Frequently Asked Questions

Surplus Property will pick up all equipment purchased by or donated to the university. This includes, but is not limited to, data processing equipment, scientific equipment, equipment used by service departments, office furniture and vehicles. Surplus Property will not pick up trash or paper products. These items will be handled by Custodial Services.

A Surplus Property Turn-in Form is used to initiate the transfer of non-inventoried items from your department to Surplus Property.

All furnishings and equipment purchased and/or gifted to the university are considered university property. University property may only be disposed of by Surplus Property with the approval of the university's property manager.

Once your form is received and logged into our system, a quality assurance review will be completed (to ensure transfers of capital and controlled assets are properly documented). After the quality assurance review is complete, we will send you an appointment request via Outlook. The request includes a proposed date/time to schedule the pickup of the surplus items. When you accept the request, your surplus property pick-up appointment will be on your calendar and the Surplus Property Department’s calendar. If you need a different date and time, use the Propose New Time option on the MS Outlook meeting request.

If you cannot keep your scheduled appointment, use the meeting request in Outlook to cancel your appointment and call the Surplus Property supervisor at extension 6272. Include reason for cancelling your scheduled appointment.

When Surplus Property staff arrive to pick up your items, they will only take items that are listed on the Surplus Property Turn-In Form. Once listed items are picked up, we will sign off on the form and you will need to make a copy of the completed form. If you are not the Inventory Contact Person (ICP) for your area, you should make a copy for yourself and your ICP. Once this form is signed by Surplus Property staff, it serves as your receipt for the property being transferred.

Computers are transferred to Surplus Property through the Asset Change Request module in PeopleSoft. It is highly recommended that you run CrashPlan on your computers before they are picked up by Surplus Property.
We use a mechanical shredder to shred computer hard drives and electronic storage devices that arrive in the warehouse. Data cannot be recovered once a storage device has been shredded.

No, the service is free.

Visit the Surplus Request page to learn how you can request items.

Not likely. Items transferred to Surplus Property are often recycled, transferred or disposed of in accordance with local, state, and university policies and procedures as quickly as possible because we have limited space for storage. By the time your department's request for retrieval is received, the item could be long transferred from the university already.

As Surplus Property accumulates items that may be auctioned, we will post them on our contracted auctioneer's website. Since our auctioned items go through a competitive bidding process, UTSA faculty, staff and students are eligible to bid, as well as the general public.

Property turned in to the UTSA Police Lost and Found Department is stored for 60 days. After 60 days, the property is transferred to Surplus Property for public auction or further disposition, except for property with little or no monetary value and property considered a health hazard, such as chemicals or food containers. These items are destroyed by the Lost and Found Department. For a current list of lost and found property, visit the University Police Lost and Found website. For more information, call the UTSAPD at 210-458-4242.

The e-surplus portal is currently not available; we will update links when it becomes available. In the meantime, you can visit our warehouse to view items. We have walk-in hours every Friday, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. You may also call our office to schedule an appointment to view items at other times. Surplus Property is here to support the UTSA community, but remember that this is a warehouse environment when visiting.