Office of the President

Property Management: Accounting, Control, and Reporting

Executive Memorandum 01-005 March 02, 2001

From: Manuel A. Esteban, President

Subject: Property Management: Accounting, Control, and Reporting

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT: ACCOUNTING, CONTROL, AND REPORTING

Background

The Chancellor's Office Executive Order No. 649, effective February 15, 1996, delegated authority to each campus president to establish and maintain a system of internal controls to safeguard state property. The delegation of authority and responsibility, in the language of the Executive Order, " . . . is consonant with the principles of the Financial Integrity and State Manager's Accountability Act (FISMA) of 1983 (Government Code §13400 et seq. ). " As permitted by the Executive Order, CSU, Chico elected to continue to follow the State Administrative Manual §8600 et seq. regarding property accounting, control, and reporting.

The Office of the University Auditor of the CSU is responsible for reviewing and reporting on campus compliance with the Financial Integrity and State Manager's Accountability Act. The FISMA audit conducted at CSU, Chico in the spring of 2000 resulted in two findings related to safeguarding state property: one relates to internal reporting of lost, stolen, or missing property; the other, a more serious finding, relates to the failure of campus departments to respond timely to inventory exception reports, i.e. , to account for property not located during preliminary physical inventory.

For both findings, the CSU Auditor recommended that the campus review and strengthen its procedures to ensure compliance with the State Administrative Manual §8600. The campus concurred with the findings and recommendations. Accordingly, the following policy is effective immediately.

Policy

The Vice President for Business and Finance shall prepare and maintain Policies and Procedures for Management of University Property designed to maintain uniform accountability for state property. The policies and procedures shall be in accordance with State Administrative Manual §8600 et seq. and §3520 et seq. ; Executive Order No. 409, Purchase, Sale, Lease, and License of Personal Property -- Delegation of Authority, and Executive Order No. 649, Safeguarding State Property; this Executive Memorandum; and all other applicable laws, rules, regulations, orders, or memoranda that are or become applicable.

The Policies and Procedures for Management of University Property shall be used to ensure accurate records of the acquisition, maintenance, control, and disposition of state property. The Vice President for Business and Finance shall distribute or make available to all departments the policies and procedures document, shall provide training and education to departments, and shall ensure departmental and campus compliance with all applicable reporting requirements.