For UW-Madison Departments

University policy requires all sales or donations to entities outside UW–Madison be conducted through Surplus With A Purpose (SWAP).

Before including any capital assets on a Surplus Request Form, departments must:

1. Submit a Disposition Request Form to Property Control
2. Receive a Disposition Approval email from Property Control

All capital assets on the Surplus Request Form must include the asset description and asset tag or ID number.

University policy requires all sales or donations to entities outside UW–Madison be conducted through Surplus With A Purpose (SWAP).

UW departments must submit a Surplus Request Form to declare any property as surplus and request disposal through SWAP. All property disposed of through SWAP must conform to SWAP’s Material Acceptance Guidelines. With the exception of computer components, all property must be re-purposable as whole or parts-or-repair devices. All furniture must be in salable condition.

There are 3 avenues of disposal through SWAP:

1. Pick-up – SWAP offers free pick-up services to University buildings located in the Madison area. This service is restricted to property located on loading docks or within close proximity to the ShopUW+ delivery area.
2. Drop-off – Submit a Surplus Request form and wait for an approval email from SWAP. Once approval is received, property can be delivered to our location Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Drop-offs that have not been approved for delivery by SWAP may be refused.
3. On-site sales – Departments can request SWAP list surplus property from the department’s location on the SWAP Online Auction site. This service is typically reserved for high-valued, large, or sensitive equipment. Instructions for Selling Surplus Items on Location

While SWAP’s pick-up services may be utilized, departments are ultimately responsible for the transportation of the property to the SWAP warehouse unless the property will be sold on-site.

SWAP accepts all computer equipment regardless of age or condition. This includes:

• Desktops and laptops
• Printers
• Copiers
• Televisions & Monitors
• Keyboards & Mice
• Cables
• Docking stations

Large quantities of computer components should be boxed up and/or placed in speed packs (heavy duty packing boxes) for transport. Speed packs can be requested using the Speed Pack Request form.

SWAP treats all data-bearing devices as if they contain sensitive protected data (e.g. student, health, or financial information). Devices are secured upon receipt and sent to our e-waste recycler for disposal. However, SWAP is not responsible for records disposal/destruction.  Destruction of records must occur prior to disposition of the device.

SWAP is not responsible for records disposal/destruction, including paper and electronic records on data-capturing devices such as computers, servers, and copiers. All data-capturing devices received by SWAP are secured and sanitized or sent to a secured off-site facility for physical destruction. However, this should be seen as a redundancy-measure only and the responsibility for the data sanitization rests solely on the department.

For the pick-up and physical destruction of individual hard drives containing sensitive data, the Department of Administration’s Recycling of Electronic Waste Services contract is available to UW–Madison departments. Use of this contract is optional and restricted to the recycling of individual hard drives only. All other computer components must be declared as surplus and offered to SWAP via the Surplus Request Form.

The State Record Center is available to UW–Madison departments for the destruction of CDs, microfilm, VHS tapes, data cartridges, X-rays & negatives, floppy discs, and optical discs. This type of media is referred to as Mixed Media, which SWAP can accept in small quantities. Contact SWAP with any questions.

All property disposed of through SWAP must conform to SWAP’s Material Acceptance Guidelines.

View Material Acceptance Guidelines