Inventory Policy for Computing Equipment

Inventory Policy for Computing Equipment

11 February 2003

 

University Regulations & Procedures

University regulations and procedures regarding equipment, material, and supplies are listed at:
http://policies.rutgers.edu/sites/policies/files/40.2.10%20-%20current_0.pdf

These procedures will be followed and enhanced by internal department efforts to effectively track equipment, material, and supplies.  

New Equipment Procedures

  1. Computer Equipment valued at over $5000, for use on University property.

    All such equipment will arrive at the Math Support Center, where it will be prepared for distribution. All pertinant information will be logged into the local database and a Math Department asset tag will be affixed to the item. The equipment will then be delivered to the user and the location information will be forwarded to Property Management, a representative of which will affix a Rutgers asset tag at some future time.

  2. Computer Equipment valued at over $5000, for home or mobile use.

    All such equipment will be treated as specified in section 1 (see above) with the following additional requirements. Math Systems Support will require the intended recipient to complete the University sign-out form (Sign-Out Form for Equipment Removed from University premises, available on the Math Support website) and forward contact information to Property Management, who will arrange to affix an asset tag on the equipment at some future time.

    Equipment removal from University premises must be approved (and the form signed by) the Department Chair.

  3. Computer Equipment valued at between \(100 and \)5000.

    All such equipment will be tracked in a manner similar to sections 1 and 2 (see above) but will not be reported to Property Management. This category includes monitors, printers, network equipment, scanners, cameras, and inexpensive computers and terminals. It excludes mice, keyboards, speakers, disks, memory, and other minor peripherals and subcomponents.

 

Surplus Equipment Procedures

Disposal of all computer equipment will be managed by the Math Support Center. For all computer equipment with a University asset tag, a disposal form (Property Management Equipment Transfer/Disposal Form) will be filled out and submitted to the Property Management Department.

The Support Staff will determine the value of the equipment and place the item in temporary storage for future use or disposal.

When a substantial quantity of surplus computer equipment accumulates the Support Staff will fill out an additional disposal form (Material Services Surplus Disposal Request Form) and contact Material Services for removal.

Bi-annually, the database will be scoured and items sent to surplus. Surplused items will be removed from the database and listed in an archive file. This archived information will be shared with Property Management upon request.  

Redeployed Equipment Procedures

Redeployment of Surplus Equipment will be managed by the Math Support Center. When a piece of Computer Equipment is redeployed to a different building, the Support Staff will fill out a transfer form (Property Management Equipment Transfer/Disposal Form) if the Equipment has an University asset tag.

All Redeployments will be updated in the department's database.  

Information Recorded

To assist the Math Support Staff, a local database will be kept that includes inventory and other useful information.

The local database will be kept in a mysql system with a PHP front end at: http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/inventory/ .

Previous iterations are available at: http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/secure/ml.php, on the NT server in Access format and as an Excel spreadsheet.

Purchase and vendor information will not be maintained by the technical staff. Technical information including location, IP, MAC, hardware type, OS, hostname, username, hardware description, Math ID, and Rutgers asset # will be kept. Purchase date will be useful for the depreciation determination.  

Using the Information

The web interface offers different ways to view the data. For asset accounting purposes, a view containing all relavant data is available. To assist the support staff, other more useful views are also available which do not display unneeded information like PO# and Cost.

For each item, there is also a special comprehensive view that shows all known information about that item.  

Accuracy Assurance

An annual, room-by-room survey will be conducted to verify the accuracy of equipment data.

In addition, the database will be updated when any of the following events occur:

  1. New system purchased and deployed (on or off-site).
  2. Existing system moved from one office to another (redeployment).
  3. Existing system removed from use and put in storage or sent to surplus.
  4. Staff changes, but computer stays.
  5. Off-site equipment is returned to Hill Center.

 

Obsolesence Planning

Movement toward a 5 year life cycle will be made. Equipment older than 5 years will be assumed to be of minimal monetary value, and considered depreciated.

A list of obsolete types of equipment will be made in order to assist in the process of determining obsolesence.

Ideally and funding permitting, the oldest fifth of all the deployed workstations will be replaced each year as part of a rolling upgrade.  

Forms

The following forms are available on the math website.

 

Contact Info

Ramon Paulino
Unit Computing Manager
848-445-2390 x1318

Hill 326