Good morning all 🙂
First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my blog… especially if you already participated in my survey. This will be much the same style that the survey was, so brace yourself .
I have been affiliated with Western Oregon University most of my life. My father has worked here since before the invention of the wheel, and my husband has been here for over 10 years now. I have been directly involved with WOU a total of 10 non-consecutive years- starting here right after high school in 2000 and receiving my undergraduate degree in 2008 (in just a shade under a decade too, alright!)
When I started working in the Mailroom, Doris Clark was my supervisor. I learned most of what I know from her, including her mantra: “The beatings will continue until morale improves”. Back in those days, the mail was hand delivered to each department individually; the first mailboxes were not installed until 2002 (I believe). We used these metal carts with baskets on the side that were a little cumbersome to push up the hill on Monmouth Ave outside the WUC. We’d get a running start at it and occasionally the brake would slip, causing me… someone that is not me to fall into it, the baskets to fall off and spill mail all over the ground. Good times, man!
Before my freshman year, Doris hired me on full time for the entire summer and I got lost a LOT. I learned how to ask people I don’t know for directions and how to network and get to know the important people… you know, the ones that work at the front desk! I learned this campus inside and out and new it better than any other student that started in the fall. I know this for a fact because that’s what I kept telling my SOAR guides during new student week orientation. I know they really loved it when I corrected them. They kept sighing and rubbing their temples a lot too… so I can only assume it was in awe of how much knowledge one 18-year-old can have. Eventually my head deflated.
I read a comment from one of the submitted surveys about how I “never act annoyed or impatient”- and I think it’s because I’ve interacted with other departments for so long that I understand that their priorities will always differ from mine. As well as working here in Mail Services from 2000 – 2002, I worked in various jobs at the Physical Plant, including the front desk, grounds, the mechanic, planning and painting and worked for the Business Office shortly before taking over in Mail Services full time. Some of you may also remember how we used to deliver mail… by hand, to the receptionist’s desk for each department. Each department has a language; euphamisms and acronyms that are unique not just to their field, but sometimes even to their office. Having conversations with people taught me the differences in priorities of different departments, and now I use that knowledge to remind me that when in a universal service role (such as Mail Services) it is important to learn the priorities of those you service; what is important to them should be important to me if I want to do my job well. That was a long way around to say that the reason I don’t act annoyed or impatient is because I rarely am. Also, because my youngest will be entering her senior year at Central next year, so many of you can expect lots of questions from me then. I figure we’re a school, and we’re all about education and I love teaching people new things! Also, you guys don’t typically argue like my kids do when I try to teach them new things.
The point I hope to make in saying all of this that I’ve seen the mail and Western change over the last couple decades to become what it is today. When I started, we would receive at least two trays of letter mail (between 1000 and 2000 small letters) and 6 tubs full of magazines and newspaper size mailings (this ended up being around 500-1000 pieces depending upon the size). Today, we receive half of that on a busy day. Email and electronic bank transfers have taken the place of the physical letters and checks that we used to process on a regular basis. This isn’t to say that we aren’t busy.
In a quick overview of our busiest time of year (usually from the beginning of New Student Week until the second week of Fall Term classes) I compared the amount of packages that we processed and delivered in 2008 to the same time range of packages we received/processed last year (the actual dates for both years were 9/15 to 10/17).
As shown in the chart, package intake has substantially increased for both the Residential Service Center (student mail) and the Campus. Student mail has more than doubled, and campus packages increase steadily. This leads me to believe that mail processing has not decreased, it has changed. Services such as Amazon Prime, various book rental companies and online subscriptions for beauty and grooming as well as care packages from home have increased exponentially every year. To date, the most packages we’ve delivered in a single day is 176. The most packages we’ve processed for the student mail in one day is 130 and the most packages we’ve processed for the campus in one day is 96 (fortunately not in the same day).
But we push on… as we must. This is a great job. I have a fantastic crew, a great boss and an amazing office. Even though my survey is now closed, I would welcome any further suggestions and comments. Now that I don’t see someone from every department on a daily basis, I rely upon you to keep me informed of your needs and priorities and how I can support you in those.
AB
