Off-Campus Inventoried Equipment Policies and Procedures

Owned by Beth Woods (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Mar 16, 2020 by Michael Hill
4 min read

Overview

Franklin College has additional restrictions to the UGA Policy on Off Campus use of Equipment, which are outlined below. This addendum poses additional restrictions to the qualifications, approval, and use of state-owned, inventoried equipment used off-campus by Franklin College faculty, staff, or students. All Franklin College units are within the scope of this policy.

Step-by-step guide

Policy Extensions

IT Equipment Policy

Franklin College requires a University of Georgia control number and decal for IT equipment that is used to access, transmit, receive, and/or store university data regardless of acquisition cost or location of use (i.e., on or off-campus). See the information page on Inventory Control for more information.

Approval Criteria and Quantity Limits

Franklin College has implemented additional approval criteria and quantity limits for the number of items that can be removed from campus. See below for more information. 

Approval Criteria

All Current Faculty

In an effort to be consistent and streamline processing, the College defined the following approval criteria for off-campus equipment.

Requests from faculty and emeritus faculty must meet the  following criteria to qualify:

  1. Engagement in scheduled teaching during the current academic year or active involvement in graduate committees or advisement if multiple students are served.
  2. Participation in sponsored research or research proposal.
  3. Current involvement in public service and outreach activities such as the Archway Partnership.
  4. Current service in an administrative role such as dean, department head, or director.

When possible, UGA Elements will serve as the source of data to confirm current activities. Requests that do not meet any of these criteria will be considered on a case by case basis; please provide a detailed justification.

Emeritus Faculty

Emeritus faculty must meet additional requirements for off-campus use of assets.

  1. A letter from the department head requesting the off-campus use and stating the reason for this request (listing the work the individual is currently performing for UGA).
  2. It will be the department's responsibility to inform the user that the items are the property of the state and must be returned to the department when they are no longer needed or when they quit working. The items should not be disposed of in any manner. State owned property, whether inventoried or not, cannot be 'gifted' as compensation for work performed or as a 'retirement' gift.
All Current Staff

Staff requests qualify if the job description requires working remotely or features regular travel.

Students

State-owned, inventoried equipment may be assigned to individual students if they are employed by the University. Students who are not employees require a sponsoring faculty member in order to qualify for off-campus use.

Quantity Limits

Up to three inventoried, information technology (IT) devices (computer, printer, scanner, projector, etc.) may be assigned to a specific faculty or staff member for individual off-campus use; up to two of these devices may be computers. If additional inventoried IT devices are needed for individual use, they may be checked out from a departmental pool. 

There are no limitations on the number or type of devices that may be assigned to a faculty or staff member for the duration of a field school or field research project as long as the devices are used for University purposes, but departments are encouraged to utilize checkout pools for these purposes.  

When applicable, indicate student use of field equipment in the comments. If the item will be used by a specific student rather than a class, include the student's name in the comments.  

Equipment Pools

Departments with a very large pool of off-campus equipment should contact UGA Insurance and Claims Management to initiate en masse coverage for the items.  

Departments that wish to make state-owned, inventoried equipment available to faculty, staff, or students for University purposes on a short-term basis may provide an equipment pool. If departments use the pool model, the department name may be listed as the 'Custodian' within OneSource Asset Management rather than an individual. When possible, departments are encouraged to use a pool of checkout equipment rather than making long-term assignments to specific individuals. Using a pool will also help support professionals maintain the equipment as items can be rotated out as needed. Pools may be assigned to a subgroup within the department such as a lab or program.

Procedure

Checking Out Equipment

If you plan to take inventoried equipment off-campus, obtain written supervisor approval first. Once approved, work with your department's inventory control officer and/or business manager to locate the inventoried item and designate it for off-campus use in the asset management database in the UGA Financial Management System. There is documentation about how to initiate this process in the OneSource Training Library.

Checking In Equipment

If you no longer have a need to take inventoried equipment off-campus, you will need to work with your department's inventory control office and/or business manager to locate the inventoried item and remove the off-campus designation in the asset management database in the UGA Financial Management System. There is documentation about how to initiate this process in the OneSource Training Library.

Other Reminders and Considerations

Appropriate Use

Department/unit heads will help ensure appropriate use of off-campus equipment by their faculty, staff, and students by advocating compliance with policy and encouraging defensible uses of off-campus equipment; heads will correct misuse when discovered.

Off-campus Devices and Sensitive Data

If sensitive or restricted data must be stored or accessed by off-campus devices, a process must be developed with your IT support group to ensure that the data are protected. Please refer to UGA's Data Classification and Protection Standards to ensure compliance with UGA policy. 

Laptops and other portable IT devices used off campus must be returned to campus for maintenance and updates as specified by the department and for annual inventory scanning for accountability.

Enforcement

Individuals found to be in violation of the UGA policy or the Franklin College policy extensions may lose eligibility to use state-owned equipment off campus. If negligence results in theft or sensitive data exposure, the faculty member, staff member, or student may be responsible for equipment replacement or reimbursement of legal fees at the discretion of the Dean and UGA Legal Affairs.

External Resources