Purpose:

To define VMRF’s policy on transferring VMRF equipment. The policy applies to all equipment valued at or above $5,000 at the time of acquisition.

Overview:

VMRF purchases and owns equipment expensed against contracts and grants, as well as other VMRF administered projects. VMRF must fulfill certain obligations associated with the care of capital equipment. In general, and unless equipment is specifically associated with general or administrative foundation purposes, these resources are assigned to an individual investigator, typically a qualified investigator who holds an academic appointment at a Board approved academic institution.

In case an investigator leaves the VMRF/VA research environment, equipment may be transferable to a different institution.

All equipment purchased with VMRF funds are the property of VMRF and are subject to policies and procedures established by the Board of Directors.

Application:

External transfer of VMRF-owned equipment may be made only after approval by the VMRF Board of Directors, the project sponsor (if applicable) and the receiving institution. Such transfers may be made only to another 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the same stated exempt purpose of conducting research, or to a local, state or federal government entity. An investigator who wishes to transfer equipment must submit a written request to the VMRF Board of Directors through the VMRF Chief Executive Officer. When submitting the request, investigator must include the VMRF project number(s) used to purchase the equipment and the reason(s) for requesting the transfer of equipment.

Review and approval/disapproval of such a request may take between two and six weeks.

Internal transfer of VMRF-owned equipment may be made by written approval from the VMRF Chief Executive Officer, the current responsible investigator of record (i.e. current user) and the requested future responsible investigator of record (i.e. future user). VMRF will only assign equipment to the care of a qualified investigator. The internal transfer request will be initiated by submission of the Equipment Transfer Form to VMRF accounting. The equipment transfer form is posted at http://www.vmrf.net/secure/forms/forms.html.

Review of such a request may vary, but can be processed more quickly than the request for external transfer of capital equipment.

If the equipment transfer is denied, the VMRF Executive will assign a responsible investigator as appropriate.

Approved by the VMRF Board of Directors: 05/18/07