Computers Purchased w/ Dept and Federal (NIH, NSF) Funds

[coolswimmer800]

I'm planning to purchase a computer, external monitor, and other computing supplies using a federal grant I received.

I was surprised to hear that if I use my faculty funds or federal grants, I am required to give all of these to the university after I leave/retire, which could be around 5-10 years from now. My previous university did not have this policy and I have kept my computer, but my colleague at another R1 university told me this is normal.

Do universities that have this policy usually follow through with this?

It's hard to imagine universities have the retail space for piles of very old computers, equipment, etc. purchased with federal and/or dept. funds after faculty leave.

[Hibush]

What's the policy for disposing of obsolete computers? That may be the one that is relevant to what you do with the computer after the grant is over.

[clean]

It is not YOUR money.  The money and the resources belong to the university that employs you. 

AS with other equipment, it is likely that the old computer equipment is eventually (and "eventually" can be a long time) declared surplus and sold off (after the hard drives are erased and overwritten.

Before that, old computers and monitors may very well be reallocated to labs. 

My employer has a plan to upgrade our computers every 3 years or so.  I have my new laptop computer (which has had 'issues' that have not been specifically diagnosed) and as a result of the errors, I still have my 'old laptop' - just in case (and I use it primarily for online class meetings as one of the 'new computer's' problems is that the microphone comes equipped with a built in echo!!.  At the same time, my last Desktop computer (which is now 8 or more years old) is on the desk outside my office for when I have a student worker.  Its hard drive is not current, but it allows my student worker to access the internet and 'the cloud' .

the bottom line is that the computer equipment is not simply thrown away, stored for posterity, but at some point it will be treated like other items at the end of their useful life (like desks and chairs). They will be auctioned off as surplus and removed from official inventory.

Until removed from inventory, someone, somewhere is responsible for Tracking it down!! 


Regarding the computer from your old employer??  Dont count it yours yet!  someone may someday come to you to ask for it back!!

A coworker took an office chair from his office at his prior employer. They tracked him down and demanded either the chair or a check! 
There were threats that the former employer would report the item as Stolen and that it could become a criminal matter!  (He sent a check)

[Liquidambar]

My school puts property tags on the things they want to keep track of--mostly expensive lab equipment, but also some high-end workstations.  There's a $ cutoff for what gets a tag.  A typical computer is cheap enough that we don't tag it.  Theoretically it belongs to the school and they could ask for it back, but in practice they aren't keeping track of where it is and who's responsible for it, so we don't have to give those back.

[clean]

Ive got a property tag on the printer in my office!  They come in every year to scan it.  It is probably not worth much, but they still keep track! 

[Caracal]

The university might or might not have any use for 5 year old equipment. However, I'm also pretty confused that you think you'll want the computer at that point. My computers rarely make it three years. As things update, they stop being able to handle it and get more and more buggy. As clean points out, you can have a reasonably functional old computer if it really only needs to be able to do a couple of things. I'm guessing you'd get pretty frustrated if were trying to use the Internet browser on the 8 year old computer to do anything more advanced than go to a cloud server and access academic databases.

If you really only need something with basic functionality when you retire, I'm sure you could get it quite cheaply.

[research_prof]

Ask if you can buy out your computer after a few years. Each piece of equipment depreciates over time and if I am not wrong I believe all computers/laptops fully depreciate after 2 or 3 years. The university can give it to you at the depreciated price or even free if they want to do so. It is really up to them.

[coolswimmer800]

OP here. Thanks for the insights all.

I totally agree that's not my money, it just seemed really absurd that my university will want outdated equipment back, when I will have better use for them. I did not realize universities had the capacity to auction off equipment (even old computers and printers?).

For my old computers specifically, I wanted to loan them or have them available in my lab for my students and RAs, since there are software on there that will help them in learning and research. These software are strictly locked to the computer and non-transferrable, which is why I find them more valuable and my university wouldn't even know that.

[Puget]

OP here. Thanks for the insights all.

I totally agree that's not my money, it just seemed really absurd that my university will want outdated equipment back, when I will have better use for them. I did not realize universities had the capacity to auction off equipment (even old computers and printers?).

For my old computers specifically, I wanted to loan them or have them available in my lab for my students and RAs, since there are software on there that will help them in learning and research. These software are strictly locked to the computer and non-transferrable, which is why I find them more valuable and my university wouldn't even know that.

If you are still retaining a lab as emeritus, the university will almost certainly let you keep all your equipment, so I don't see this becoming an issue.

[mleok]

Yes, this is normal, the grant is issued to your university, and the computer is inventoried as university property. If you've moving institutions, and the grant is being transferred, then it's often possible to transfer the computer to your new institution. But, if you're only considering leaving in 5-10 years, then why would you care about a 5-10 year old computer anyway?