguarded.
• To designate an individual as the departmental Fixed Assets Coordinator for maintaining equipment records, conducting an annual physical inventory, scheduling appointments for decaling equipment, and communicating with Fixed Assets to ensure accurate equipment data.
• To approve EICR forms related to their department's inventory.

.340 Departments

• To assist Fixed Assets staff in conducting an annual physical inventory and providing results for updating the official fixed asset records.
• To report regularly to Fixed Assets (using the EICR form) equipment transfers from one department to another department, equipment relocation to a different building, or property disposals as a result of trade-in, cannibalization for parts, theft, or other insurable loss.
• To notify Fixed Assets of any changes in the Fixed Assets Coordinator or Department Head for updating the fixed asset system.

.400 Capitalization Policy

With the exception of donated assets, fixed assets are accounted for at the original acquisition cost, which includes the purchase price or constructed cost, plus any cost incurred to place an asset into service. Donated assets are recorded at fair market value at the date of donation. Asset acquisitions that have an original unit cost of $5,000 or greater and a minimum useful life of 2 years are capitalized for inclusion in the university’s financial statements and recorded in Sunflower Enterprise. Acquisitions of ETF assets costing between $500and $5,000 are considered controllable and recorded in Sunflower Enterprise to provide accountability and to safeguard the asset until ownership passes to the University.  Additionally, assets on loan to the university and assets from a granting agency which require training, and cost between $2,000 and $5,000, are considered controllable and recorded in Sunflower Enterprise to provide accountability and to safeguard the assets.

.500 Equipment Trust Fund (ETF)

The Equipment Trust Fund Program administered by SCHEV provides an additional funding source that allows higher education institutions to purchase equipment needed for instruction and research. Equipment purchased with Trust Fund monies is not immediately owned by the University, but is financed through the issuance of revenue bonds by the VCBA through the Department of the Treasury. Once a revenue bond matures (for a particular allocation), ownership passes to the University. In addition to general rules applicable to all equipment, specific guidelines apply to the acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of ETF equipment. Failure to satisfy these requirements could jeopardize future allocations of ETF monies. Refer to specific ETF guidelines listed below:

ALL ETF EQUIPMENT:

.600 Acquisitions

.610 Identifying Fixed Asset Items and Decaling

The Fixed Assets Assistant Manager analyzes the "Potential Fixed Assets" report generated from the university's financial information system on a monthly basis to identify equipment purchases for decaling. The query report provides a list of all accounts payable vouchers recorded in equipment accounts (2xxxxx) and select service and supply accounts (1xxxxx) regardless of cost. The Assistant Manager selects expenditure transactions that are $5,000 or greater, Equipment Trust Fund purchases (all regardless of cost), Local/Agency fund purchases ($5,000 or greater) or partial payments. Actual scanned vouchers are reviewed in detail online. Equipment purchases are written up on a Sunflower Enterprise input document and assigned barcode decal numbers based on the following criteria:

BAR CODES

Decal numbers assigned to assets are recorded in an Access database to track issuance for tagging and return of the input document for entry in Sunflower Enterprise.

Acquisitions of land, buildings, infrastructure, and improvements other than buildings are identified through the capital project process. Financial Reporting personnel perform a year-end review of non-capital projects coordinated primarily through Facilities Management.

Fixed asset acquisitions are made subject to approved operating and capital project budgets in conjunction with Section 7005, Procurement.

.620 Decaling Equipment

Following assignment of decal numbers, the departmental Fixed Asset Coordinator is contacted by the Surplus Property Coordinator to schedule an appointment for decaling equipment purchased by their department. Information identifying the equipment is provided when the appointment is set up. Decaling should be completed within 15-30 days of the tag being issued to the Surplus Property Coordinator. Each department has an obligation to notify Fixed Assets if they have untagged equipment with a value of $5,000 or more.

During the decaling process, data such as serial number and location (building and room) is gathered to complete the fixed asset record and recorded on the Sunflower Enterprise input document. This information is not typically found on the supporting purchasing documentation.  ASTM Standard E 2631, Standard Practice for Physical Placement of an Entity-Controlled Supplemental Identification Label, is followed with the decaling process.

Following the decaling of equipment, transactions are entered into Sunflower Enterprise to record university fixed assets and related data. Edits are verified to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data that was entered.

