A year after limiting its office hours, the University of Missouri’s Campus Mail Service has realized more savings than expected without significantly affecting service, a spokeswoman said.
Since May 2010, the mail service’s Hitt Street parking garage walk-in location has been open from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. That’s a switch from the previous business hours that spanned 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday.
Staff this year did, however, make accommodations for faculty and staff who needed the office open at other times, said Karlan Seville, spokeswoman for Campus Facilities, which oversees the mail operation.
“There were really no complaints about the time change,” she said. “About once a week, they’d get a phone call from someone who couldn’t make it, so mail services would accommodate them.”
Although reducing office hours was the result of a drop in the volume of “snail mail,” the move also resulted in some cost savings. By eliminating four positions last spring, Campus Facilities saved $143,500 in its mail services operation, Seville said. That’s slightly more than the $142,000 the university predicted last year.
Other than outgoing packages, the decline in paper mail continued this year. In April, mail services handled 178,078 pieces of bulk mail, down from 210,044 bulk mail pieces in April 2010, and handled 135,208 pieces of incoming and intercampus mail, down from 154,646 pieces of individual mail in April 2010. Outgoing packages increased in April, with 253,678 items being sent out compared to 215,692 pieces in April 2010. The numbers come from Seville and MU spokesman Christian Basi.
Campus Mail Service handles mailing for MU and UM System offices but does not handle student mail. Letters and packages sent to residential halls are delivered through the U.S. Postal Service.
Link to article: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/12/mu-mail-service-change-saves-money-for-campus/
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