What you need to know about Pullman campus mail for fall 2020
Last month, Washington State University announced that its Pullman campus was going to shift as many of its courses to a distance delivery format as possible, with the other campuses making similar decisions.
Mailing Services, who works out of the Cooper Publications Building, had to make some adjustments in order to keep providing their services when the work from home order began in March. With faculty and staff still being encouraged to work from home when possible, here’s what you need to know about keeping your mail flowing into and out of the Pullman campus for the fall semester.
What will be different for students?
For the students who are coming back to campus, they should not see an interruption in service. Joy Rich, Mailing Services supervisor, said her staff still has card access to the main door and front desk areas of the residence halls that are open, so her team will be able to deliver mail to those students.
Rich said that about half to two-thirds of the residence halls will be open for the fall semester, and at the WSU system-wide town hall on August 19, Mary Jo Gonzales, vice president of student affairs, said residence hall housing has been filled at about 15 percent occupancy.
“We are still researching on how to manage Saturday deliveries to the residence halls,” Rich said. “We think that’s a service that needs to be continued for the students’ sake…We’re trying to come up with flexible schedules for our full-time employees to fill that bracket.”
How can I get my mail?
Rich says they are only able to deliver to 10 of the 80 buildings on the Pullman campus at this time. With so many buildings locked, Mailing Services has come up with a couple of different options for people to still receive their mail.
Most units are sending someone to pick up mail at the Cooper Publications Buildings. Rich says the frequency in which people pick up mail depends on what kind of mail they’re routing, but that the average has been about once per week.
“I have not heard any complaints about pick up, drop off, the way things are set up, which is nice because it’s out of our control,” Rich said. “Lots of people don’t like change. Other people just seem happy to have the chance to get out of the house and do something.”
Rich said they’ve also set up some delivery points in empty offices in 2 buildings on campus. This is a room that Mailing Services and multiple units both have CougarCard access to that acts as a central parcel locker.
“More buildings are researching and seriously considering CougarCard access and central delivery points in their buildings for combined units so nobody has to come out here,” Rich said. “They can just get their mail whenever they come into their work unit.”
For the foreseeable future, Mailing Services expects for mail on the Pullman campus to operate this way, with a combination of pick up or card access delivery. If you need to pick up mail, they are open from 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
 |  |
Once you’re in the parking lot at the Cooper Publications Building, you just need to go around to the back of the building. There is a small staircase at the left side of the loading dock that will take you straight to the doors of Mailing Services. From there, you just need to ring the marked doorbell, and someone will help you with your mail!
How can I send my mail?
If you need to get mail out, business is as usual. When you pick up your mail at Cooper, you can also drop off your outgoing mail.
If you are working on a mailing with Design and Printing Services, we will take care of getting your project to Mailing Services for distribution.
“We think that’s a service that needs to be continued for the students’ sake.
—Joy Rich
While outgoing letter mail is down, Rich said they’ve been sending out twice as many parcels than they typically process. Departments and units like the libraries, different colleges, and recruitment are trying to find work arounds for changes in services or supplementing for canceled events.
Do you have other questions about mailing? You can contact someone in Mailing Services via email at mailing.services@wsu.edu or phone at 509-335-2104.
Mail pick up:
8:00 a.m. to noon, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday
Cooper Publications Building loading dock in the back
How can I qualify for nonprofit postage?
When you print your mailing campaign through Design and Printing Services, we help you get set up for USPS nonprofit postage if your mailing can qualify. What is nonprofit postage? It is a special domestic (within the United States) postage rate that certain organizations can qualify for.
Washington State University is approved to use nonprofit postage, but there are still some restrictions we must adhere to in order to keep this service. Nonprofit depends largely on 2 factors, content and quantity.
Content:
This primarily has to do with advertising—it is allowed in these pieces, but there are rules regarding what kind and how much. Every piece in the mailing also has to be identical, varying only by the person’s mailing address or other variable data. This means that a postcard with a handwritten message will not be able to go out as a nonprofit piece because the messaging will be different for each piece. Your project coordinator will be able to help you determine if the project we’re working on will qualify.
Quantity:
The second biggest factor for qualifying for nonprofit postage is quantity. There has to be a minimum of 200 pieces in any given mailing. There is a weight component (50 pounds minimum) as well, so if your piece is a heavier one, like a booklet, you may be able to mail less than 200. Your project coordinator will look at the mail list first to determine if a given mailing qualifies, and the weight comes into play once we’re far enough in the process to generate a physical proof.
There are other components that go into preparing a mailing for nonprofit postage, but those elements are taken care of by Design and Printing Services and Mailing Services when you work with us!
One thing to note with nonprofit postage is that it can take longer to be processed through the postal system, as First Class postage is prioritized, so if time is of the essence for your mailing, we do not recommend using this postage route.