.630 New Asset Report

To ensure the new assets are recorded in the correct responsible department and with accurate descriptions and locations, a monthly asset report is sent to any department that has received new assets tagged within the prior month according to Fixed Assets' records.  This report is sent to the departmental Fixed Assets Coordinator, who is asked to review the report for any inaccuracies and respond as having received the report and reviewed it.  Any errors noted are corrected through miscellaneous change entries in Sunflower Enterprise.

.700 Equipment Transfers & Disposals

At some point, a department or office may no longer need a piece of equipment currently in their possession. If the equipment has a white decal with red lettering (numerical sequence beginning with "8" for ETF or "9" for grants) the department should contact Fixed Assets for transfer or disposal instructions. Equipment with a white decal and black lettering (numerical sequence beginning with "1"), as well as equipment without decals, may be transferred or disposed of as listed in the following two sub-sections.

.710 Transfers

• To Another Building within the Same Department:
  For Decaled Equipment - Complete an Equipment Inventory Change Request (EICR) form and send to Fixed Assets.
• To Another Department:
  For Decaled Equipment - Complete an Equipment Inventory Change Request (EICR) form, including receiving department section and send to Fixed Assets.
• To Surplus Property:
  See Section .900

.720 Disposals

• Trade-In - Departments may use like equipment as trade-ins. An EICR form must be completed for decaled equipment and forwarded to Fixed Assets. The PO or PCO supporting the purchase must be referenced on the EICR form in the field next to Disposal.
• Cannibalization for Parts-Equipment that is broken/non-functional and not cost beneficial to repair may be cannibalized for the purpose of repairing like assets.  An EICR form must be completed to report the cannibalization to Fixed Assets.
• Loss or theft - All property lost or stolen must be reported immediately to the University Police. Also, the Office of Risk Management must be notified for insurance purposes (refer to Section 3040, subsection .500 of this manual). An EICR form must be completed for decaled property so that inventory records can be updated.
• Casualty Loss - Property destroyed by fire or other catastrophic circumstances must be reported to Fixed Assets through submission of an EICR form. Contact the Office of Risk Management for insurance purposes.
• Return to Vendor - Equipment returned to the vendor and either exchanged or refunded must be reported to Fixed Assets through submission of an EICR form.

NOTE: The JMU Surplus Property Coordinator regulates any disposal of property (other than those listed previously) including transfers to state agencies or other institutions of higher education and donations.

.800 Physical Inventory

.810 General

In order to comply with federal and state policies and ASTM International guidelines for maintaining accurate fixed asset records, a physical inventory of equipment must be conducted at least once every two years. Fixed Assets prefers to conduct physical inventories once per fiscal year in order to maintain accurate information for audit purposes. A physical inventory involves the verification of all equipment within a department by actual observation and count. Departments are encouraged to maintain up-to-date equipment records in order to assist in their annual physical inventory process.  To conduct annual physical inventory verifications for departments, a scanned verification is performed by Fixed Assets staff members using barcode readers to scan asset ID decals.  Fixed Assets Coordinators assist with the scanned verification.

The Sunflower Inventory Report is used to help with the annual physical inventory. The Sunflower Inventory Report is emailed to the department's Fixed Assets Coordinator with a memo which provides instructions on the inventory process.

.820 Detailed Description of Sunflower Inventory Report

.830 Scanned Method of Physical Inventory Verification using Sunflower Inventory Report

General Instructions

• A Fixed Assets Inventory Specialist contacts the Fixed Assets Coordinator to schedule an appointment for the verification.
• ALL equipment must be available for scanning at the arranged date and time. The Fixed Assets Coordinator for the department is responsible for:

  Announcing to the department’s faculty and staff the date/time that Fixed Assets staff will be in the department to conduct the physical verification of fixed assets. Coordinating with faculty and staff prior to the appointment date/time for any laptops or equipment normally used away from the office to be available for scanning. Coordinating with faculty and staff to have equipment normally stored in closets, drawers, boxes or locked cabinets accessible at the appointment date/time. Contacting Fixed Assets prior to the appointment date/time of any issues or problems regarding non-availability of an asset for scanning. Assisting the Fixed Assets staff during the appointment in locating assets on the department inventory.

• A Scanned Equipment Certification form is completed by the Fixed Assets Inventory Specialist and the Fixed Assets Coordinator at the time of the inventory verification.

