Finding storage for outdated computer equipment at Sacramento State isn’t as easy a proposition as it seems.

Every year the university goes through a systematic check on faculty, and publicly used computer equipment.

Matthew Mills, an instructional computing consultant who is in charge of directing where old equipment is stored, said there are three options the university considers when equipment is deemed useless.

“We can take out the working parts. We can recycle it or we can surplus it,” said Mills, who said he acts as kind of the middleman between faculty members and the state, which supplies the money for the new equipment.

Results from a survey conducted by the state to see which departments are in need of new computer equipment the most determines which departments get the new equipment.

Mills said his staff ?” the Information Technology Consultants ?” then figures out where the oldest equipment is and replaces it.

In the meantime, other departments are allowed to pick up the outdated equipment. Full-time faculty members usually get priority for the outdated equipment, then part-time staff and down the hierarchy, Mills said.

Equipment that isn’t used is usually stored in a warehouse by Facilities Services, located inside the Facilities Services compound near the Health Center.

However, old equipment isn’t usually spoken for because many faculty members want the state-of-the-art equipment.

The departments want nothing to do with it either, so it is placed in the warehouse until the state picks it up and decides to auction it off, Mills said.

Associate Vice President of Business Operations Ronald Grant said people who run the state auctions don’t have a location to store the equipment either.

Grant said Facilities Services will throw away the equipment if it is deemed not valuable, but noted that money spent on trashing equipment is sometimes more than its selling cost.

“It’s a break even or not-losing-your-shirt proposition,” Grant said.

The computers are usually so obsolete by the time they make it to the auctions that no one wants to use them, Mills said.

The result is a buildup of old equipment that makes its way into the warehouse. Once the warehouse fills up, Mills and his staff have to find additional space for the computer. Components from old equipment can also be transferred into other computers that need the old parts.

But some parts ?” like old computer monitors ?” can’t be recycled.

“Right now, no one wants the old monitors,” Mills explained. “They want the LCD screens.”

Since the monitors are filled with mercury, they can’t be recycled normally and have to go through a special disposal process.

Lately, the out of date equipment is taking up space underneath stairwells and unused classroom space in places like Mariposa Hall.

“Capistrano had some trickle-down machines out of Mariposa Hall,” Mills said.

With so much equipment to keep track of, Mills sometimes works with additional staff to help organize it all.

“Capistrano Hall has its own computing consultant,” he said.

The warehouse is currently filled with old equipment waiting to be auctioned off or recycled.

The problem becomes more of a financial issue and/or a waiting game for the Facilities Services, Grant said.

The cost to recycle the equipment is a “way more” than Grant could say at time of publication.

The equipment can go toward other state-funded organizations like elementary schools. But even these schools will decline the old equipment in favor of newer equipment, Grant said.

Grant said it’s difficult to find storage space and people to take the equipment.

“Who’s going to want it?” Grant said about the old equipment.

Since the warehouse is currently full, old equipment will remain under stairwells or inside classrooms, Grant said.

Grant said to solve this problem, he is looking for alternative selling methods ?” including eBay and CraigsList.

Josh Staab can be reached at [email protected]