Sponsored awards sometimes fund equipment to support research and can be a valuable resource for achieving project goals and advancing the university's mission.
Equipment purchased with grant or contract funds or, occasionally, loaned to NIU for use on a project, comes with expectations that are in addition to NIU property policies and procedures.
The following definitions are important for understanding these expectations:
Capital equipment: tangible items with a cost of more than $5,000 with a useful life of more than one year.
Supplies: items under $5,000 (e.g., laptops, printers, tablets). Supplies are not considered equipment for grants and for this guidance. Follow SPA's Small Computing Device guidance.
Special purpose equipment: for research or technical use only (e.g., microscopes, spectrometers).
General purpose equipment: office or general IT equipment. General purpose equipment is not usually purchased with grant funds. Such purchases will likely involve additional justification and agency review.
Federally funded property: purchased with federal funds; title may be conditional with final ownership resting with NIU.
Federally furnished/owned property: provided by the federal government for temporary use on a project.
Planning
- Equipment must directly benefit the project to be allowable.
- Equipment should be shared when feasible, especially at the end of a sponsored project's lifecycle.
- Screen existing equipment inventories to avoid purchasing unnecessary or duplicative items. Screening is recommended at two points in a project's history:
- Before equipment is written into a proposal for agency approval.
- Before purchasing the equipment.
- If sharing of existing equipment is possible, contact your Grants and Contracts Associate for assistance with a shared use agreement.
- Purchases must follow NIU and grant purchasing procedures. Multiple vendor quotes and additional documentation and sole source requirements are necessary for purchases of over $20,000. Explain the need for sole source clearly in the budget justification of the proposal.
Purchasing
- If the equipment is explicitly budgeted for in the proposal and the agency funds the project without removing it from the budget, the equipment is approved for purchase.
- If the equipment is not explicitly budgeted into the proposal, prior agency approval may be needed before initiating the purchase. Check with your Grants and Contracts Associate before initiating the purchase.
- Federally titled equipment (i.e. federal government will own the title) must be completely funded by the sponsor and cannot be allocated between different awards or funding sources. If multiple funding sources are necessary to purchase the equipment, document the allocation methodology, preferably on the purchase requisition.
- Most equipment purchased on Department of Energy National Lab awards will be owned by the federal government.
- Equipment titled to the University (i.e., university has outright ownership of the title or a conditional title) may be purchased on split funding (funding from non-sponsored funds and Federal sponsor funds). If multiple cost centers will fund the equipment, document the allocation methodology, preferably on the purchase requisition.
- Use account code 88017 Equipment-GFA $5000 and up.
- Document on the purchase requisition that no suitable item is available in the department.
Using
- Use equipment for the project it was purchased or on loan for
- Make it available for other federal projects if it doesn't interfere with the original purpose. Priority should be given to the project funding the equipment, then to the agency funding the equipment and finally federal programs generally.
Tagging, Tracking and Managing
- Property Control will include both a NIU Property and Federal Property sticker until SPA determines final disposition. Federal stickers will be removed at project close-out once SPA determines disposition.
- Equipment is reviewed as part of NIU's Annual Physical Inventory Process. PIs will need to work with their department and SPA to manage any inventory and reporting processes outside the normal inventory cycle. Keeping with NIU Property standards the PI and department will need to:
- Follow maintenance procedures to keep equipment in working order.
- Implement controls to prevent loss, damage, or theft.
Disposition (When No Longer Needed)
- PIs should notify SPA and Property Management when the equipment is no longer needed.
- SPA will submit required reports and request disposition instructions from the agency.
Additional Considerations
- Do not sell, trade or move the equipment without SPA approval.
- Do not use the equipment to provide services for less than fair market value unless approved by SPA.
- If considering replacement equipment, NIU may trade-in or sell the federally funded equipment to offset costs. Consult with SPA.