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Property Control
Phone: 309/298-1811 Fax: 309/298-2811
Reportable Inventory
Property Control should be notified of a potential trade-in before the transaction takes place. Property Control is responsible for maintaining property records for all equipment with a cost of $500 or more, as well as equipment considered "high theft" including locations for those fixed assets. This equipment is also referred to as "reportable inventory."
High Theft Item Definition
Firearms and antiques.
Equipment Inventory Tags
Reportable furniture and equipment must be identified and tagged by Property Control personnel with a bar coded tag that is numbered. Ordinarily, this is done shortly after new equipment is purchased.
Equipment Loan
An Equipment Loan form is used when reportable equipment is loaned to another department or taken off-campus. This form should be sent to Property Control. A copy of the form should be retained by the inventory custodian. When the equipment is returned to its original department, a copy of the form should be signed and forwarded to Property Control to report the end of the equipment loan.
All equipment loan periods exceeding 30 days require the approval of the Inventory Custodian's Dean or vice president and the Vice President for Administrative Services. Approval of the Inventory Custodian's Dean or vice president is required prior to submitting the Equipment Loan Form to the Vice President for Administrative Services.
Surplus Equipment
Departments that have or need surplus equipment costing $100 or more should contact Property Control. Surplus equipment cannot be sold; however, equipment can be transferred to another department, exchanged for budget dollars from that department, or transferred to State surplus in Springfield, after appropriate forms are submitted to Property Control and authorization is received.
Note: Equipment cannot be removed without prior written approval from the Property Control Office. The approval process begins when an Inventory Change Report from campus departments is received by the Property Control Office.
Equipment Trade-In
Property Control should be notified of a potential trade-in before the transaction takes place. Western Illinois University equipment that is being traded toward the acquisition of new equipment is required to be approved by Central Management Services (CMS) prior to the release of equipment to the vendor. If the new equipment will be acquired using a purchase order, the equipment to be traded should be described by WIU inventory tag number on the Request for Purchase with the amount of allowance to be received and the cost of the new equipment. If a Direct Pay Authorization will be used to pay for the new equipment, Property Control should be contacted prior to finalizing the transaction with the vendor and submitting the DPA to the Business Office for payment. In either situation, the equipment traded must not be removed from campus until Property Control receives approval from CMS to do so.
Immediately following the removal of the equipment from campus a completed Equipment Trade-In Notification Form should be submitted to Property Control. Upon return of this form to Property Control, the cost of the trade-in equipment will be removed from the asset accounts and the equipment inventory.
Equipment Transfer
When reportable equipment is to be transferred from one department to another, an Inventory Change Report must be completed. If the equipment is to be moved by Physical Plant staff, a Service Request must also be completed. Both forms are forwarded to Property Control.
Inventory Change Report
The Inventory Change Report is used to report any change in reportable equipment, other than regular purchases or trade-ins. These include additions to inventory of items previously omitted, gifts, permanent transfers, missing or stolen items, requests for disposal of equipment, and correction of errors in the inventory listing.
Lost or Stolen Equipment
The Office of Public Safety should be notified immediately and an investigative report made if equipment is stolen. A letter explaining the details of lost equipment should be sent to Public Safety. Whether lost or stolen, an Inventory Change Report should be sent to Property Control.
Missing Equipment
Once the annual physical inventory is complete and the Inventory Certification Discrepancy Report has been completed and signed, each Vice President will be asked to review a listing of items within their area that have been reported as missing. The Vice President will then determine which of the following alternatives to apply to each item of missing equipment:
- Continue searching for the missing equipment.
- Request a Public Safety investigation to determine if the equipment was stolen.
- Determine the equipment to be missing. Request Business Services to remove the item from the departmental inventory. If the equipment is later located, it will be reinstated on the departmental inventory listing.
Broken Equipment
Only Property Control can authorize the removal or disposal of equipment with a cost of $100 or more. An inventory change report and a service request should be completed and forwarded to Property Control for removal of broken equipment with a cost of $100 or more.
Obsolete Equipment
Only Property Control can authorize the removal or disposal of equipment with a cost of $100 or more. A completed Inventory Change Report should be forwarded to Property Control to request disposal of obsolete equipment costing $100 or more. This equipment will be inspected by Property Control personnel and instructions for actual disposal will be given at the time of inspection.
Employee Personal Property
Personal Property such as fans, typewriters, radios, etc., should be labeled:
Personal Property of: __________________
Phone Number: ____________________
Non-Reportable Inventory
Departments are responsible for maintaining internal control over all equipment with a cost between $100 and $500, except for firearms and antiques. Departments should develop procedures to provide appropriate internal control over this inventory.
Tagging Non-Reportable Equipment
Non-reportable equipment should have a yellow "Property of Western Illinois University" tag applied once the department has purchased the equipment. Departments may also elect to have a (yellow) bar-coded tag with number on their non-reportable equipment. Both tags are available through the Property Control Office at no charge to the department.
Inventory of Non-Reportable Equipment
Departments should perform a physical count annually of their non-reportable equipment to verify their records are up-to-date. Internal Auditing performs test counts annually throughout campus, to ensure that internal controls over equipment with a value between $100 and $500 are appropriate.
Annual Inventory
Campus departments are required to take an annual physical inventory of equipment and sign an "Inventory Certification Discrepancy Report" to complete the process.
Transferring Non-Reportable Equipment
Non-reportable equipment may be transferred to other departments without the use of an Inventory Transfer Form. In addition, a Service Request must be completed if the equipment is to be moved by Physical Plant personnel.
