Oklahoma Christian University is changing the way students receive mail. Previously, students got their mail via personal mailboxes with unique codes. Now, each student has their own file folder where the mail is delivered.
“We used to use the mailboxes, but students were having trouble opening them,” mailroom employee Sierra Bennett said. “Now all your mail will be in files, and you will get an email either saying you have a package or mail.”
With this new change, students will no longer have to struggle with opening their mailbox. Instead, students will present their ID to an employee and they will find the folder corresponding to each student.
“It used to be they didn’t know if they had anything in their mailbox and they would have to make the trip over here just to check, so that’s a benefit for the students,” mailroom assistant Teresa Tarrant said. “This also enables us to have one address the students use to receive their mail, whereas last year the people in the apartments had different addresses to use and got their mail in the mailboxes there. I feel this has streamlined many of the problems students had last year.”
This new system is already helping employees, according to Tarrant. In previous years, employees would have to stop what they were doing to come out and help students struggling with their mailboxes. Now, with less confusion, employees can focus on their jobs without being interrupted.
“I feel like it streamlined the work and made it more efficient and faster,” Tarrant said. “As long as the students get their mailbox numbers on their mail, that makes it faster for us. If it’s not on there, then it takes a few more steps for us.”
On top of changing the way the mail is stored for students, the notification in which students are alerted of their mail has changed. In previous years, students were not notified when they had mail, only when they had packages. Now, the mailroom will send students a detailed notification for both packages and letters.
“Being from California, I am always receiving letters and packages from friends and family,” sophomore Jamie Lewis said. “I also do not have a car, so last year, I was constantly walking to the mailroom to check my mailbox. Sometimes, there would be nothing in there and I just wasted 15 minutes of my day. Now that I am alerted whenever I receive mail, it makes everything less stressful because I know when to go to the mailroom to pick up my mail.”
The notification system upgrade is the second major change the mailroom has seen in the past two years. In 2017, the mailroom moved from the Gaylord University Center to its current location in the Heritage Village Office, giving students and employees a larger and less hectic space.
“We were in the Student Center, which was obviously more convenient than over here, and the plan is to move back to the Student Center when they expand it in about two years,” Tarrant said.
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