The transition to Quinnipiac University’s new technologically smart locker package pickup system has spurred lengthy delays in the mail center’s package processing, sometimes leaving residential students without access to their mail until several days after it has been delivered.
In a Sept. 15 email to residential students, John Scott, executive director of technology infrastructure, said the high volume of packages the mail center received during the first weeks of the semester left staff with a backlog of mail to process.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and assure you we are doing everything we can to catch up and get back to a situation where mail and packages are delivered very soon after they arrive on campus,” Scott wrote. “Each day we are catching up little by little and expect to be back to normal by the end of next week.”
Kevin MacDougall, associate director of telephony, cabling infrastructure and administrative services, attributed the backlog to both the volume of mail and the “learning curve” associated with the new system.
MacDougall wrote that the mail center staff expects to eliminate the backlog by Sept. 22 if inbound package deliveries continue at the current rate. On Sept. 20, he said, the mail center was still expecting to process packages delivered to campus on Sept. 18.
Meanwhile, students who live on campus reported nearly week-long delays.
Josh Brazinski, a first-year 3+1 film, television and media arts major, received a notification to pick up his package on Sept. 19, six days after it arrived on campus.
“I’ve just been really anxious that my package was lost or something like that, especially because I didn’t have a tracking number, so I was worried that maybe it got lost in translation or the package just wasn’t going to get delivered at all,” Brazinski said.
The new high-tech system operates through nearly 1,000 self-service lockers in the student centers of the Mount Carmel and York Hill campuses. A student receives an alert via email or text message when their residential campus processes their package. From there, students can use the automated kiosks or the mobile app QTrak to open their assigned locker and pick up their package.
Although Brazinski said he appreciates the new tech-savvy system, he noted that he was frustrated by the delays it has caused.
“I like the concept, I think picking up packages is pretty easy, it’s pretty independent, you can just walk up and scan your card and get it,” Brazinski said. “But at the same time, I’m not totally sure that it’s effective.”
MacDougall said the volume of package deliveries is trending downward, meaning students should expect to start receiving their late packages soon.
“Once we are caught up (on deliveries) we plan to dig into the data and figure out how we can improve the process and match the volume,” MacDougall wrote about the mail center staff’s plan to prevent delays in the future.
Eventually, the staff hopes to transport packages to smart lockers within one day of receiving them, according to the Sept. 15 email from Information Technology Services. The delays are currently no different in the York Hill Campus mailroom than in the Mount Carmel Campus mailroom, MacDougall wrote.
Until the mail rooms are up-to-date, the digital signs outside both locker pickup areas will display information about expected delivery times. MacDougall encouraged students to pick up their packages in a timely manner to hasten the mail center’s processing time.
“The faster packages are picked up, the quicker the lockers become available and that helps keep the receiving process run as efficiently as possible,” MacDougall wrote.
