Equipment Trust Fund

The Equipment Trust Fund Program administered by SCHEV provides an additional funding source that allows higher education institutions to purchase equipment. Equipment purchased with Trust Fund monies is not owned by the University, but is tied to leasing agreements with the VCBA. Once a leasing agreement has been satisfied (for a particular allocation), ownership passes to the University. In addition to general rules applicable to all equipment, specific guidelines apply to the acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of ETF equipment. Failure to satisfy these requirements could jeopardize future allocations of ETF monies. Please refer to Section 6005 of the Financial Procedures Manual for more information.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

Given the current economic situation, it has been advised that the Early ETF process be delayed. The time frame for this delay is unknown. However, we have requested Academic Affairs determine the departmental distribution of the division's ETF allocation for 2009-10 and share this information with the departments receiving allocations, Accounting Services and the Budget Office. We request that the departments continue to prepare equipment lists with back-up information so that we can proceed with purchasing as soon as approval is granted. We recommend that departments differentiate equipment that could be purchased during the Early process if the delay is short enough to still take advantage of the Early Purchase process.

SPECIAL NOTES:
Early Process – ETF equipment can be purchased “early” (or prior to SCHEV approval in October) if the equipment has been previously approved by SCHEV multiple times. A list of pre-approved items is incorporated into the ETF – Early Purchase form (link below). The last day to order equipment through the Early Purchase phase of the process will be Friday, August 22. All ETF – Early Purchase forms must be submitted to Kathy Seal (sealkh@jmu.edu) by e-mail before 5:00pm on 8/22.

Pending Approval Process – ETF equipment requests that are not purchased “early” or need to be reviewed by JMU/SCHEV can be submitted for review beginning August 4th and ending August 29th. Requests are reviewed against the criteria set forth in the ETF policy and procedures manual. They should be submitted to etf@jmu.edu Attn: Lisa O’Fallon on the ETF – Pending Approval form (see link below). Please provide any additional information to aid in the review and evaluation for these items. After requests have been reviewed, items will be submitted to SCHEV in September. Notice of authorization from SCHEV to proceed with approved ETF purchases can be expected in mid October.

"Early" Process	Pending Approval Process
Basic Workflow	Basic Workflow
Rules and Regulations	Rules and Regulations
Requisition Requirements	Requisition Requirements
Print version – Early ETF process (of all rules, regulations, etc)	Print version – Pending Approval ETF process (of all rules, regulations, etc)
Early Purchase Form (equipment request form)	Pending Approval Form (equipment request form)
Instructions for completing the Early Purchase form	Instructions for completing the Pending Approval Form