ALEXANDRIA NIEVES and JOSH RANNEY
Special to The Leader and News Editor
If you live in a dorm and you’ve ordered something online or gotten a package in the mail, you’ve probably gotten an email that said, “You have a package waiting at the University Bookstore.”
Christopher Zenns, the Director of Retail Operations said there are two reasons for the change, “First, it was going to be mandatory from the postal service. Second, it was security.”
Zenns brought up how postal services were sent a memo that all colleges need to choose one specific spot for drivers to drop the mail off.
The reason was postal services didn’t want their drivers driving to multiple locations on a campus. This memo concerned not only Fredonia, but UB, Buffalo State and others.
Darin Schulz, the Executive Director of Faculty Student Association, said, “When delivery was being made directly to the halls, drivers from all of the delivery services had access to the residence halls.”
Having multiple drivers coming into the building concerned faculty because the drivers could roam wherever through the buildings. It was becoming a security issue.
Despite the solution to one problem others have arisen in terms of the convenience for students.
Haley Menze, a junior social studies adolescent education major, said, “I can only get [the package] during their hours, which is a pain because of my classes and other things on my schedule.”
Schulz said, “By moving the delivery to University Commons, there is not a security issue with the delivery drivers and there is also a chain of custody with FSA receiving the package.”
Zenns said, “The packages will be moved to the back of the bookstore, where students get their textbooks.”
The pick-up location is the window where students who apply for the textbook pre-pack go to pick up their textbooks.
For Kyle Licht, a senior video production and interdisciplinary studies major and resident assistant in Grissom Hall, the change is great.
“I love it,” said Licht. “It’s a smarter idea and easier for us.”
Taking package handling out of RA’s hands makes the job easier according to Licht.
“Dealing with packages is usually an annoyance for RA’s and can take up a bit of time,” he said. “So it’s one less thing to worry about among our endless list of duties.”
Licht also explained that the new delivery plan, eliminating the middle-man, cleans up a previously cumbersome system.
“Rather than the packages going to the school then getting distributed to each building, [they] go straight to the school. The old method led to a lot of packages coming in late or getting lost in transition,” said Licht.
Licht said while his residents are freshmen and they never experienced anything different, they echo the complaints of Menze. Licht said, like Menze, his residents are most annoyed with the limited amount of time they have to go retrieve their packages during the bookstore’s hours of operation.
“They said they don’t really like it because it’s not as convenient mostly because [of] the times,” said Licht.
Aside from the accessibility issue in regard to time, accessibility has been reduced by simply putting packages in another building on campus, not down the hall.
Although Licht praised the new system as a convenience for resident assistants, he conceded, “It would be nicer for [the residents] if it was in their hall and not across campus.”