Procedure No.:   42.001

Page No.:        1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8 of 8

Date Issued:     01/11/79

Issued By:       G. Peebles

PURPOSE:

To outline the policy of Ohio University regarding the United States mail and the Inter-Office Mail Service. These procedures detail the delivery and collection practices of the Ohio University Mail Service and provide guidelines for offices to facilitate the system.

POLICY:

Ohio University operates a mailing service for the delivery of mail to and from the united States Post Office and for the exchange of inter-office communications. The volume of mail handled and geographical expanse of the campus operations require an orderly and efficient distribution system.

I. U. S. MAIL

A. All incoming First Class Mail is distributed to departments on the same day the mail is received by the University. The mail is collected at the Athens Post Office at 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon Monday thru Friday, except for united States government holidays. Any First Class Mail obtained from the above two collections should normally be delivered on the same day to the receiving department. Residence halls receive mail directly from the Athens Post office.

B. All outgoing mail collected by the Ohio University Mail Service will, under normal conditions, be delivered to the Athens Post Office on the same day. This mail should be postmarked no later than the evening hours on the day of collection. Bulk mailings not properly sorted would be an exception.

C. The following points are important concerning the use of the campus mail service.
Using a correct return address will improve the efficiency of the service.

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Examples of correct addresses are:

Ohio University Dean of Students Cutler Hall Athens, Ohio 45701 Dean________________ Ohio University College of Education McCracken Hall Athens, Ohio 45701

University departments and offices should also encourage individuals, institutions, or business firms to follow the above examples when communicating with Ohio University.

D. The University cannot, financially or legally, condone the use of its employees, postage and/or materials for the preparation of any mailing that cannot be construed as official University business.

Examples of mailings that cannot be made and charged with University funds are:

1. Communications of a personal nature, as opposed to official University business.

2. Advertisements that are not official University business.

3. Announcements relative to the sale of personal property.

4. Meeting notices or other business of groups and organizations that are not financially supported directly with University funds.

II. INTER-OFFICE MAIL

A. Inter-office communications collected from departmental offices will normally be delivered to the recipient department during the next regularly scheduled route. Delivery will not be later than the following collection from the sending department.

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B. A special, late afternoon collection from selected locations is provided for sending important outgoing mail.

C. Two types of mail enter the Inter-Office Mail Service. They are:

1. Mail addressed to an individual. This mail must be placed in an inter-office mail envelope or folded to letter size. Identify the mail with the individual's complete campus address.

2. Official announcements or notices for mail distribution to all departments, faculty and staff.

D. Mail addressed to an individual should preferably enter the system in a standard inter-office mail envelope. The individual's name, department and building should appear on the envelope. Any previous addresses on the envelope should be eliminated. The two sizes of available inter-office mail envelopes are 4" x 9" and 10" x 13". These envelopes may be ordered from General Stores.

E. The size of announcements and notices for general distribution to all offices and departments should be either 5h" x 8h" or 8h" x 11". The Ohio University Mail Service should be given advance notice of the distribution requirements. The documents to be distributed should arrive at the Mail Service no later than the day prior to the date of requested distribution.

F. The Ohio University Mail Service does not deliver inter-office mail to or from students. Delivery of U.S. Mail to off-campus housing units and residence halls is made only by the Athens Post Office.

Items specifically "EXCLUDED" from using the inter-office mail service are:

1. Communications of a personal nature, as opposed to official University business.
   

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2. Advertisements that are not official University Business.

3. Announcements relative to the sale of personal property, holiday greetings, and political campaign notices.

4. Student communications. The United States Post Office provides direct delivery service for student communications, whether to University or non-University property.

5. Meeting notices, announcements, requests for fund raising activities or other business of other than university offices or approved organizations. Unions or employee organizations, which includes university recognized collective bargaining agents, their offices, employees or representatives, shall have the right to utilize the campus mail service with university offices for handling of official union correspondence and grievance processing on the same basis and policies, where applicable, as the operating departments within the University Community. The privilege of using the mail service by unions or employee organizations does not include the handling of general mailings or mass distribution of notices, leaflets, etc.

