M&D: Service with a smile
Kate Christmann
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Features
It's Friday morning and the counter has already disappeared under cardboard boxes of assorted sizes, shapes and colors.
"Valentine's is the craziest," said Carolyn Hayworth. "This year we checked in around 200 packages in one day."
Hayworth is the mail and purchasing assistant for mailing and duplication, the department that takes care of all Spring Arbor University's duplicating needs and moves all the mail on campus. With over thirty departments and more than 1,000 on-campus students to deliver mail to, M&D workers certainly have their jobs cut out for them.
At the beginning of a typical day, M&D workers tote all SAU mail and packages in from the post office, sort them by station and deliver departmental mail and small packages across campus on four different mail routes. All other incoming packages are checked in and sorted and those infamous blue slips are delivered to the mailroom in the Student Center.
Why the blue slips? Not only do they provide identification upon pick-up but the time frames are written on the slip, said Hayworth, give students little excuse to come looking for packages on an off-hour.
M&D isn't trying to be mean by restricting students from getting their packages-they just need that uninterrupted time to keep things moving. "Pick-up times let us get other work done," said Hayworth, "[so] we appreciate [students] adhering to that policy."
Most students also fail to realize the care and precision that goes into campus mail reaching its recipient. Each morning, every individual piece of student mail must be checked on a master list to ensure the correct box number is written somewhere on it. Then, in the afternoon, an M&D employee carries the mail across campus and sorts it into over 500 student mailboxes. While this process may mean a longer wait for that letter from Grandma, it also means the letter will go to you and not the freshman who never checks his mailbox.
And if the wrong mail ends up in the wrong box anyway? Don't make a mess for M&D's mail sorters by pushing the unwanted item into the mailroom. "If something doesn't belong in your box, put it in the drop box [located across from the downstairs computer center]," Hayworth said.
"Valentine's is the craziest," said Carolyn Hayworth. "This year we checked in around 200 packages in one day."
Hayworth is the mail and purchasing assistant for mailing and duplication, the department that takes care of all Spring Arbor University's duplicating needs and moves all the mail on campus. With over thirty departments and more than 1,000 on-campus students to deliver mail to, M&D workers certainly have their jobs cut out for them.
At the beginning of a typical day, M&D workers tote all SAU mail and packages in from the post office, sort them by station and deliver departmental mail and small packages across campus on four different mail routes. All other incoming packages are checked in and sorted and those infamous blue slips are delivered to the mailroom in the Student Center.
Why the blue slips? Not only do they provide identification upon pick-up but the time frames are written on the slip, said Hayworth, give students little excuse to come looking for packages on an off-hour.
M&D isn't trying to be mean by restricting students from getting their packages-they just need that uninterrupted time to keep things moving. "Pick-up times let us get other work done," said Hayworth, "[so] we appreciate [students] adhering to that policy."
Most students also fail to realize the care and precision that goes into campus mail reaching its recipient. Each morning, every individual piece of student mail must be checked on a master list to ensure the correct box number is written somewhere on it. Then, in the afternoon, an M&D employee carries the mail across campus and sorts it into over 500 student mailboxes. While this process may mean a longer wait for that letter from Grandma, it also means the letter will go to you and not the freshman who never checks his mailbox.
And if the wrong mail ends up in the wrong box anyway? Don't make a mess for M&D's mail sorters by pushing the unwanted item into the mailroom. "If something doesn't belong in your box, put it in the drop box [located across from the downstairs computer center]," Hayworth said.
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