Equipment owned by the university that has become obsolete, damaged, broken, worn out or is no longer needed by a department should be surplused in a timely manner.
Complete instructions are available on the surplus request form.
Property Control will arrange for the item(s) to be picked up. Surplus items that are in good condition will be stored in the surplus viewing area in Materials Management (Dorland Building) for repurposing within the university. Other items will be evaluated for either transfer to the state property control division in Springfield or for scrapping. Please review the scrap metal recycling policy.
Departments are responsible for emptying the contents of all file cabinets, storage devices, desks, furniture, etc. in advance of surplusing the items. All items must be unlocked. Any keys should be returned to Key Control. Surplus should be stored in a manner so that it does not pose a safety hazard until it is picked up.
Property Control will prepare an equipment transfer authorization form and arrange for the item(s) to be picked up. Surplus items that are in good condition will be stored in the surplus viewing area in Materials Management (Dorland Building) for repurposing within the university. Other items will be evaluated for either transfer to the state property control division in Springfield or for scrapping. View the scrap metal recycling policy.
Departments are responsible for emptying of the contents of all file cabinets, storage devices, desks, furniture, etc. in advance of surplussing the items. Surplus should be stored in a manner so that it does not pose a safety hazard until it is picked up.
State of Illinois Public Acts (93-0306, 96-0045 and 97-0390) and the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees approved to implement a policy effective January 4, 2010, which requires that all hard drives returned with surplus electronic data processing equipment be wiped clean of all data and software by overwriting every track at least 10 times and certifying in writing that this process has been completed. NIU Property Control will only accept complete devices that have been certified by attaching a sticker (available from Property Control) with the agency name, serial number, NIU asset tag number, application used to overwrite, name of person overwriting the disk, date and signature of the certifier. This sticker must be applied on the left-hand side of the face of the unit. Laptops must be labeled on the top side of their cover.
All electronic data processing equipment that belongs with the system should be returned whole and intact. If the hard drive has been removed or is not operating and unable to be wiped clean, the certification label must state that the hard drive was removed or is not operable.
All requests for surplus electronic data processing equipment must comply with these procedures and be properly labeled before NIU Property Control and Materials Management personnel will be able to pick-up these items from the departments. Please contact DoIT Desktop Support for more information on erasing hard drives.
Property Control retains usable office furniture and equipment for redistribution within the university. These items are available to be seen by appointment only. You may submit a request to Property Control for surplus items you are looking for. Please email requests to property_control@niu.edu. We will monitor surplus to see if we can fulfill your request.