6. Announcements, catalogs, sale notices from companies or individual's outside the University.

III. DELIVERY SCHEDULES

The Ohio University Mail Service delivery schedules are attached. Although these schedules may vary, approximate delivery times are indicated. Departments can assist in making the best utilization of the mail distribution system by being certain that mail ready for collection is placed at the designated collection sites prior to the carrier arrival times indicated on the attached schedules. (See Exhibit III)

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There are conditions beyond the control of the Mail Service that will influence schedules. Departments must recognize that exceptions to the schedules will be experienced. Some of these conditions are:

A. Traffic flow. The schedules have been developed for normal traffic patterns.

B. Inclement weather. In times of inclement weather, some variance in delivery schedules may be anticipated.

C. Volume of mail. The volume of incoming and outgoing mail may vary as much as 300% between two consecutive days. Extremely large volumes of incoming mail on a given day may also effect route schedules. In addition, special mailings influence the established schedules.

D. Staffing, sickness, vacation and absenteeism may cause some delays in our regular schedules.

The schedules are self-explanatory. Because of staffing problems, it is necessary to limit the number of stops on routes. Departments with urgent mailings late in the day are encouraged to take their mail to one of the locations before the scheduled time of collection or to use postage stamps and then place the mail directly into the United States Mail boxes. Postage stamps may be obtained from General Stores and kept available within departments for emergency use.

Departments can improve the general quality of the Mail Service and insure rapid delivery of their outgoing campus correspondence by completing in full the appropriate blanks on every inter-office mail envelope.

Departments anticipating sending large quantities of mail should call the Mail Service, 594-5291 and make arrangements to have the mail collected and handled with special attention.

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IV. BULK MAILINGS

The U. S. Postal Service mandates that all bulk mailings be prepared and handled according to certain specifications prior to reaching the Athens Post Office. Failure to follow Postal Service requirements may delay processing and delivery.

The University Labeling Service is available to departments with some limitations. The Labeling Service is a small operation and must receive sufficient prior notice on all jobs.

Departments which prepare their own bulk mailings should be aware of the following information and guidelines.

A. All mail must be bundled in zip code order, bound with two rubber bands, and labeled with one of four zip code cards. (Rubber bands and zip code cards may be obtained from the Labeling Service of the University Mail Service.)

B. Bundles must contain a minimum of ten (10) pieces. Departments planning to bundle their own mail should contact the Labeling Service to obtain bundling requirements.

C. Labels which are machine addressed and obtained from the Computer Services Center can be arranged in zip code order upon request. (See policy and procedure # 91.001)

D. Regardless of who prepares bulk mailings (the Labeling Service or your department), the following is a strict requirement

1. Advise the campus mail service with the exact number of pieces of mail.

2. Advise the campus mail service that a bulk mailing is forthcoming no less than five (5) working days before delivering to the mail room.

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Bulk mail may be defined as "any mail other than first class". Any questions pertaining to the above procedures should be directed to the University Mail Service at 594-5291.

V. COMPUTERIZED POSTAGE BILLING PROCEDURES

The Mail Service Department has established a monthly billing procedure which should provide a more accurate and detailed accounting of your departmental postage costs. We solicit your assistance and cooperation with this system.

A. All departments who have mail or postage costs charged to their account(s) must complete form #4804 "Departmental Postage Charge Forms Replacement Request" (see Exhibit I), and send it to Computer Services Center.

B. This form requests Computer Services to issue to your department, at no charge, a "Departmental U. S. Mail Charges" (Form #4802) that will have your departmental name, account number, and other information which will be used in computing your daily mail charges (see Exhibit II).

C. The #4802 form must be secured or banded to each packet of mail picked up daily by the mail delivery staff. The form will be used to compute your total costs for that group or packet of mail for that days business. If you have several packets or groups of mail to be sent out, use a form (#4802) for each group.

D. Departments are requested to complete only the name of the individual responsible for sending out the mail. DO NOT designate the type, number, date or cost. This will be completed by the Mail Service staff.

NOTE: If there are special instructions concerning how the mail should be sent, i.e., Special Delivery etc., it should be noted in memo form and attached to the #4802 form.

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E. You are reminded that each group or pick up of outgoing U. S. Mail must have the charge form #4802 attached to it. Keep plenty of forms #4802 on hand and request additional forms, as needed, through the Computer Services Department. outgoing mail that does not have the charge form with it may be delayed or incorrectly billed.

F. If you have multiple account numbers for which you make postage charges, you must request separate #4802 forms for each account number. Please be sure to include the complete 21 digit account number which in some cases includes a special program number.

G. All questions should be directed to the Mail Service Office at 594-5291.

Dick Piccard revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/s42-001.html) on October 22, 2007.

Please E-mail any comments or suggestions to "policy@ohio.edu".