Starting today, the mailroom will be enforcing its 48-hour package pickup policy in a move to ensure students can receive their mail in a timely manner.
“They’re trying to move things,” says sophomore Ann Walsh, who works in the mailroom. “Last year, we had an issue where people wouldn’t pick up their packages. We had items that were delivered in September and were still there in December. So, this year, they’re trying to minimize stuff in the backroom and stuff in the lockers.”
She described the policy stating that there would be a two-day grace period from when the packages are placed in the locker, during which the students are expected to pick them up. Otherwise, the package will be returned to the sender.
Letters will have a month-long waiting period, after which they will also be returned to the sender.
Walsh also mentioned that the hours for the package window had changed. “The window is open more [often], so people have more opportunities to get their packages.”
Despite the policy not yet being enforced, word has already spread amongst the student body.
Upon learning about the new policy, first-year Annabelle Purvis shared her thoughts. “If people are busy, they can’t pick up their packages at a certain time. The mailroom is only open for a certain window of time, so if you can’t access your packages and they get sent back because you’re swamped with work, that’s unfair.”
The new fall semester hours for the mailroom are from Monday to Thursdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.. While the new hours represent an additional hour and a half of service, the mailroom hours emphasize that “no transactions” will be offered after 4 p.m.
Purvis had also mentioned that she once went to the mailroom at 5:00 p.m. and it was closed. Because of the policy, students are more likely to be quicker in picking up their packages.
Walsh says she’s already seen an increase in urgency when it comes to picking up packages. “I noticed people are more on time to get their packages. They see the email and they come in here, and [ask if their] package is gone.”
This new policy will likely address the backlog of packages in the mailroom that Walsh had mentioned. This semester alone, the mailroom has processed over 27,000 packages for a student body of almost 5,000 undergraduates.