The institution exercises appropriate control over all its physical resources.

   X  Compliance                     ___Partial Compliance                       ___Non-Compliance

Narrative

Policies related to purchasing, recording, tracking, and disposal of assets

St. Petersburg College exercises appropriate control over all its physical resources with a management system and information technology systems that assure proper tracking of assets. The Board of Trustees of St. Petersburg College, the College’s President, the Vice President of Information Systems, Business Services, Planning & Budgeting, the Director of Facilities Planning and Institutional Services, along with the Director of Purchasing, are the primary agents of control over the College physical resources.

In accordance with Florida Statutes, the Board of Trustees is responsible for cost-effective policy decisions appropriate to the community college's mission, the measurement of performance, the reporting of information, and the provision of input regarding state policy, budgeting, and education standards.  The President is the chief executive officer of the College, and is responsible for the operation and administration of St. Petersburg College.

The St. Petersburg College Board of Trustees sets the policies for purchasing, asset management, and inventory control in accordance with the State Statute defining the roles of community college Boards of Trustees:

Excerpt from 1001.64  Community college boards of trustees; powers and duties

The Board of Trustees has established the following policies regarding purchasing of assets for the College:

6Hx23-5.12     Purchasing.  Establishes the requirement for the President to approve purchases over $250,000 in accordance with State Statute and for competitive bidding on all purchases over $25,000 and for the purchasing department to research and select the best vendor for each purchase.

6Hx23-5.903. Contract administration.  Describes the process for review and approval of contracts.

The President’s Cabinet is authorized to establish procedures for implementing Board policy.  The following procedures have been created to standardize the purchasing process:

P6Hx23-5.12    Procedure:  Purchasing.  Procedure for Library related purchasing.

P6Hx23-5.121  Procedure:  Purchase requisitions.  Procedure for submitting purchase requisitions used to initiate purchase orders.

P6Hx23-5.122  Procedure:  Purchase orders.  Procedure for processing purchase orders.

P6Hx23-5.123  Procedure:  Expedient and emergency purchases.  Procedure for expedited purchases.

P6Hx23-5.124   Procedure:  Purchase of printing from outside vendors.  Procedure for allowing the purchase of printing from outside vendors rather than using the in-house printing facilities.

P6Hx23-5.125   Procedure:  Purchase orders.  Procedure for purchasing products on a trial basis, purchasing trade-in equipment, and returning goods.

P6Hx23-5.126   Procedure:  Petty cash and reimbursable expenses up to $200.  Procedure for petty cash and reimbursable expenses.

The following Board of Trustees’ policies and Cabinet-approved procedures concerning property management have been instituted:

6Hx23-5.13.      Property records.  Sets the policy for maintaining property records, conducting inventories and property disposal.

P6Hx23-5.13.    Procedure:  Accountable equipment.  Defines “accountable equipment” and describes the procedure for receiving accountable equipment and the responsibilities of budget supervisors and the Property Management Office.

P6Hx23-5.133.  Procedure:  Ammunition dispensing inventory control procedures Criminal Justice Institute.  Describes the special procedures for the Criminal Justice Institute for dispensing and inventory control of ammunition.

Reporting to the President, the Director of Facilities Planning and Institutional Services is responsible for directing and controlling all phases of facility and physical property acquisition, maintenance, and disposal.  The department functions in accordance with the College’s Board of Trustees Rules and Procedures and the Florida State Board of Education Administrative Rules (Chapter 6A-14, Community Colleges).  The Director of Facilities Planning and Institutional Services is supported by qualified staff as depicted in the Facilities Organizational Chart:

                                            Facilities Organizational Chart

Physical inventory records

State Statute designates the President of the College as the agent responsible for controlling physical assets:

Excerpt from Florida Statute 1001.65 Community college presidents; powers and duties

St. Petersburg College does maintain accurate and up-to-date records of its physical inventory via a comprehensive physical resource inventory system. In accordance with the College’s Board of Trustees Property Records Rule 6Hx23-5.13, all College property, equipment and other tangible property of a non-consumable nature with a value of $500 or more, and having a normal life expectancy of one (1) year or more is inventoried annually.  Each item of property that can be identified by marking is tagged in the manner required by the Auditor General.

