Inventory Policies

UNL Property

University property includes all furniture, equipment, and instruments purchased or otherwise acquired for use by UNL or any of its components or projects. Title to such property belongs to the University as a whole and not to any department to which it has been allotted, unless otherwise agreed and stated in writing at the time of acquisition.

Title to federally purchased equipment may be retained by the federally sponsored agency or vested in the University, depending on the regulations of the agency and the requirements of the research project.

Acquisition of Property

Departments and other components of the University may acquire property through the following methods (descriptions will follow):

Purchase of Capital Equipment

  1. By submission of an online purchase order to Procurement Services and the subsequent preparation of a purchase order to a vendor.
  2. By submission of an on-campus requisition form to on-campus suppliers or by creating a Stock Transfer Order within SAP.

Capital vs Noncapital Equipment

Capital Equipment

Capitalization of University property is accomplished through screening of payments made by the UNL Accounting Department. If an item has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more, and a useful life in excess of one year, it is considered for capitalization.

Items to be capitalized will be added to the departmental inventory showing company center, date purchased, building, room, cost, and purchase order number. All capitalized items receive University identification numbers.

Donations/Gifts

Non-monetary donations and gifts (equipment, land, textiles, manuscripts, etc.) with a combined value of $5,000 or more that are received from outside sources need to be reported by completing the Donation/Gift Form. The value of each donation will be recorded to your department's 27 donation/gift WBS.* The donor must provide a dollar value of the gift when it is donated.  If the donor refuses to provide a value, the department/college is responsible for obtaining an appraisal so a value can be established.  Donations cannot be valued by

By Transfer

INTERDEPARTMENTAL TRANSFER

Departments may transfer items internally with prior approval from Inventory, Surplus & Asset Management.

Once approved, please fill out the Interdepartmental Transfer Form.

High value items may be transferred to the receiving department at a cost, determined by the transferring department.

From Inventory

Property which has been returned to the Inventory, Surplus & Asset Management Department is screened, and if still useable, is made available to other University departments through an excess/surplus property redistribution program. Property items acquired through Inventory, Surplus & Asset Management which bear a University ID number will be added to the inventory list of the receiving department. To view these items, visit the Surplus Warehouse during the weekly open house.

State and Federal Programs

Property received from the federal or state excess/surplus agencies becomes the property of the University and is to be used only for University projects. In no way is this property to be used for personal use.

Federal Program
The State of Nebraska
Department of Corrections
Federal Surplus Program
2200 West Van Dorn Street
Lincoln, NE
Phone: (402) 471-2677

Property Management

Departmental property managers are a vital link in the University’s property management system. Each department which holds University property must appoint an individual to act as its property manager. Inventory must be kept up-to-date as to the person assigned this duty. Departmental property managers serve as the liaison between the department and Inventory, and have the specific responsibility of tagging all newly purchased property valued at $5,000 or more, maintaining departmental records as to the exact location of University

Audits

Yearly Inventory Listings

Departmental Property Managers are furnished with a listing of all property assigned their department.  This listing should be reviewed and compared with list from the prior year.