Getting Schooled in Asset Tracking on College Campuses

College campuses are some of the most mobile and active places. Students are constantly on the go. Classes are always in session. Administrators, staff, and teachers have lesson plans and tests, meetings and planning sessions keeping them occupied. So while everyone is on the move from place to place or activity to activity, have you ever given any thought to all the assets and inventory on a college campus and how anyone can keep up with it all? It’s a really daunting. From laptops to footballs, dorm room beds to theater stage equipment, asset tracking on college campuses is one of the most important functions that is often overlooked.

Teachers, staff and even students have so many tasks and responsibilities on a regular basis that tracking assets aren't most likely at the top of the list. With all that is on their plate, tools and equipment that is used every day can easily go missing, get damaged or even be stolen. How many of us can raise a hand when asked if they lost a laptop at a college or had their phone stolen? Or maybe they checked out materials from the library and never returned them or they simply “disappeared” in the dorm? With all that we have to think about in getting through college, chances are we are just too busy to focus on the college’s assets.

Time constraints and growing inventory put colleges in a difficult position with keeping up with their assets. Three consistent issues with tracking assets on college campuses are:

1. Schools/departments do not know what assets they have.
2. They are using outdated or inefficient processes like hand-written ledgers or (shared) electronic spreadsheets.
3. They are not able to keep up with technology updates for all their equipment as students/faculty needs it, and demand of up-to-date assets is growing as enrollment grows or class structure changes.

Every year, colleges lose thousands to millions of dollars simply because they are not accurately tracking and measuring their assets. These assets can be everything from merchandise in the bookstore, to food service items in the dining hall; maintenance materials to vital equipment in the health center or medications in the pharmacy. Then there’s the equipment in the athletic department, materials for the cheer/dance squads and the band. Think of all the athletic equipment at the campus workout facility – mats, dumbbells, workout equipment. Beds, desks, chairs in the dorm rooms? Those too are assets that need to be tracked. Assets play a vital role in virtually every school/area of study and service/location on campus.

When it comes to asset tracking on college campuses, just like in the business world, knowing where an item is, who has it, if it has been checked in/out, and its maintenance history are key pieces of data. Robust, flexible, and cloud-based asset tracking tools with corresponding mobile apps can help colleges and their staff keep up with their increasing number of assets and where they are at all times, saving two of the most valuable resources -- money and time. Colleges who implement an asset tracking management software solution find that they reap the following benefits:

• Saves money
• Tracks down stolen, lost, or missing assets
• Enforces accountability
• Keeps everything in a centralized database
• Provides access to data for appropriate users
• Reduces auditing time and improves accuracy
• Eliminates the purchase of unnecessary or duplicate items
• Gives users the ability to instantly scan assets with a mobile app instead of expensive multiple barcode scanners
• Integrates with the school’s IT help desk
• Presents a professional image of the college

With Asset Panda’s cloud-based platform, educational institutions can experience all these benefits and more. Unlike other systems, Asset Panda is highly configurable, so it can become whatever you need it to be, and adjust as your students change or as your department changes. Asset Panda works the way you do, on devices you’re already using, both online and through free mobile apps. This makes it easy for all your users to access the information they need, when they need it, from wherever they happen to be.

Users can select the features that are relevant to their individual department’s needs, and customize them. Those features include a custom dashboard, custom fields, custom actions (like reports, alerts, and notifications), a calendar feature, custom security settings and more. From the palm of your hand, 24 hours a day, you can check on an item’s check-in/check-out status, GPS location, insurance policy, lease/purchase information, maintenance history and even depreciation figures.

Some of Asset Panda’s leading education clients include Arizona State University, Yale, the University of Texas at Austin, Gateway Technical College, and the University of Connecticut. When it comes to asset tracking on college campuses, Asset Panda should be at the top of your list. Give us a free 14-day try by visiting assetpanda.com.