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WSU Vancouver Mailroom - Mail Tips
List of all places/people for mail delivery
Go to the Index page for an easy way to find a subject
US Postal Service Refunds
Computer Deliveries
- The Engineering and Computer Science Department receives direct deliveries of computers and computer accessories (and does the install of the campus software in that Department)
- The Fine Arts Computer Lab in the MultiMedia Building receives direct deliveries of computers and computer accessories (and does the install of the campus software in that Lab)
- All other computer SYSTEMS are delivered to VIT for installation of campus network and security software. The Receiving Report for the computer item is also delivered to VIT, for completion when the computer is delivered to the end user
- Shared network printers (and their Receiving Reports) will be delivered directly to the actual user, for VIT to connect and configure "on the spot" after the user calls VIT for a work order
- Various "small" computer items (non-network printers, replacement mice or monitors, etc) are delivered directly to the ordering Department, with a Receiving Report (if the item was not purchased with the Department's credit card)
- Once the computer is delivered to the end user, and VIT completes the Receiving Report, the Receiving Report will be logged at WSU-V Receiving, and then forwarded on to the end user for filing (look for the big red PROCESSED stamp)
- Computer SYSTEMS which are purchased via credit card (so there is no Receiving Report) and which are sent to VIT for processing (network and security setup) will have a page printed from the daily receiving database, and sent to the computer owner, so the actual owner will know their item is at VIT for setup
- Receiving staff do not keep or process any packing slips or receipts received with the equipment. Receiving staff works ONLY with a Receiving Report, in the case of items ordered with a Purchase Order, and merely forwards any and all other documents or attachments to the user for filing
- Owners may send an email to VIT to check on delivery status
Return SASE Mail
- When you need a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) for return mail
- (1) send a bundle of envelopes to the mailroom with your account and a note 'SASE"
- Exact Weight and Postage (2) plus a sample envelope with return contents if you think the return will weigh more than 1.0 ounce and therefore use more than $0.41 postage (the Postage Meter does not do "estimated" postage, so you must include the exact contents for the correct weight and postage)
- Please NOTE that a large envelope, even at 1.0 ounce or less, has an "oversize" fee and will cost more postage then the one ounce fee for a regular size envelope, so it is even more important to make up a sample envelope, with contents, for accurate postage
- Please do NOT use the flap of each over the next method of stacking envelopes when you are sending a stack of envelope to have return postage applied... stacking envelopes with the flap of each over the next is only for those times when you want the postage meter to seal your envelope.
- Your envelopes will be stamped and returned to you THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY (All US Mail postage meter stamping is done once a day, after the Courier mail is sorted and placed out at 3:30 PM for Courier pickup)
Adding New Employees to the Mail Sorting List
- List of all places/people for mail delivery
- The information needed to add someone to the mail sorting list is (A) Name and (B) Department and (C) default expense account to be used for US Postage (since people are allowed to send mail with either an expense account on the envelope, or their Name and Department, a default expense account must be entered in the delivery list to use as a cross-reference)
- Call John or Jeanette at 546-9708 or Email to Mailroom to add a new employee to the mail sorting list, or to switch employees between accounts, to ensure speedy mail delivery.
- Please do not "presume" that a temporary employee will not receive mail, since if the person is physically here, they are very likely going to receive mail (such as Teaching Assistants who receive course materials from Pullman) and not providing their names when they are hired will only lead to mail delays.