Procedures have been established to control the College’s property and assets in accordance with the rules of the Florida Auditor General and Florida Statute 274.  The Facilities Planning and Institutional Services department is responsible for the annual physical inventory. Examples of property disposal and annual physical inventory procedures are noted below.

Property Disposal Procedures:

• The property survey committee shall in accordance with Florida Statutes Section 274.06 dispose of for value, donate, destroy or abandon any equipment that is obsolete, or that is uneconomical or inefficient, or which serves no useful function.
• Property being proposed for disposal will be reviewed by the President.  Authority for the disposal of property shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board of Trustees and recording the disposal of property shall be within the guidelines of Florida Statutes Section 274.02.  In addition, a report of the property declared surplus and disposed of is to be annually reported to the Board of Trustees.
• Before disposal of any College property, approvals are obtained from the department’s custodian. Once all approvals are obtained, the Surplus Warehouse Department will complete a form for all transactions and obtain signatures of the new owners, when applicable.  The forms and information are then forwarded to Asset Management, so that the property records can be updated.  Asset Management documents the date of disposal, the means of disposal, condition of the equipment, name of staff witnessing the disposal and the Board of Trustees Survey approval number.  Furthermore, prior to the actual disposal of scrapped or donated properties, approval is obtained from the property survey committee.

Inventory Reconciliation and Annual Physical Inventory Procedures:

• An identification number shall be assigned and the property shall be tagged upon receipt.
• The College utilizes the periodic inventory method. A physical inventory is conducted annually by people who had no access to the inventory during the year.
• The Budget Supervisors shall ensure that all property has been correctly recorded on the inventory sheets provided by Property Management; condition of property shall be verified and noted.  On SPC Business Services Web site, Asset Management provides guidelines to assist the Budget Supervisors with their responsibilities for accountable equipment.
• Asset Management provides Property Management with a file that provides a detailed list of all tangible college property and accountable equipment which is downloaded into the physical inventory staff’’s scanners.  The physical inventory staff will scan all tangible college property and accountable equipment, verifying the property tag number, description, make, model, serial number, location, condition and custodian.  If any of the information does not match the scan file that was provided by Asset Management, the physical inventory staff will make changes and flag the item for Asset Management to review.  When the staff has completed the physical inventory process, a missing items list is sent to the Budget Supervisor.  The Budget Supervisor’s are responsible for locating any missing items.  Property Management is notified and the physical inventory staff will scan the item(s).  The inventory is compared to the property records, and all discrepancies shall be traced and reconciled.

Deferred maintenance

SPC’s Deferred Maintenance Program (DMP) was established to meet capital improvement needs for each College-owned facility on the inventory.  The College takes the following actions to address deferred maintenance:

·         Repairs or replaces critical building systems that have exceeded their life expectancy or to avoid liabilities associated with safety-to-life, environmental, or mandated compliance programs; and disruption of vital college operations.

·         Upgrades buildings and equipment to lower maintenance costs and liabilities.

·         Installs high efficiency equipment with new technology to lower utility costs and maintain realistic preventive maintenance practices consistent with industry standards.

A deferred maintenance list is compiled and maintained by the Facilities Services Department.  Two primary methods are used to add projects to the list.  The first is by direct field observation by Facilities Services staff.  Second is input from the Planning, Design and Construction Services staff working on capital projects.

·         Approximately twice each year, Facility Services asks the Operations & Maintenance staff to review the existing deferred list and add any new deficiencies to the list.  They also are asked to prioritize any new projects with the existing ones.  A new list is then compiled and distributed to all interested parties.  Projects also are added when building users or Facilities Planning and Institutional Services identify a deficiency.

·         The deferred maintenance list is distributed to Planning, Design, and Construction Services where it is checked against any capital projects that are in the design queue.  Ideally, items on the list are addressed as part of capital projects, thereby preserving maintenance funds for other needs.

