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Inventory Life

Tagging of Equipment

When payment for new capital equipment is processed, Asset Management creates a new equipment record in the Sunflower Asset Management System. A UAB property tag must then be applied for identification and inventory purposes. A Property Inventory Officer will contact the owning department to make arrangements with a department representative to assist in locating the new equipment and affix a property tag.

 

Pre-tagging Equipment

In many cases, new equipment is delivered to UAB before Asset Management has been notified of the purchase. On occasions where equipment may be difficult to locate once deployed, it is beneficial to “pre-tag” equipment as soon as it arrives at UAB. If the department needs equipment to be pre-tagged, please contact Asset Management FA-ead@uab.edu or (205) 934-5144. A Property Inventory Officer will arrange to visit the department to tag the equipment as soon as possible. To assure accuracy in pre-tagging equipment please provide the P.O. number, description, and location of the equipment item.

 

Physical Inventories

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is required by the State of Alabama, federal grant sponsors, and compelled by good business practices to maintain a current inventory of all UAB capital equipment. UAB conducts its' physical inventories biannually on a fiscal year basis, i.e. 10/01/2018 - 09/30/2020.

The Equipment Accountability Policy addresses some aspects of physical inventories conducted at UAB. The major points of the policy, as it relates to the physical inventory process, are as follows:

 

University and Hospital Inventory Process

Asset Management is responsible for scanning and updating Inventory Reports returned by individual departments. The departments are ultimately responsible for the equipment affiliated with their department/unit.

 

Review of Capital Equipment Inventory

  • Found in/Not Found in Inventory Reports are sent to organization's Accountable Equipment Officer for review or resolution of unaccounted for Capital Equipment
  • Necessary changes are sent to Asset Management for update in the Sunflower system
 

Approval of Capital Equipment Inventory

  • Asset Management generates final inventory packet for organizational signature and approval
  • Accountable Equipment Officer is responsible for electronically signing and approval of the capital equipment affiliated to his or her organization

Any Capital Equipment not located during the physical inventory will be updated to a status of “Temporarily Misplaced” at the end of the inventory cycle. The Sunflower Asset Management System will automatically write off as lost any equipment that remains in this status for two consecutive inventory cycles.

 

Equipment Retirement

UAB equipment may be retired, disposed of, or otherwise removed from inventory in a variety of ways, as detailed below.

 

Surplus

Any UAB-owned equipment, supplies, furniture, or other property no longer needed or used by the department should be sent to the UAB Surplus Warehouse. Refer to the Surplus section for details about sending items to the Surplus Warehouse.

 

Transfer of Ownership of UAB Property

The State of Alabama considers all UAB property to be State property. UAB is therefore limited in terms of transferring ownership to other institutions. UAB property includes:

  • Capital and non-capital items purchased, in total or in part, out of UAB funds. This includes purchases from federal or non-federal grant/contract accounts.
  • Items donated to UAB.
  • Items transferred to UAB on active grants/contracts.
  • Any property for which ownership has otherwise been transferred to UAB.

The State of Alabama only permits UAB to transfer title to State property when legally required to do so. Such transfers usually involve grant-funded equipment and are usually associated with a UAB faculty member resigning from UAB to take a job at another university. However, in cases that do not involve grant-funded equipment, the principles and procedures are fundamentally the same.

 

Transferring Equipment Affiliated with an Active Grant

When a transfer is associated with a UAB faculty member resigning from UAB to go to another institution, UAB is permitted to transfer ownership of property to the new employer only when:

  • the property was purchased exclusively by a grant,
  • that particular grant is still active,
  • the grant agreement legally requires UAB to relinquish title to the property, and
  • the sponsor is legally transferring that particular grant to the other institution.

The transfer of property begins with a request for approval from Asset Management, as outlined below. No UAB property may be physically removed from UAB for transfer of ownership without official authorization from the UAB Controller’s Office (Ruvy Viljoen at rviljoen@uab.edu). This authorization is subject to the relinquishment of the associated grants before the property may be removed from UAB. The State Examiners and the State Attorney General Offices have consistently taken the position that failure to comply with these requirements may result in legal prosecution of the departing faculty member for misappropriation or theft of State property. Therefore, faculty members and administrators are advised to be extremely diligent in supervising the packing and moving of UAB property.

 

Requesting Approval to Transfer Property

A request for release of ownership should be initiated no less than 4 - 6 weeks in advance of the scheduled move date to allow enough time to obtain all necessary approvals. The process can become quite complicated and lengthy, particularly if a large number of items are involved or if purchase information is not readily available.

Property may only be transferred to the institution receiving the associated grant, never to the individual PI.

To initiate a request for legal authorization to transfer ownership of UAB property to another institution, the department should complete an Equipment Disposition Form (EDF) and indicate that it is a request for "Release of Ownership" to the designated future owner institution. This form should be used for all capital and non-capital property items, including supplies or other property. The department should also attach a letter on UAB letterhead indicating which grants are being transferred and the intended grant transfer date.

 

Requesting Grant Relinquishment

The Office of Sponsored Programs defines the grant relinquishment process, but has no authority to authorize the transfer of State property. The grant relinquishment process generally requires completion of a grant relinquishment form, which lists the major equipment items being transferred. Equipment may only be transferred to the recipient institution after the Office of Sponsored Programs has approved relinquishment of the associated grants. Please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs osp@uab.edu or (205) 934-5266 for more information regarding the transfer of grants.

 

Packing and Moving

Under no circumstances should UAB property be removed from campus without the authorizations described above.

UAB property items should not be packed prior to receiving official written authorization from the Controller’s Office. Often, the items must be inspected to resolve questions concerning the requested transfer and/or be inventoried by the department, Asset Management, or auditors prior to transfer.

The cost of moving the property should be borne by the institution receiving ownership of the property, not by UAB. Since ownership is considered transferred at the point of shipment, the receiving institution is also responsible for insuring the property while it is en route and thereafter.

 

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