- Please also provide change information when someone leaves WSU Vancouver. About Mail for Past Employees
Purchase Order Addressing
- When using the Purchase Order system, please remember that the default address is for Pullman, so you need to make sure you select the option to have the vendor send your item here to the Vancouver Branch Campus, or your items will be delayed by being sent to Pullman and then RE-shipped here (in the case of perishable goods, your items may also "die" in transit)
Overstuffed Envelopes (Flap Sealing)
- If you have ONE envelope, please seal the flap by hand
- Due to the high volume of outgoing mail (average of about 5,000 pieces per month) Mailroom Staff is not able to inspect each and every envelope to look for individual envelopes which need to be sealed
- Please do not bring "big, fat, overstuffed envelopes" to the mail room, with the flaps open for the postage meter to seal, since the postage meter will not securely close your envelope... you need to manually seal this type of envelope before you send them to the Mailroom (Also read about Sending a LUMP in the US Mail)
- An envelope to be sealed, when the pages are folded to make an address show and some of the page is left "sticking up" into the area of the flap, does not seal in the postage meter
- The postage meter does not "fold" the flaps and "press" them to seal, it only wets the glue and the weight/pressure of the next envelope in the line is what holds the flap closed until the glue is "set" and the envelope seals itself shut
- Also note that self-sealing envelopes use two-part DRY adhesive, and must be sealed by hand instead of using the WET sealing process of the postage meter
- A final note is that the flap sealer only works with standard #10 "business" envelopes... smaller envelopes, especially envelopes with a "Deep V" flap, either twist and jam (sometimes rip) or "something" about the envelope causes the flap not to close properly and the envelopes then stick to each other... leading to a MESSY envelope when they must be torn apart and sealed with tape due to the glue being used up by sticking to another envelope instead of to the back of the envelope as it should... in short, please HAND SEAL this type of small envelope
Past Employee Mail From Pullman
- If you are receiving pre-printed mail from Pullman for past employees, you need to contact HRS to submit the type of Personnel Action required to completely remove the individual from the computer system (which is evidently different than simply removing an individual from the current payroll system... ask HRS for details)
Mail IN and OUT Boxes
- The work areas on each floor will have one OUT box, and as many IN boxes as are needed to accomodate the number of Departments for that floor. Mail Stops
Supplies and Boxes - Delivery Schedule
- The Mailroom does not have funds to purchase shipping supplies for use by the Departments, so only those items which are FREE from suppliers are available to deliver, as requested, to a Department
- Those FREE supplies will include mailers from FedEx, UPS and the US Postal Service... in LIMITED numbers to match the storage space available in the Mailroom
- Call 6-9708 or email to Mailroom to request supplies
- General supplies (copy and printer paper, etc) and packages will be delivered as soon after they are received as space in the delivery vehicle allows.
- Any items which require special handling (such as live lab animals) will be delivered as soon as possible.
Outgoing Mail - Schedule
- Place all outgoing mail in the OUT box located in each work area. Be sure to put all mail or packages in the OUT box by 9 AM to be sure it will be picked up in the morning rounds, such as for sorting of on-campus mail for delivery in the afternoon.
- Outgoing mail will be picked up each time mail is delivered, with the LAST pickup being when the final mail is delivered starting at approximately 2 PM, to make the courier pickup at 3:30 PM.
- Courier mail generated after the last pickup at 2 PM, and which must go out that day, will need to be hand carried to the mailroom, by 3:15 PM, by the person sending the mail. Full Schedule
Hand Carried Mail and the Mail Box
- When sending University mail to the mailroom via student aid, and the envelope needs a stamp from the meter, please tell your helper to NOT drop the mail in the US Mail tote bin kept near the door.
- Only mail that already has a stamp should be placed in the US Mail tote bin kept near the door.
- Place mail needing a University stamp on the work table next to the postage meter (in the back left corner of the room) so a metered stamp may be placed on the envelope.
Envelope Tip - Flap Sealing
- To meet a new Federal security mandate for a digitally encoded stamp, a new postage meter was installed on August 10, 2005 - This new meter is NOT a redesign or new model of the old postage meter, it has a completely different internal design, especially in how the open flaps on the top of a standard #10 envelope are sealed
- This new design means that flap sealing is no longer automatic, the operator must specifically set the sealing option, and attempting to feed an envelope with the wrong option selected may very well result in the mail piece being mangled by the machine (the equipment installer was VERY concerned about passing this information on to everyone)
- If you have ONE envelope, please seal the flap by hand
- Due to the high volume of outgoing mail (average of about 5,000 pieces per month) Mailroom Staff is not able to inspect each and every envelope to look for individual envelopes which need to be sealed
- If you have a lot of envelopes to send, and do not want to lick them yourself, arrange the envelopes in a NESTED fashion with the flap of each GENTLY FOLDED over the next, and the Pitney-Bowes meter will seal the envelopes at the same time as the postage is printed on the front
- Place a rubber band around your bundle before you put it with the out mail, so the contents of your envelopes will not spill and so the flaps will stay GENTLY FOLDED and do not become damaged during handling
- Please do NOT use the flap of each over the next method of stacking envelopes when you are sending a stack of envelope to have return postage applied... stacking envelopes with the flap of each over the next is only for those times when you want the postage meter to seal your envelope.
- Please insure that all items will fit inside the envelope, and that the flap will fold over and seal without obstruction, as over-size "stuffings" of the envelope will either cause the envelope to not seal properly, or in some cases may even jam the machine. Read the Overstuffed Envelopes Note and read about Sending a LUMP in the US Mail
- Do note that flaps on the LONG end of the envelope will not feed through the sealer, the envelopes twist and jam. For Example - You have an envelope that is 9x12 inches, and the flap is located on the 9 inch end, rather than along the 12 inch length... such an envelope will not feed through the flap sealer, the envelopes twist and jam in the feeder. You need to seal these envelopes by hand.
