ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ

Starting this November, ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ is launching a campus-wide physical inventory and RFID tagging initiative covering approximately 13,000 capital assets across approximately 200 buildings. The project, a partnership between the Campus Controller's Office and HCA Asset Management, is designed to modernize how the university tracks and safeguards the equipment it relies on every day.Ìý

Why Now?Ìý

Capital asset management has become a balancing act for colleges and universities everywhere. Institutions are expected to maintain accurate records, satisfy increasingly rigorous compliance requirements, and demonstrate responsible stewardship of equipment purchased with institutional, state, and sponsored funding, all while operating with leaner teams and fewer resources.Ìý

Traditional inventory methods often make this harder than it needs to be. Barcode scans require direct line of sight, meaning staff have to move equipment, search behind assets, or interrupt lab work just to locate a label. Excel listings sent back and forth add further lag between what's happening on the ground and what the records show. The result: inventories that take months or years to complete, and asset data that is often out of date by the time the inventory process is finalized.Ìý

ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ's move to RFID technology is meant to close that gap.Ìý

What's ChangingÌý

Passive UHF RFID tags don't require a direct line of sight and don't emit any signal on their own, they simply respond when a scanner passes nearby. That means inventory teams can verify multiple assets at once without physically handling equipment, and can do so in sensitive spaces (labs, server rooms, dense storage areas) with far less disruption than a traditional barcode sweep.Ìý

Institutions that have adopted this kind of technology have reported inventory time reductions of 40 to 60 percent, along with a noticeably lighter footprint for faculty, researchers, and departmental staff who no longer need to stop what they are doing to help locate a barcode.Ìý

Just as important as the tags themselves is what happens once an asset is scanned. Rather than collecting data for reconciliation later, field staff can confirm an asset's expected location, update records, document changes, and resolve discrepancies on the spot, turning inventory from a slow, after-the-fact paperwork exercise into a real-time verification process.Ìý

How It Will Work on CampusÌý

ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ's rollout is happening in two phases:Ìý

• Phase 1: Building Blitz (November–December 2026) HCA staff covers all spaces across campus, building-focused, majority of equipment located during this phase. Ìý

• Phase 2: Department Reconciliation (December 2026–January 2027) Department-focused. Scheduling of appointments to locate items not found during Blitz phase. List of 'to be accounted for' items provided to each individual department in advance.  Ìý

• Wrap-up (January–February 2027) Complete any lingering items and finalize reports. Ìý

Sensitive spaces such as vivariums, data centers, clean rooms, MRI and SIM facilities, housing, athletics, and off-site locations, will be scheduled individually rather than covered during the Blitz. Staff will not enter BSL3 labs or above; those areas will be handled through remote verification or direct coordination with lab personnel.Ìý

HCA staff will be identifiable by CU contractor badges and will carry tablets, handheld scanners, and rolls of asset tags.ÌýÌý

What Happens After the Tagging?Ìý

Once assets are tagged, how will future inventories actually be conducted?Ìý

As part of this project, HCA will work alongside CU to conduct a comprehensive assessment of CU's capital asset processes, systems, staffing, and resources, looking well beyond the tagging itself to how asset accountability should work campus-wide going forward.Ìý