The Senate is working to institute a new electronic package notification system on campus in order to make picking up packages at the mailroom more convenient, efficient and environmentally friendly, according to Class of 2016 Senator Jonathan Jacob. The University and Senate are working together to move to a system that sends either an email or a text message notification directly to recipients when packages arrive.

Jacob pushed for this initiative because that he has had many frustrating experiences while trying to pick up packages and thought that the system could be improved, he wrote in an email to the Justice. He involved Executive Senator Annie Chen '14 and Director of University Services Dianne Qualter with the project, and they have been working together to figure out the best way to institute this initiative, according to Jacob. "The [U]niversity is currently in a bidding process with different mail room providers," wrote Jacob. "[T]he University intends to bring a 'state of the art' mailroom [to campus] sometime soon."

The current idea, Chen wrote, is that "students [would be] notified by email that they have a package in the mailroom and they [would] walk up to the doorway with their student ID. A quick card-swipe then [would pull] up information on a monitor that [would tell] the mailroom worker whether the student has a package and, if so, where in the mailroom it is located." This process will make the mailroom much more efficient, and hopefully eliminate the long lines that often develop, according to Jacob and Chen. The current system of package slips is also extremely wasteful, according to Jacob, as they are thrown away as soon as the student picks up the package.

"We wrote our proposal considering the comparatively low implementation costs to a mailroom renovation and the possible benefit to sustainability, long-term costs, and general student happiness," wrote Chen of the reasoning behind this initiative.

Though this is only a model for the system that they hope to adopt, the committee said administrators in Procurement Services told them that the mailroom will be renovated by the beginning of next year, according to those involved in pushing the initiative.

"I hope students will be receptive to this change and take advantage of it once implemented. No more walking from grad to the mail room with disappointment on the walk back!" wrote Jacob.

He and Chen wrote that they have high hopes for this program, and through their collaboration with University Services, this new system should be implemented by the beginning of next school year.
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