- Also note that self-sealing envelopes use two-part DRY adhesive, and must be sealed by hand instead of using the WET sealing process of the postage meter
- A final note is that the flap sealer only works with standard #10 "business" envelopes... smaller envelopes, especially envelopes with a "Deep V" flap, either twist and jam (sometimes rip) or "something" about the envelope causes the flap not to close properly and the envelopes then stick to each other... leading to a MESSY envelope when they must be torn apart and sealed with tape due to the glue being used up by sticking to another envelope instead of to the back of the envelope as it should... in short, please HAND SEAL this type of small envelope
Service in the Rain
- During the winter (actually, at all times) it is a good idea to NOT use a water soluble marker when addressing any mail items. Even with zipped delivery bags, a small amount of moisture is liable to "speckle" the mail. This is especially true for boxes that do not fit in the delivery bags
- Water soluble pens or markers RUN when wet. Please use a blue or black ballpoint ink pen (not a hard to read pastel color) or an indelible marker when putting addresses on all mail. This includes envelopes for US mail, interoffice routing envelopes, packages and all other items sent through the campus mail system
- If you do not have an indelible marker, please use clear, wide packing tape to completely cover the address on your item, so it does not "run" when wet and result in an item that is returned by the US Postal Service
Delivery Tip (Using a FULL or DEPARTMENT Name)
- When ordering supplies or when giving people your address, be sure to specify that they use your Full Name or Department Name to ensure prompt delivery. Using only a first or last name WILL lead to confusion and delivery delays, while Mailroom staff searches for delivery information.
- When working on Saturday and a delivery driver tries to have you sign for something, and the item is not for "you" personally, please direct any non-food delivery drivers to the Security Office, to insure proper security of the item until the next work day. Hopefully, any food deliveries will not occur on a Saturday, since the Cafeteria is closed and there is no way to store food - and, if the Cafeteria is open for a special event, the manager will have made arrangements for any special delivery food items.
Problems with Vendors using FedEx HOME Delivery
There is a valid address of 14204 NE 29 Avenue near the campus, and the evidence (4 times in 2008) is clear that the FedEx HOME delivery driver is not smart enough to see that our 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave address is not the same as the (vacant, rental) house on his/her non-business delivery route at 29 Avenue
Please tell everyone who places orders to do the following:
- Tell the vendor we are a BUSINESS and they should never use the FedEx HOME delivery service
- Tell the vendor to put Washington State University on the shipping label, along with the person's name or the Department name (Person's Name or Department is for delivery once the item is here at WSU)
- Tell the vendor to always use SIGNATURE REQUIRED as a delivery option, so the item will not be left on a (vacant, rental) front porch IF the wrong delivery service is used by the vendor
Kinko's Copy Orders
Kinko's copiers are "computer aware" so the best way for you to submit a copy job (if it is a computer document) is to...
- call 694-8584 so they know the job is on the way, and to verify that they will be able to "read" your particular file format
- send an email to Kinko's with job information (be sure to include your Purchase Order number, as well as complete instructions of what you want done, plus include your telephone number in case they have job questions)
- attach your computer document to the email
This works especially well if your computer document includes color, since their color copier will then "print" your job as an original for each page, rather than "copy" from paper
Email The Mailroom (please, no document attachments) with the PO number for a Receiving Report for you to sign
Internal Mail - Seal Only
If you have ONE envelope, please seal the flap by hand
Due to the high volume of outgoing mail (average of about 5,000 pieces per month) Mailroom Staff is not able to inspect each and every envelope to look for individual envelopes which need to be sealed
If you have a bundle of mail, in regular envelopes with the flaps folded so each is over the next in line (Envelope Tip - Flap Sealing), and that mail is for Internal Distribution and not to be placed in the outgoing US Mail bin:
- Do Not Put an Account Note on the Bundle, or your mail will be stamped and your account will be charged postage (far too much outgoing mail for Mailroom staff to look at individual addresses [Monthly Mailroom Statistics])
- Place a note on the bundle which reads Internal Mail Distribution - Seal Only
- A final note is that the flap sealer only works with standard #10 "business" envelopes... smaller envelopes, especially envelopes with a "Deep V" flap, either twist and jam (sometimes rip) or "something" about the envelope causes the flap not to close properly and the envelopes then stick to each other... leading to a MESSY envelope when they must be torn apart and sealed with tape due to the glue being used up by sticking to another envelope instead of to the back of the envelope as it should... in short, please HAND SEAL this type of small envelope
- Read about Overstuffed Envelopes (Flap Sealing)
Last updated 10-12-2007
Send MAILROOM comments to Mailroom
Send FACILITY comments to Facility Operations
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