All University property (which includes items that are below the $5,000 inventory threshold) is to be disposed of through the Property Control Office, with the exception of selected agricultural items. Agricultural products should be disposed of according to the University’s Policy for Disposing of Excess Agricultural Animals and Products.

To dispose of unwanted property, a Declaration of Surplus Property Form must be filled out and submitted to Property Control. This form is available electonically. Items that are not on the departmental inventory (items under $5,000) still need to be noted on the form. If the item is a fixed asset (items over $5,000) the inventory number must be listed on the form. 

When Property Control picks up surplus property, the a copy of the surplus form is signed by Property Control and  is given to the department to serve as a receipt for the property. The signed surplus form should be retained by the department until an updated inventory is provided to the department and the department ensures that items sent to surplus have been removed from its inventory.

Departments in possession of equipment that is purchased with grant monies must attach disposition instructions to the surplus form stating any special surplus stipulations within the funding grant. If no instructions are attached to the surplus form, the items will be disposed of as University property.

When a department desires to surplus computers, they must “zero-out” the hard drives. The certification on the surplus form stating that the hard drives have been “zeroed-out” must be signed before the computers will be picked up. Should help be required to perform this function, call the Computer Services Help desk at 6-5891.

Items that are no longer needed by the University will either be sold at public auction or by sealed bid, at the discretion of the Property Control Coordinator. The auction/sealed bid will be advertised in the local newspaper two times prior to the auction/sealed bid date. Departments will be given an opportunity prior to the surplus auction to retrieve useful items for University use.