Disposition and Certification Guidelines
The following guidelines relate to all university-owned computers, printers, tablet devices and other related hardware items (equipment), including those purchased through grants, that are no longer on the hardware support list or no longer needed by a department.
Departments will submit a Certification Form verifying their technology equipment inventory once a year during the capital budget planning process using the Ivanti reports provided by ITS.
- Removal of Data. In order to comply with governmental regulations, state and federal, and Baylor policies, including FERPA, HIPAA and GLB guidelines, ITS will erase all data from the computer drives to ensure that no data can be recovered. Baylor complies with the DOD (Department of Defense) specifications for erasing data on storage media prior to the disposition of computer equipment. If the hard drive cannot be erased according to the DOD specifications, the hard drive will be destroyed.
- Removal of Software. In order to comply with software vendor contractual agreements, any software purchased for use on university-owned equipment will be removed from the computer drives using the same process described for removing data.
- Disposal Requirements. Computer disposal requirements are more restrictive for businesses than for households. For example, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), computers disposed of by a household are excluded from the definition of a hazardous waste while computers disposed of by a business may be regulated as a hazardous waste. Some computers contain small amounts of toxic compounds including lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic. Although individual computers from households may be placed in solid waste landfills, EPA requires commercial establishments disposing of computers to determine whether they qualify as hazardous waste, and if so, to have the computers sent to an approved hazardous waste disposal facility or to a recycler.
- Disposal or Donation of Equipment. No Baylor-owned computers or tablet devices will be sold to Baylor employees. All equipment that is no longer used by a department must be returned to Information Technology Services for proper disposition. The Information Technology Services department will determine if the equipment should be redeployed, donated, sold or discarded. If any equipment is determined to have cash value, it will be sold to vendors of used equipment, non-profit agencies, non-profit institutions, or other third party vendors who may offer it for public sale. Surplus equipment may be donated to non-profit agencies and non-profit institutions based on a written request from the agency or institution. Any monies received through these sales will go to general University funds.
- Redeployment of Equipment. A department is allowed one computer or equipment move from one employee to another employee or student employee within that department. The units must be a fully supported university standard system and at least a Level B unit according to the Hardware Replacement Schedule for the current budget year. The unit will be reformatted, renamed and reconfigured prior to the reinstallation by ITS staff. There is no file transfer on the redeployed unit. A Request for Redeploy Computer Asset form must be submitted and approved by ITS.
- Removal of equipment from Ivanti. All computers, printers, and tablet devices that are returned to ITS Installs in the normal replacement process will be removed from the Ivanti asset list for the department by ITS.
- Stolen Device - If any university-owned equipment is stolen, a police report must be filed. If stolen while on campus, contact Baylor Police. If stolen off campus, please contact local law enforcement. A copy of the police report must be submitted to the Office of Internal Audit and to ITS Security. Device will be removed from the Ivanti inventory.
- Lost Device - If the department no longer has possession of equipment, a Lost Equipment Report form must be submitted to Office of Internal Audit at the time the loss is discovered. Approval from the Office of Internal Audit to remove the device from Ivanti will be sent to ITS.
- Annual Certification of equipment in Ivanti. During the budget planning process for capital equipment, all departments will be required to review their departmental Ivanti reports and submit the Certification of Equipment form verifying current inventory of equipment, including computers, printers and tablet devices. The Certification of Equipment form must be completed by the department and submitted by the Department Head or designated departmental representative. The Certification of Equipment form will be submitted to ITS. Periodic reviews may be conducted by the Office of Internal Audit during the current fiscal year.