.840 Inventory Memos and Missing Assets

After uploading and completing a scanned inventory verification in Sunflower Enterprise, a memo is sent to the Department Head confirming the inventory results and noting any missing assets. A copy of the Scanned Equipment Certification is provided to the Department Head for his/her records. If a missing asset(s) is noted with the inventory verification, a spreadsheet inventory of the missing asset(s) is provided with the memo.

Assets noted as missing for the first time are given the condition, Missing 1, in Sunflower Enterprise and show as such in the spreadsheet. The Department Head is asked in the memo to send a follow-up memo addressing the attempts to locate the missing asset(s).

Assets noted as missing for the second inventory cycle in a row are given the condition, Missing 2, in Sunflower Enterprise and show as such in the spreadsheet. The Department Head is asked in the memo to send a follow-up memo addressing further attempts made to locate the missing asset(s) since the prior inventory verification. The Department Head may also request in the follow-up memo to have any assets with a condition of Missing 2 removed from his/her inventory.

If a missing asset was purchased with Equipment Trust Fund monies and ownership has not passed to the university, the department is required to replace the ETF assets listed on the spreadsheet using departmental funds (refer to Section .500). In the memo, the Department Head is made aware of this policy and is provided with the net value of the equipment in the spreadsheet. This net value is the minimum amount that must be spent on a comparable equipment replacement. The Department Head must state in his/her follow-up memo when the replacement will be purchased and provide a purchase order number to Fixed Assets, once the order is placed.

A due date of two weeks is given to the Department Head for follow-up memos to be submitted to the Manager of Fixed Assets and emailed memos are acceptable. Once a follow-up memo is received, the Department Head receives a response, including approval of a request to remove Missing 2 assets from the inventory. Copies of all memos and correspondence are filed in the current year departmental inventory files maintained by the Inventory Specialists.

.900 Surplus Property

All University property that is determined to be excess, unwanted, or can no longer be utilized by a department is eligible for direct transfer to other campus departments or must be transferred to Surplus Property. The Surplus Property Coordinator redistributes and disposes of surplus property in compliance with state policies and procedures.

.910 Transferring Items to Surplus Property

The following subsections provide procedures for transferring items to Surplus Property.

.911 Items Other than Computer Equipment and Vehicles

• • Notify the Surplus Property Coordinator at extension 86931 or via e-mail to provide information regarding the types of items and volume for transfer.
  • Complete an EICR form listing all items for transfer to Surplus Property.  All items to be surplused must be recorded on an EICR form, regardless if they have an ID decal or not. Indicate the working condition of equipment in the description box.  If there are more than five items to transfer, complete an Attached List for EICR Equipment sheet and enter “See Attached List of ‘X’ Items” (‘X’ equals the total number) in the Description box of the EICR form. Indicate the working condition of equipment in the Notes column of the Attached List. The EICR form must be approved by the Department Head.  Note: Grant/Equipment Trust Fund (ETF) equipment require pre-approval from Fixed Assets before they are eligible surplus items.
  • Submit a work request to Facilities Management in AiM for items that are too heavy or cumbersome for one person to handle. The Surplus Property Coordinator will assist in making that determination. The Surplus Property Coordinator will pick up small items from your department within seven working days.
  • NOTE:  No personal vehicles should be used for delivering surplus items to the Surplus Property warehouse.  Only University vehicles should be used for deliveries to Surplus Property.

.912 Computer equipment to Computer Surplus (Includes CPU’s, laptops, tablets, servers, monitors, keyboards, printers, and scanners)

• Group surplus computing equipment in a central location (if possible) for Computer Surplus staff to pick up.
• Have the department's Fixed Assets Coordinator fill out an EICR form. If there are more than five items to transfer, complete an Attached List for EICR Equipment sheet and enter “See Attached List of ‘X’ Items” (‘X’ equals the total number) in the Description box of the EICR form. The EICR form must be approved by the Department Head.   Note: Record JMU decal numbers & ESN’s on the form.  Check the box in Section III and record "Computer Surplus" as the Department Name. 
• Email a scanned copy of the EICR form to fixedassets@jmu.edu or mail the original to Fixed Assets at MSC 5704, after making a copy for departmental records.  An Inventory Specialist will approve the EICR form and forward it to Computer Surplus staff to schedule a pick-up of the surplus computer equipment.
• Computer Surplus staff will bring 2 copies of the approved EICR form when they pick up the surplus computer equipment and sign in Section III on the Received By line and record the date on each copy.  One copy of the EICR form is given to the department for their records.  The second copy is taken back to the office by the Computer Surplus staff and then forwarded to Fixed Assets to ensure that JMU decal numbers are removed from your inventory.  
• Note: Grant/Equipment Trust Fund (ETF) computer equipment require pre-approval from Fixed Assets before they are eligible surplus items.

