Outgoing Mail  Outgoing campus mail should be bundled and prepared to be given to a Mailing Services employee by 9:00 a.m. Monday through Friday.  Any outgoing mail, including the previous day’s forwarding mail, should be placed in the relay box outside of the building by 10:00 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Processing Mail Delivery  United States Postal Service mail should be retrieved from the relay box located outside of the hall.  The key to the relay box is located on the secretary key ring.

 Handling of mail should be done promptly. It may be necessary to check for mail more than once per day.  Mail brought in from the relay box should be sorted.  Letters should be separated from packages and any item too large to fit in a student’s mailbox or any item marked “Do Not Bend” should be considered a package and package handling procedures should be followed.  After separating mail from packages, the current Rolodex should be used to determine which mail should be set aside for forwarding.  All current residents’ mail should be placed in the proper mailboxes.

Caution  Do not hand students’ mail directly to them.  This does not benefit the student or staff working the desk.

Forwarding Mail  To forward mail, mark through the address and all barcodes on both the front and back using a China marker/grease pencil.  Forwarding addresses for students previously living in the hall are located in the Forwarding Address Rolodex.  The forwarding address should be written on the envelope next to the student address on the mail.  Mail can only be forwarded if the student leaves a forwarding address. If the student does not leave a forwarding address the mail should be returned to sender.

 If needed, place a new label on the envelope and write the forwarding address on the label.  Remember not to cover up the name of the recipient with the new label.  If no forwarding address is found, either write or stamp on the envelope RTS/NFA (Return to Sender/No Forwarding Address).  Bundle and place all forwarding mail in the outgoing mail box to be taken to the relay box the following day.

Additional Information  All first-class mail must be forwarded for one year.  Examples of first class mail (including priority mail) includes: Anything mailable Bills Invoices Personal correspondence Merchandise

 Periodicals must be forwarded for 60 days.  These include newsletters and magazines.  First-class mail and periodicals that are undeliverable should be returned to sender.

Bulk Mail Endorsements  The term "bulk mail" refers to quantities of mail prepared for mailing at reduced postage rates.  Although the Postal Service uses the terms "bulk" and "presorted" interchangeably, Bulk mail and Standard Mail forwarding instructions depend on the “endorsements.”  If no endorsement is listed on the envelope and if the person it is addressed to is not at the address listed, then Bulk mail and Standard mail may be shredded.  If a student receives Bulk mail or Standard mail from a company they have not contacted, i.e., credit card offers, the student may request the mail be returned to sender. This costs the sender and may stop them from sending additional offers to that address.  The next slide is an example of mail that can be returned to sender if the student requests or if the student is not at that address, the mail should be shredded.

 When mail is undeliverable as addressed, the Post Office needs directions on how to deliver that mail.  These directions are called “endorsements.”  These endorsements may be printed: Below the return address Above the delivery address To the left of the postage area and below any rate marking Below the postage area and below any rate marking

 “Address Service Requested” and “Forwarding Service Requested” offer forwarding and return service with the new mail address provided or reason of non-delivery.  The mail is forwarded at no charge for 12 months after the addressee moves and an address correction fee of $.75 is charged to the mailer.

 “Return Service Requested” offers no forwarding.  In this case, the mail is returned with the reason attached.  The fee charged to the mailer is equal to First Class mail rates for the piece.

Who Can Process Mail  Only the secretary or CRE who have been trained may process mail.  RDAs and other hourly workers should not be processing mail or packages.  The mail room should always be secured and only those authorized and trained should be in the mail room.