Equipment Inventory Office (EIO)

Follow-up Procedure

A key component in the efficient administration of the University of Washington’s (UW) educational and research missions is having a sound comprehensive property management process for capital equipment and Federal Government owned non-capital property.  This is critical to the UW for several reasons including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Enabling the issuance of timely and accurate property reports to Federal and non-Federal sponsors,
  • Recovery of facilities and administrative (indirect) costs related to equipment depreciation,
  • Providing an accurate record of UW investments in equipment for financial statement, insurance, and other purposes,
  • Compliance with external (federal and non-federal sponsors) regulations and laws
  • Meeting management needs for UW organizational units
  • Facilitating the tracking and recording of maintenance and warranty information
  • Enabling easy identification of available equipment
  • Saving money by reducing waste, redundancy and equipment loss

To maximize UW compliance with Federal, non-Federal sponsors, State and UW policies and regulations, the following Follow-up Procedure is being implemented effective immediately  by the UW Equipment Inventory Office (EIO).  The procedure will apply to various activities related to the management of UW assets.  The following represents specific activities (among others) wehich were findings in the most recent Office of Naval Research Property Control System Analysis review as well as the UW Internal Audit Office:

  • Delinquent tagging and recording (updating OASIS) of pending assets (equipment purchases which have been paid for however the necessary information has not been entered into OASIS by the department;
  • Delinquent submission of equipment inventory reports to EIO;
  • Resolution of audit findings specific to departmental responsibilities not reso;ved within the timeframe(s) provided (e.g., maintaining correct physical location of assets; failure to notify EIO of receipt of government owned property, internal/external transfers of equipment, lost/stolen equipment; failure to identify gvernment/other agency owned property);
  • Non-response from departments regarding current audit inquiries;
  • Non-response from departments regarding retagging equipment

Should you have any questions concerning this procedure please contact EIO at 206-543-4663 or eio@uw.edu.

 

 

 

 

 

Equipment Inventory Office (EIO)

Follow-up Procedure

 

Issues subject to this procedure include, but are not limited to, the following:­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

  • Delinquent tagging and recording (updating OASIS) of equipment (pending assets)
  • Delinquent equipment inventory reports
  • Resolution of audit findings specific to departmental responsibilities (provide specifics)
  • Non-response from departments with respect to current audit inquiries (provide specifics)
  • Non-response from departments with respect to retagging equipment
  • Other (provide specifics)

 

Original Due Date:­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ ___________       Date of this Notice: _____________

 

  1. Notice #1 – If the requirement (e.g., inventory report) is not met
  • The first business day following the due date an email will be sent to the inventory contact
  • Copy of the email will be sent to the department (unit) administrator
  1. Notice #2 – If the requirement (e.g., inventory report) is not met
  • Two weeks after the due date (e.g., inventory report) an email will be sent to the department (unit) administrator
  • Copies of the email will be sent to the inventory contact and the department (unit) chair/director.
  1. Notice #3 – If the requirement (e.g., inventory report) is not met
  • Four weeks after the due date (e.g., inventory report) an email will be sent to the department (unit) chair/director
  • Copies of the email will be sent to the associated dean/VP, department (unit) administrator, inventory contact and the UW Associate VP and Controller

Should the issue(s) noted above not be resolved within two weeks of the date of notice #3 necessary action will be taken to minimize potential legal or financial implications for the UW.  Potential actions include, but are not necessarily limited to, financial assessment to the department/unit for the fair market (undepreciated) value of the item(s) in question; transfer of the full acquisition cost charged to sponsor funds to departmental/unit funds; assessment to department/unit funds for financial disallowance amounts resulting from audit findings; and potential limitation on a faculty member’s ability to submit proposals for external sponsor funding.

 

 

 

Email Example:

 

University of Washington

INTERDEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE

************************************************************************

Equipment Inventory Office

Roosevelt Commons West

4300 Roosevelt Way N.E., 3rd Floor, Box 354966

Phone:     _______   Email: ___________

 

Follow-Up Notice #1

 

Date:     ______________

To:          Inventory contact

CC:         Department (unit) Administrator

From:    _______________________

               Equipment Inventory Office

Re:         Overdue Equipment Inventory Report for Organization(s) ____________________________ny questions concerning this action.

You are receiving this report in accordance with the Equipment Inventory Office Follow-up Procedure.  As indicated above, this notice pertains to your unit’s 
Inventory Report(s) which were due on ______________ for which you are the designated inventory contact.  The list below reflects the specific overdue equipment 
inventory report(s) for the organization(s) _______________________________________________.  

University compliance with Federal, State and UW policies and regulations is critical and regularly reviewed by Federal and State auditors.  Failure to comply with 
these policies and regulations puts the UW at risk for audit findings.  Due to past concerns with the timeliness and accuracy of these reports they continue to be 
specifically reviewed in the audit plans for the State Audit Office and the Office of Naval Research.  Additionally, delinquent submission of inventories for sponsored 
programs could impact reimbursements to the UW from sponsors and potentially impact a faculty member’s ability to secure future funding.  

It is imperative all efforts be made to complete and return inventory reports by the due date established by the University. Any outstanding inventory reports for your 
department (unit) should be completed and returned to EIO promptly.  If we do not receive the completed inventory within two weeks, this issue will be escalated in 
accordance with the EIO escalation procedure.  

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.  Please contact _____________ at ______ should you have any questions concerning this action.