Alfred University
BUSINESS OFFICE POLICIES & PROCEDURES
Policy: Equipment Disposal
Original Effective Date: 4/1/10
Revision:
Policy #
F-1
Page 1 of 1
Revision Date:
Equipment Disposal
This policy ensures proper stewardship in the disposal of surplus capital equipment at
Alfred University. Capital equipment is equipment with an original cost of $5,000 or
more and has a useful life of greater than one year.
When a department that is the custodian of capital equipment determines that a piece of
equipment is no longer being used by the department, they are required to notify the
Business Office or Statutory Property Control to obtain approval for disposal.
The Business Office and Property Control will first determine if there is another
department within Alfred University that could utilize the equipment. If there is a
department that can utilize the equipment, the equipment will be transferred into that
department’s custody and a corresponding funding transfer may be made.
If the equipment cannot be used by another University department and is declared
surplus, then the Business Office and Property Control will determine if the equipment
was purchased using federal grant dollars. Equipment purchased by federal grant dollars
is listed by Property Control on a national website for transfer to another federal grant
recipient. If there are no other federal awardees interested in the equipment, the
equipment can be sold with the proceeds being returned to the federal granting agency.
If the equipment is declared surplus and free of federal funding by the Business Office
and Property Control, then the VP of Business and Finance or the Controller may
approve the equipment for disposal. Generally proceeds from the sale of equipment can
be placed in an equipment reserve fund to be used to fund the purchase of new equipment
by the custodian department.
Disposal must always be an “arms-length transaction.” This means the asking price must
reflect what the equipment would sell for in an open market. A couple of examples of
approved disposal methods are posting the item on an internet auction site or asking two
or more interested vendors to submit quotes.
If a University employee wishes to purchase the surplus equipment, then documentation
must be submitted that supports the fair market value of the equipment and the employee
must pay the fair market value. In this case fair market value would need to be approved
by the VP of Business and Finance or the Controller.