The University of Oregon currently has about 6,500 capital assets which are required to be inventoried biennially by Property Control. This means that a department that owns capital assets will us in person once every two years, not including tagging new equipment (which happens on a rolling basis as equipment is purchased). 

It is the duty of the department that purchases/manages the assets to safeguard them and maintain an up-to-date list of their whereabouts. If Property Control is unable to easily locate an asset on the inventory, or during an audit, then it falls on the department and equipment manager to take responsibility to locate the asset, or sign it off as missing/lost. The inventory process is not just a university procedure, but a requirement of all universities that receive federal funding. 

Capital assets held in collections are exempt from the Property Control inventory process, and instead follow strict industry standards. 

It is our commitment to make the inventory process as quick, accurate, and non-invasive as possible. This means we reach out in advance to schedule, we respond quickly and curteously to emails, we are thorough on our searches, and meticulous with our record-keeping. We do not interfere with equipment operations, and do our best not to disturb experiments, classes, or special events. 

In turn, we hope that our department contacts do not delay with their response to our requests, keep an accurate record of assets in the time between inventories, and come prepared to inventory appointments by doing a preliminary check beforehand. The locations of assets are the responsibility of the departments to track, and to investigate if not found. 

When it is a department's year for inventory: 

1. A Property Control employee will email the appropriate contact (sometimes a department head or business manager) with a complete list of the capital assets required for inventory, and a request to make an appointment to complete the inventory in the coming month. 
2. The contact will evaluate the list, and notify us of the appropriate personnel to conduct the inventory with Property Control. 
3. The contact should notify their own department faculty/staff of the appointment and perform a preliminary inventory. Any discrepancies between the provided list and what you found should be reported back to Property Control before the official inventory. 
4. On the official inventory, Property Control and departmental staff will physically verify every asset is present in its reported location. Any discrepancies will be noted. For departments with a significant number of assets, this could take more than one appointment. Note: We prefer to access department spaces with an escort, especially for secured areas. 
5. Any assets that are out on loan or far-afield are to be signed off on a Letter of Verification. We may request a current photo of the tag or serial number for something like a computer kept at home. 
6. Any assets not found will be the department's responsibility to investigate. Once they are located, a follow-up inventory appointment should be scheduled with Property Control. 
7. If an asset is missing or lost it may be recorded on a Certification of Asset Disposal. This form requires a narrative summary, any supporting documentation, and a department head signature. 
8. Once all assets have been accounted for, an inventory evaluation report with an updated list of assets and locations will be sent to the department contact and department head. This will be the basis for the department to track assets in the time between inventories. 

As part of year-end procedures, all university storerooms must perform an itemized count. A member of Property Control will be in contact with all storeroom managers in May or June to schedule a time to observe inventories and ask questions about counting and valuation processes used. A final copy of the inventory is to be sent to Property Control by close of fiscal period 14.