.913 University vehicles from Facilities Management Transportation to Surplus Property

• Transportation Manager of Facilities Management submits an EICR form to Surplus noting the vehicle's JMU decal number and description (make, model, FM vehicle number assigned, and VIN).  Attached to the EICR form is a JMU Vehicle Condition Report, completed for each vehicle being surplused. This report is completed by the Facilities Management Garage Supervisor and provides the details Surplus Property needs in order to sell the vehicle.
• The Surplus Property Coordinator will inspect each surplused vehicle and complete section II of the EICR form, showing receipt.
• The
• The following should be completed by the Transportation staff prior to any vehicle’s transfer to Surplus Property:
  • Remove toolboxes, accessories, etc. to be retained
  • Remove "James Madison University" logos and vehicle numbers
  • Surplus vehicle keys should be kept at the USB Garage for pickup by the Surplus Property Coordinator for inspection of the vehicle before sale.

.920 Transfer and disposition of surplus property

Once items have been transferred to Surplus Property, they are processed in the following ways, in order of priority:

.921 Transfers to University departments at no cost

To better serve departmental needs, the Surplus Property Coordinator will maintain a "wish list" and notify requestors when eligible items are received and available for transfer. At times Surplus Property will initiate contact with certain departments that are more likely to need specific types of items.

Departments should follow the procedures listed below to obtain Surplus Property items:

• Review the Current Inventory Listing of available items for transfer on the Surplus Property website or contact the Surplus Property Coordinator directly to inquire about availability of items.
• Visit the Surplus Warehouse during Open Warehouse hours (Wednesday afternoons from 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.) or schedule an appointment to visit the warehouse at a more convenient time.
• Select items suitable for your department. The Surplus Property Coordinator will assist with tagging selected items and completing a "no cost" Departmental Request Form for your department. Note: Items with JMU decals will be added to your inventory.
• Submit a work request to Facilities Management in AiM for items that are too heavy or cumbersome for one person to handle. The Surplus Property Coordinator will assist in making that determination. The Surplus Property Coordinator will deliver small items to your department within seven working days
• NOTE:  No personal vehicles should be used for picking up surplus items at the Surplus Property warehouse.  Only University vehicles should be used to pick up items from Surplus Property for delivery to campus departments.

.922 Transfers of Surplus Property to Other State Agencies

Transfers occur at the request of an agency, through Surplus Property contacting a network of agencies, or DGS State Surplus contacting JMU with an agency's need. Surplus Property, as the releasing party, completes a State Agency Transfer form for all decaled and un-decaled items transferred to another agency.

.923 Other Disposition Methods

1. Offered to political subdivisions at fair market value
2. Sold to the general public through public auction online (GovDeals.com) or a pre-price sale held at a university facility.
3. Donated at a State Surplus-approved non-profit organization
4. Scrapped or recycled

.1000 Form Preparation and Submission

.1010 Equipment Inventory Change Request(EICR)Form

.1011 Required

The University requires completion of this form in order for a department to transfer equipment to another department, transfer equipment to Surplus Property, move equipment to a different building, or dispose of property as referenced in .700 "Equipment Transfers & Disposals". The EICR form represents the main communication tool between departments and Fixed Assets regarding the transfer or disposal of property. When there are more than five items to transfer or dispose, an Attached List for EICR Equipment sheet should be completed and “See Attached List” entered in the Description box of the EICR form. All EICR forms must be approved by the Department Head.

.1012 Where to Obtain A Blank Form

An electronic blank EICR form is available online. An electronic blank Attached List for EICR Equipment sheet is available online when there are more than five items to list.

.1013 Number of Copies

Complete original EICR form and Attached List for EICR Equipment sheet (if used) preferably using a computer and print for Department Head approval. Make one copy for the Receiving Department if section III is checked. Note:  No copy is made if Computer Surplus is the Receiving Department. 

.1014 Where to Send Completed Form

Scan and email original completed form with attachment (if applicable) to fixedassets@jmu.edu or mail to the Office of Fixed Assets and Surplus Property, MSC 5704. Retain one copy for departmental files as the Releasing Department if original is mailed.

.1015 Form Completion Instructions