SENSITIVE PROPERTY - The definition of Sensitive Property is on the Property Web site.  Please be sure your division is tracking Sensitive Property using REDtags which can be obtained from Deborah (ext. 8573). 

  DONATIONS – After a division’s unwanted equipment has been offered to other divisions, if there are no takers, it may be donated to a non-profit educational and/or research institution.  When the releasing division  identifies a recipient and which pieces that recipient wants, they forward a list of those items to me by e-mail indicating the following: 

o The items were offered internally with no response/takers  
o The division wants to donate them to [name of institution], a non-profit educational [or research] institution  
o Contact name and e-mail address of someone at that institution who can accept the equipment on behalf of the institution 

Once I receive this information, I will e-mail the contact to formalize the donation, having them release UCAR from any further liability related to the equipment. 

UCAR does donate to other non-profits but educational and research non-profits get priority. 

  IDENTIFYING DONEES - Several divisions have schools they donate to. For those who
don’t, there are non-DPA UCAR employees on “dpaalias@ucar.edu” who watch equipment offers for items their local school might be  interested in so you might receive an e-mail from a non-DPA to the effect that “if there are not internal UCAR takers, I have a school that will take these items.” 

If you receive an e-mail like, “I’ll take the equipment,” request clarification as to whether they want the equipment for their division or for an outside donation. 

UCAR CANNOT DONATE EQUIPMENT TO PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS 

(In the meeting we asked if it would help to set up a donation request form that you could grab from the web, fill in, and submit as an e-mail attachment? The concensus was that the e-mail is simple enough and no form is necessary.) 

  OFFERS FROM OTHER DIVISIONS - When other divisions offer equipment via dpaalias@ucar.edu e-mail, if it is your division’s practice to distribute those offers to division staff, please do so immediately and remind your staff  that if they want the equipment they need to respond by the deadline noted. 

There have been some occasions where the response deadline passed and a donation was in process but then the releasing division received an e-mail from another division saying they want it for division use. Internal UCAR  use gets priority but if it has already been donated or disposed of in some other manner it may no longer be available. 

  EMPLOYEE HOME LOANS – If your division loans equipment (FA or non-FA) to an employee for use at home (long term; not just taking a laptop home overnight), be sure you have them complete an “Equipment  Loan Form for Employees” before taking the equipment. As the directions indicate, the DPA sends a copy to the Property Office and files the original.  When the equipment is returned, the DPA completes the “Return” section, makes a copy for the division file, and sends the  original to the Property Office. 

When an employee leaves UCAR, the Property Office must sign off before their final check is cut and uses this form to confirm whether they were issued any equipment for use at home and whether that equipment was  returned. 

We also verify that the departing employee is not the Responsible Person for any Fixed Assets. If they are, we change that field to the DPA’s name and inform the DPA so they can change responsibility to other division staff  as appropriate. 

  AGENCY LOANS – Loans of UCAR-accountable equipment to other entities must be documented using the “UCAR Loaned Equipment Request Form” (also referred to as the Agency Loan Form). Again, this is for both  FAs and non-FAs to document accountability for the equipment when it is not at a UCAR facility or field site. Complete the form and send it to the Property Office, keeping a copy in your files. 

If the equipment loaned is a FA, we will enter the loan information in the FADB and track its return. The maximum duration for a loan is 2 years but that can be extended as determined necessary by the division. However, the 2 year limit ensures that the loan is reviewed and the equipment accounted for at least every 2 years. 

  STORAGE AT SAMS AND MARSHALL FIELD - Storing Fixed Assets does not relieve the division from responsibility for the maintenance and utilization of those Assets. Be sure that if your division stores Fixed Assets at SAMs and/or Marshall Field, you, as DPA, know where they are and that they are being used and maintained appropriately. If the items will no longer be used, make sure  you process final disposition with the Property Office so they can be removed from your active list. 

Some divisions have encountered inventory problems because items were sent to storage and later could not be located. In such cases, the division has had to do research to document exactly what happened to the items so we could obtain release from accountability. It saves time to process disposition when your division stops using the item rather than relocate a lost item a year or two later. 

Do not use "storage" to forestall proper disposal but only to store items that will be needed at a later date. Keep in mind that as a Government funded entity, the Federal Government expects UCAR to make equipment  available to other U.S. Government Agencies when we no longer need it, just as other Agencies make it available to us. 

  UPDATE ON UNAUTHORIZED DISPOSALS - Hereafter, DPAs need to provide disposal date (i.e., dismantled, salvaged, etc. "the week of" or "in [month-year]") when sending a disposal e-mail to the Property Office. If the disposal occurred in a prior fiscal year, the DPA must provide the name of the employee who performed the disposition so we can send them a reminder regarding proper disposition of UCAR equipment. 

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