2.27 Surplus Property Disposal Policy

2.27 Surplus Property Disposal Policy

Responsibility for the disposition of surplus and excess property rests with the Director of Procurement. The only means by which College property of any kind should be transferred to other campus departments, sold, traded in, salvaged, or scrapped is through direction from the Director of Procurement. Department heads or their designees should determine when property is not needed and notify the Director of Procurement. The only property that will not be handled is hazardous waste and real estate. The effective management of excess and surplus property can be a source of income for Ithaca College. It can also provide a significant reduction in expenses. Every dollar that can be converted from idle assets to cash or the reuse of excess property means a matching dollar from general institutional funds is saved. Valuable space also becomes available with the removal of surplus property from storage.

College property is defined as any item, whether or not operable or a complete unit, which was purchased by the College or donated to the College, or purchased with gift, grant, contract, or restricted general fund money, and title is vested in the College. In the case of equipment or material which was purchased with special donated funds or specific grant or contract funds, the department is requested to assist the Director of Procurement to determine if title to these goods has passed to the College.

2.27.1 Excess Property Disposition

Wherever possible, we reassign and reuse items declared excess by other departments. If no campus reuse is identified, the Director of Procurement has the sole authority to dispose of surplus property. Please contact them to discuss your needs.

Some exceptions will be made for excess Bookstore inventory and library books which may be traded, exchanged, or returned by the respective manager or director without the involvement of the purchasing department. If other opportunities exist to trade in surplus items to offset the purchase cost of replacements, these should be discussed with the Director of Procurement.

Upon receipt of an excess item, the Director of Procurement will first determine if it is in the best interest of Ithaca College to allow the item to be transferred to another department within the College. Examples of items which should not be transferred internally may include certain typewriters, copy machines, computers, printers, or other items which may become excess because of predetermined replacement policies established when analysis may have shown it is economically unwise for the College to retain certain equipment after a given period of time, considering replacement cost, repair cost, maintenance cost, level of usage, and efficiency.

2.27.2 Surplus Property Disposal

Although the primary objective is to facilitate reuse of excess property through internal transfers, an equally important objective is to obtain the maximum proceeds for the sale of surplus property through external sales. If no internal use for an excess item can be found, the property will be declared surplus. The Director of Procurement will make final determination of the disposition of such surplus materials. If the item is sold, all sales will be on an "as is" and "where is" basis, with no warranties of any kind, express or implied, attached to the item. All sales are final with no returns or refunds allowed.

Sales will be arranged by the Director of Procurement and may be on a pre-priced basis, first-come-first-served basis, on a competitive bid basis with an optional fixed minimum sell price, negotiated sale, consignment sale by auctioneers or dealers, annual sales contracts, or other methods deemed most applicable.

All proceeds from sales of any item will be deposited in a general institutional income account. Funds will not revert to the department from which the items were declared excess.

Advertising of the availability of items for sale will be arranged by the Director of Procurement. Items available for competitive bid will generally be advertised to the campus public and to whatever other potential market deemed appropriate. Advertisement outside the College of items for competitive bid will be arranged by the Director of Procurement.  

Disposal of unsalable surplus will be at the lowest possible cost to the institution. Methods employed to dispose of unsalable surplus are (from lower to higher associated costs):

  • Trade-in;
  • Donation to non-profit organizations on "as-is, where is" basis;
  • Return to the original source for resale or reuse;
  • Recondition or rebuild to improve resale value;
  • Scrap;
  • Dismantle for salvageable scrap materials;
  • Destroy;
  • Treat as waste and handle accordingly.

Last Updated: March 18, 2015