INSTITUTIONAL GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 INSTITUTIONAL GUIDELINES USE, ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR STATE (UNIVERSITY) PROPERTY A. Background and Purpose The purpose of this document is to advise the faculty, staff, and students of restrictions on the use of State (University) property, to establish responsibilities for the care of State (University) property, and to prescribe procedures for the identification of property that has been missing or damaged. These guidelines apply to all faculty, staff, and students at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. 1. State Property Law: Property Accounting System The State Comptroller s office is authorized by Texas Government Code Subchapter L, Sections through to maintain a statewide Property Accounting System. The State Property Accounting (SPA) System is intended to provide government with the information to make wise decisions and to serve as a government tool to assure the public that all state agency assets are well and properly maintained. UTRGV utilizes the Fixed Assets Module in its financial system to track all asset information, calculate depreciation, and conduct other similar transactions related to capital assets. UT Rio Grande Valley does not use SPA to track asset information, but will continue to follow SPA policies and procedures for all capital assets. a. All personal property owned by the state shall be accounted for by the agency that possesses that property and in accordance with the procedures set forth by SPA. b. Any possession of the State of Texas is required to have management controls placed upon it if it has sufficient value to warrant inclusion in the fixed asset portion of any official statement(s) of financial condition, or if it is determined it should be secured and tracked because of the nature of the possession. c. State agencies are still responsible for maintaining accountability for all state property, but costs of a system for accountability, either in real costs or in lost opportunity costs, should not exceed the value of the equipment. 2. Failure to Maintain the Property Inventory in Accordance with State Law Texas Government Code Section reads: If a state agency fails to keep the records or fails to take the annual physical inventory required by this subchapter, the Comptroller may refuse to draw warrants or initiate electronic funds transfers on behalf of the agency. 3. Capital Assets-Tangible/intangible property with a unit cost of $5,000 or above. 1

2 4. Controlled Assets-Assets that have a value less than the capitalization threshold established for that asset type. As per Texas State Comptroller s Policies and Procedures Manual, controlled assets are: a. Property that the Comptroller requires agencies to keep inventoried and b. All assets upon which the agency places local management controls. The following comprises a list of controlled assets the State Comptroller s Office and UTRGV have determined that, due to the nature of the items, even though they are not capitalized assets, real property, or improvements to real property or infrastructure, must be secured and tracked. CONTROLLED (AT ANY COST) Class Code Property Item 106 HAND GUNS 107 RIFLES & SHOTGUNS 204 COMPUTER, DESKTOP 219 SMARTPHONES, TABLETS & OTHER HAND HELD DEVICES 284 LAPTOP COMPUTERS 720 GOLF CARTS CONTROLLED ($ TO $4,999.99) Class Code Property Item 129 SOUND SYSTEM AND OTHER AUDIO EQUIPMENT 130 CAMERA PORTABLE DIGITAL, SLR 131 TVs, VIDEO PLAYERS/RECORDERS 218 DATA PROJECTORS 2

3 B. Guideline Responsible Parties 1. Property Manager The Associate Comptroller, serving as the Property Manager, administers the property inventory procedures and ensures compliance with state and University property regulations. As the representative of the President, the Property Manager is the custodian of all personal property possessed by UTRGV. 2. Asset Custodians a. The Asset Custodian is defined as a full-time employee who is responsible for the care, maintenance, safe-keeping, and assurance that the property is used only for official UTRGV business. The Asset Custodian will serve as the department contact for Assets Management. If, in spite of such precautions, property is stolen, missing, destroyed, or damaged, these assets should be reported immediately to the University Police Department and the department of Assets Management. b. As a state agency, UT Rio Grande Valley is required to complete an annual physical inventory of all property in its possession on a date prescribed by the SPA Policies and Procedures Manual. Asset Custodians are responsible for completing physical inventories of property assigned to their accounts. 3. Department Heads Department Heads are responsible for ensuring that individual (not departmental) inventory managers maintain their asset inventory in accordance with University and State policies. Procedures 1. Non-serviceable or Surplus Property-Whenever any property becomes excess to the needs of an asset custodian, or that property is no longer capable of being used by the department, the property should be turned in for redistribution or disposal by Assets Management. Individual departments are not authorized to dispose of state property in any manner. For additional information regarding the disposal of University property, see ADM Surplus and Salvage Property. 2. Restrictions on the use of State (University) property: a. State (University) property and equipment of all types, including technical and research facilities of UT Rio Grande Valley, are to be used only for official business. State (University) equipment may not be taken off the UTRGV campus unless it is to be used for official business and approval has been obtained to remove the equipment from campus. Approval is obtained by submitting the Asset Removal Approval Workflow in the financial system. The use of University-owned motor vehicles for other than official business is strictly prohibited by State Law (Texas Government Code ). 3

4 b. UTRGV along with the State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts prohibits giving away any university property. See State Comptroller s website: ge=property_misuse. c. Use of University computers, network or telephone systems to access pay-per-view entertainment or obscene material, is prohibited by State Law (Texas Penal Code 43.21). 3. Controlled Assets Controlled assets are not included in the fixed assets section of the annual financial report. If the single unit acquisition cost of any item is $5,000 or greater, that item is reported in the Fixed Asset module and subsequently in the Annual Financial Report as a capital item. Only capitalized items are included in the Fixed Assets portion of the Annual Financial Report. 4. Notice of Loss or Damage: a. Student Damage. In the event that a student damages University property, the student's name will be reported to the Department Head and to the Dean of Students. The repair will be billed to the student responsible when the conduct of the student has caused or contributed to cause such loss. A student s failure to pay will be referred to the Dean of Student. (Handbook of Operating Procedures STU , Student Conduct and Discipline.) b. Negligence or Theft. If an Asset Custodian has reasonable cause to believe that any state property in the agency s possession has been lost, destroyed, or damaged through the negligence of any state official or employee, or that any state property in the agency s possession has been stolen, the Asset Custodian responsible shall report the loss, destruction, damage, or theft to the University Police and to the Assets Management Department. c. A state agency may delete missing, stolen, damaged, or destroyed state property from the state property accounting system only in accordance with the comptroller s procedures. 5. Change of Agency Heads or Property Manager The responsibilities of agency heads, property managers, and employees are outlined in the General Policies section of the SPA policies and procedures. Changes in agency heads or property managers must be conducted in accordance with these fiscal policies. 6. Change of Asset Custodian The changing of Asset Custodian cannot be done unless the approval has been obtained. The approval is obtained by submitting the Asset Transfer Workflow in the financial system. It shall 4

5 be the responsibility of the incoming Asset Custodian to attend the Asset Management Training and to satisfy himself or herself that all items are present and in good condition. Additional information concerning University property and equipment may be found in the following Handbook of Operating Procedures policies: ADM Movable Equipment Acquired Under Grants from the Federal Government, ADM Annual Property Inventory, and ADM Surplus and Salvage Property. 5