Over the past few months, cell phones have topped the list of lost items turned into the Lost and Found at UT Health San Antonio’s Parking Services, stated Karen Tyler, senior clerk, UT Health San Antonio Police Department.
More than half of the 19 cell phones turned into Lost and Found over the past six months were located at the Medical Arts and Research Center (MARC). Of those found, 11 were claimed and eight were destroyed.
After cell phones, keys and Apple AirPods were among the top items turned into Lost and Found over the past six months, Tyler stated.
Reporting a lost item is easy. People can bring items to UTPD or call dispatch to send an officer to pick up a found item.
Parking Services will note information such as where and when the item was found and the name of the person who found it.
Once an item is brought to Lost and Found — most often by campus security or faculty — representatives from Parking Services call the item into dispatch, where it is logged into their Automatic Records Management system. Every effort is made by the property clerk to locate the owner, according to the university’s Lost and Found policy and UT Police System policy.
After 60 days of storage at Parking Services, items with personal information like USBs and cell phones are destroyed, according to UT Police System policy.
Property not claimed in 90 days is turned over to the materials management warehouse supervisor to be stored until final disposition is made by the property manager in accordance with established rules and state law.
If the items remain unclaimed for another two months, they are prepared for an online auction. Funds from the auction — which takes place on directbids.com — go to the university’s general fund.
Sometimes, valuable items like laptops are turned in, but go unclaimed. If unclaimed, laptops will have their hard drives removed and will be sent the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for refurbishing for underprivileged schools or recycling if the items are past their software support date or cannot be repaired, said Scott Hartung, warehouse supervisor, materials management.
To view items that are up for auction from UT Health San Antonio, click here and search under the seller name — listed as UT San Antonio. The university’s current auction began March 12 and will run until March 22. The next auction will take place two weeks after that, Hartung said.
To report a lost item, bring it to Parking Services at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Campus or call UTPD dispatch at 210-567-2800 ext. 3. To find out if a lost item may be at Parking Services, please send an email to parking@uthscsa.edu with an inquiry.