UW-Whitewater University Handbook

Last policy revision: 10/16/97
Disposal and Sales of University Property

SOURCE: Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs

The official Property Control Officer for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will be designated by the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs. All surplus property disposition shall be in accordance with the regulations found in the "State Procurement Manual" section "PRO-F3, 4, and 5" as published by the Wisconsin Department of Administration. The Property Control Officer (designee) will work jointly with both the campus Purchasing and campus Waste Management units to execute the campus policy so as to properly dispose of and/or sell University property.

The campus Property Control Officer or designee will process the necessary forms and make the reports as required by the "Administrative Practices Manual" on behalf of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus. The campus Property Control Officer or designee will interface with the State of Wisconsin Property Control Manager and work within the established guidelines to properly dispose of State property.

Each employe is responsible for those materials entrusted to them which includes proper disposal when and if appropriate. All employes contemplating the disposition of surplus University property -- whether it be by transfer to another state agency without cost, selling to another agency or the general public, trade-in on the purchase of new equipment, recycling, scrapping or destroying -- shall first notify the UW-Whitewater Property Control Officer or designee. Whenever a department/unit is replacing a piece of equipment with a similar piece of new equipment, the used or obsolete surplus piece may become part of the purchase transaction. Such trade-ins shall be properly identified on the Purchase Requisition and Purchase Order or communicated to the campus Purchasing.

Materials deemed to have any value to any person beyond the use for which they were originally acquired must without exception be turned over to the campus Property Control unit. Campus departments/units declare surplus property by completing a "Surplus Property Declaration" form#197 (attached) and submitting it to the campus Surplus Property unit. Upon receipt of the completed surplus property form#197, a campus surplus property unit representative will then contact the department/unit (owner) to arrange for pickup and/or discuss appropriate disposal procedures. Any merchandise received in the surplus unit that precedes the formal declaration without prior approval will be placed in storage with the department/unit (owner) being charged an ongoing handling fee.

Department/unit supervisors are encouraged to make periodic inspections within their department/unit to prevent the unnecessary build-up of idle or obsolete materials/equipment. It is the responsibility of each unit supervisor to assess obsolete materials in their specific department/unit for value and determine what is to be surplused and what is to be trashed. It is also understood that the supervisor will have any property tags removed from the item(s) and the specific items deleted from the property inventory prior to anything being trashed. Inappropriate disposal is prohibited and when in doubt one should seek guidance from the campus Property Control unit and/or Waste Management.

After the Surplus Property unit has made all attempts to redistribute surplus items on campus, within the University System and all other possible State Agencies, they will then be disposed of through the appropriate mechanism. These methods include but are not limited to general public competitive sales, auctions, sale to scrap dealers, etc. Every attempt will be made to re-deploy surplus materials back out to campus. Campus departments/units are encouraged to review these materials during the designated hours. Departments/units wanting any item(s) that have been declared surplus are required to submit the "Surplus Request" form#198 (attached). Upon receipt of a completed form#198, a representative of the Surplus Property unit will make contact to arrange transfer of possession.

The campus Property Control Officer or designee(s) is responsible for the disposal of property on campus regardless of funding source(s) through transfer, sale, and/or destruction. Multiple avenues are available for the recovery of some compensation for surplus/idle materials. These options are outlined below and must be approved in writing:

  1. For those units/departments wishing to retain ownership and full negotiating authority to secure some compensation (exchange for goods or funds from another department, campus, or state entity), they should not send the goods to Surplus Property unit but rather retain the items until removed by the buying entity. However, prior approval for the disposition must still be obtained from the campus Property Control Officer or designee. Methods used by the Surplus Property unit to advertise merchandise will be made available, but the storage/handling of these goods remains the responsibility of the owner department/unit.
  2. Proceeds from the sale of declared surplus merchandise handled by the campus Surplus Property unit are split 50/50 between the Surplus Property unit and the owner of record (department/unit) after all disposal expenses have been deducted. This arrangement is not applicable when items are sold in bulk lots and/or the dollar value involved is prohibitive or cumbersome to track.
  3. Right of negotiations for best deal and actual disposal method passes to the Surplus Property Officer or designee when goods are in the possession of the Surplus Property unit.
  4. Transfer of state owned merchandise to individuals without charge is prohibited without the explicit written approval of the Property Control Officer or designee.
  5. The sale of surplus property merchandise to any outside entity must be approved by the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, or the campus Property Control Officer, or official designee. Any and all materials that the campus relinquishes ownership to, regardless of value, will be done in writing. Person(s) who take possession of campus materials without a campus authorized written approval and/or sales receipt is not only liable for damages but is at risk for misappropriating state resources.


    6. NOTE: Forms 197 and 198 can be found on the UW-W web server. The web address for downloading the forms is http://www.uww.edu/admin/adminfrm.htm

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    APPENDIX 1

    SURPLUS PROPERTY DECLARATION FORM 197

    APPENDIX 2

    SURPLUS PROPERTY REQUEST FORM 198

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