Sale of Computing Equipment

Scope

The procedures outlined in this policy supplement current, State approved methods for the sale and disposal of university-owned property. This policy limits procedures only to computing technology owned by Indiana University. This policy does not govern nor allow equipment other than computing equipment to be sold by these procedures.

University departments currently have, and will continue to have, authority to sell or transfer property to other IU departments provided that all information on that equipment is handled in compliance with the information removal requirements prior to the sale. Authority to sell or transfer property to any other source is mandated only to the purchasing department and is governed by University Procurement Services policy, FIN-PUR-14.0, Disposal and Redistribution of University Property.

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Policy Statement

Sale of university property to any individual or entity other than IU departments must be directed by the purchasing department. Disposal of property for personal gain or favor is prohibited and illegal. In addition to these procedures governing computing equipment, there are three other approved methods for sale or disposal of equipment as governed under the aforementioned purchasing policy:

• Public Auction
• Solicitation of bids from vendors/public
• IU Surplus Stores

Computing Equipment:

All equipment is sold “as is, where is” and no warranties, guarantees, or functionality are expressed or implied by the sale of this equipment.

Equipment released by a department to this process will be considered “salvaged” equipment and will not be returned to an owner if unsold.

All computing equipment is sold on a first-come, first-served basis. No equipment can be held back nor carry any prearrangement to its purchase.

Departmental Responsibility:

Information Removal: Regardless of how computing equipment is disposed of, all IU personnel are liable for institutional information contained on any storage device. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the department and their personnel to see that all information residing on any type of storage device is removed from the computing technology prior to the equipment leaving their possession. The central IT organization on campuses other than IUPUI and IU Bloomington are responsible for assuring compliance with this policy for all computing equipment on those respective campuses.

Before a department may relinquish computing equipment to another entity including another IU department, and such equipment is, or contains a storage device, all information must be removed from the storage device(s). Minimally, information removal shall be achieved by using a product or products that have erase or wiping capabilities that meet or exceed the guidance provided by the IU Information Security Office. The actual method or process for removing institutional information from storage devices over and above that of meeting the IU Information Security Office guidance for removal of information shall be at the discretion of the individual campus. Some campuses may require more stringent regulations with regard to the removal of institutional information before property may be relinquished.

References:

Securely Removing Data: https://protect.iu.edu/online-safety/protect-data/data-removal.html 

Only the original operating system software may remain and each system is to be restored to original configuration and setup.

Compensation from the sale may be shared or given to the department releasing the property only if they have followed the procedures governing the disposal of computing equipment.

Sale by IU Surplus Stores:

Departments will receive a percentage from the sale of their equipment if reimbursement criteria is met. These proceeds will be transferred to the departmental account that was specified at the time the equipment was transferred to Surplus Stores. To qualify for possible reimbursement, this equipment must remain intact (includes the hard drive) and have been properly prepared by the department for resale. This includes the requirement of having restored the equipment to the original configuration with the operating system installed and having removed all other information and software applications from the computer.

Sellers:

Only university departments can participate. This process is for Indiana University owned assets only and will not facilitate the sale of personal property.

Pricing:

Pricing will be determined by University Procurement Services and Surplus Stores and based on current market conditions and other factors.

All prices are non-negotiable but will fluctuate depending on market conditions, inventory and the length of time in inventory.

Pricing for systems where no market information is available will be handled by University Procurement Services in collaboration with Surplus Operations and other market sources.

Individuals involved with setting special pricing are precluded from participating in the purchase of this same equipment.

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Reason for Policy

To promote the most beneficial use and return on investment for computing technology at Indiana University.

To define and direct how computing technology with storage devices and institutional information shall be managed before the technology is removed from University campuses.

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Definitions

Property: It is defined as anything acquired through an institutional process including gifting. Unless the specific source of acquisition states otherwise, everything acquired through an institutional process becomes IU property and by definition is State property.

Information: The word “information” is used to refer generally to all tangible documents and data - in both electronic and other format.

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History

This policy was established on February 18, 1992.

Updates were provided to this policy to reflect the change in procedures regarding the Sale of Surplus Computing equipment by Surplus Stores on March 2014.

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