Mailroom, scrap the paper slips
Morgan Schneider
Issue date: 3/12/09 Section: Opinion
Stale cookies. There is almost nothing worse in a care package than stale cookies.
Sadly enough, I'm not the only one who's discovered, four days after a care package arrived, that it's waiting in the mailroom because of a silent paper slip in her mailbox. Little surprises like that are intended to be fantastic - but they're surprises, so they're also unanticipated on this end. (My mom is now aware that she should ship treats via UPS to bypass the college's paper-slip package notification system.)
I'll admit, part of the problem is I'm Greek. I eat up the hill once a week, so I don't check my mail during normal dining hours - which makes it more frustrating when I do get a package, and then have to wait to pick it up. Granted, I could make it a habit to check my mail daily, but opening a sadly empty mailbox gets tiresome and depressing ("Nobody likes me, nobody sends me mail, I can't believe my roommate got another letter and I didn't…"). I rarely check my mailbox unless I'm anticipating something. Maybe I should encourage everyone to send me more snail mail.
And here's the thing: The college has been quite vocal this year about reducing paper costs - they even want us to use direct deposit, for example. But if the college administration is legitimately serious about cutting costs by reducing paper usage, then let's apply the same principle to the mailroom. Stop using paper slips in students' mailboxes to alert them of a waiting package - use e-mail instead. It's faster, cuts down on paper expenses, and it's more efficient for employees who would no longer have to fill out slips and place them in mailboxes. A simple form letter sent out to all who had packages waiting could be accomplished with a few keystrokes and a couple of clicks. Georgetown University does it. I think we can too.
Scratch that - I know we can.
Students, after all, are generally more inclined to compulsively check their inboxes than their mailboxes (myself included).
Let's stop the stale cookies and belated package arrivals. Mailroom, it's time to get with the 21st Century and use e-mail notifications.
Sadly enough, I'm not the only one who's discovered, four days after a care package arrived, that it's waiting in the mailroom because of a silent paper slip in her mailbox. Little surprises like that are intended to be fantastic - but they're surprises, so they're also unanticipated on this end. (My mom is now aware that she should ship treats via UPS to bypass the college's paper-slip package notification system.)
I'll admit, part of the problem is I'm Greek. I eat up the hill once a week, so I don't check my mail during normal dining hours - which makes it more frustrating when I do get a package, and then have to wait to pick it up. Granted, I could make it a habit to check my mail daily, but opening a sadly empty mailbox gets tiresome and depressing ("Nobody likes me, nobody sends me mail, I can't believe my roommate got another letter and I didn't…"). I rarely check my mailbox unless I'm anticipating something. Maybe I should encourage everyone to send me more snail mail.
And here's the thing: The college has been quite vocal this year about reducing paper costs - they even want us to use direct deposit, for example. But if the college administration is legitimately serious about cutting costs by reducing paper usage, then let's apply the same principle to the mailroom. Stop using paper slips in students' mailboxes to alert them of a waiting package - use e-mail instead. It's faster, cuts down on paper expenses, and it's more efficient for employees who would no longer have to fill out slips and place them in mailboxes. A simple form letter sent out to all who had packages waiting could be accomplished with a few keystrokes and a couple of clicks. Georgetown University does it. I think we can too.
Scratch that - I know we can.
Students, after all, are generally more inclined to compulsively check their inboxes than their mailboxes (myself included).
Let's stop the stale cookies and belated package arrivals. Mailroom, it's time to get with the 21st Century and use e-mail notifications.
Be the first to comment on this story