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.