Every Spring, Facilities Planning and Institutional Services announces an approximate amount of infrastructure money that will be available for deferred maintenance, and requests a prioritized project list from each of the President’s Cabinet members.  This list is combined with any critical infrastructure needs that Facilities Services has identified and reviewed with Planning, Design, and Construction Services to produce a consolidated list from the two departments and the sites.  These projects receive infrastructure funding in the next fiscal year to the extent funds are available.  Projects that fail to make the cut-off for available infrastructure money generally are re-introduced for funding the following year.

Risk Management as it relates to physical resources

State Statute requires the College’s Board of Trustees to take appropriate precautions to safeguard the physical assets of the College:

Excerpt from Florida Statute 1001.64 Community college boards of trustees; powers and duties

Statewide risk management efforts.  The Florida Legislature has provided authority for community colleges to participate in programs of self-insurance.  Specifically:

• Florida Statute 440.38 provides authority for self-insuring workers' compensation.

• Florida Statute 111.072 provides authority for self-insuring liability issues.

• Florida Statute 1001.64(27) provides authority for self-insuring property.

• Florida Statute 112.08 provides authority to self-insure health and life programs.

Through the Florida Community Colleges Risk Management Consortium (FCCRMC), the Florida Legislature allows Florida community colleges to develop and implement a statewide cooperative system of risk management under one comprehensive plan.  As a participating member of the Florida Community Colleges Risk Management Consortium, the College must comply with the agreement, policies and procedures, and other directives issued from the Risk Management Council.  The Consortium is self-sustaining through member assessments (premiums) and is reinsured through commercial companies for claims in excess of specified amounts.

                                                     FCCRMC Web site

Funds collected from participating colleges by the Consortium, are used to provide the necessary funds, services, and purchase of excess insurance to cover a catastrophe or series of catastrophes.  Protection is provided against civil actions; loss or damage to property owned or controlled, casualty losses, workers' compensation and such other protection as mutually agreed upon.  The benefits provided by the Consortium are for the continued well being and safety of consortium members, the protection of property and to minimize the cost of the program to each college.

SPC’s Risk Management Program.  St. Petersburg College has assigned its three-part Risk Management Program according to functional expertise.  Responsibility for worker’s compensation, accident investigation and recording, and liability issues, including liaison with the Florida Community College Risk Management Consortium, resides with the Director of Security, Safety, and Risk Management and Operations.  Health insurance falls under the auspices of the Human Resources Department, and purchasing and reviewing insurance contracts is done under the Purchasing Department.  This reorganization began with the fiscal year 2005-2006, and the creation of the office of Director of Security, Safety, and Risk Management and the transfer of most of the duties of risk management from Purchasing to that office.  In addition, the Human Resources Departments’ responsibility for worker’s compensation issues was transferred to the new office along with a position.  Human Resources continues to administer the self-insured health program.  The responsibility for the SPC Insurance Budget (which does not include health insurance) remains in the Purchasing Department.  The transition was completed July 1, 2006.  The reorganization of Risk Management has allowed for a more preventive approach to accident and incident investigations.  For example, Risk Management has implemented a campus and building inspection program that includes safety issues such as lighting, crime hazards and potential trip and fall hazards, as well as fire safety issues, ingress and egress, and fire extinguisher inspections.

Reporting to appropriate constituencies

A report of the property declared surplus and disposed of is reported annually to the St. Petersburg College Board of Trustees.  The property survey committee disposes of, donates, destroys or abandons equipment that is obsolete, uneconomical, or inefficient to use upon authorization of the Board of Trustees.  Many of the surplus items are donated to local schools.  The following is an excerpt from the most recent report to the Board of Trustees:

               Excerpt from Board of Trustees minutes, 06-20-06

Annual audits are performed by the State Department of Education to ensure that the College is complying with State Statutes and State Board of Education Administrative Rules regarding purchasing.  In the most recent audit, no compliance issues were raised with regard to purchasing, contracts, competitive bids or other state requirements.

References