Columbia Mail Predelivery Program Aids Smooth Move-In Day for Students

Shipping has increased dramatically in the last two decades thanks to the boom in online shopping and the ease of shipping. Luckily for students, this means you can get pretty much anything sent to you on campus – from bedding for your res hall to a bike for getting around New York – sent from virtually anywhere – from a big box store in the City or a family member on the other side of the world.

In fact, packages shipped to the Student Mail Center have more than doubled in the past two decades and have held at a consistently high volume, making this the new normal mode of operation for the Student Mail team.

The rush period represents 25% of volume received each academic year. 

Each year, the Columbia Mail team works to identify solutions and evolve to meet this growing volume of packages. The most recent initiative launched is the package pre-delivery program. Packages received starting August 1 and up until Housing Check-In were eligible for delivery directly to the student room, helping to make for a smooth move-in experience for students and relieve congestion in the Package Center. This year was the most successful execution of the program yet – contributing to one of the most seamless move-in days in years.

Started in 2018, the pre-delivery program first included bulk items (e.g. electronics or appliances) sent prior to First-Year Check-In. That year, 103 packages were pre-delivered. Then, Columbia Mail expanded pre-delivery of bulk packages sent to all residents, including upperclass students. This fall, pre-delivery included as many packages as possible sent to residential students during the pre-arrival window, totaling 5,562 packages. This represents a 78% increase in packages distributed in advance of Check-In over the prior year. The program is executed in conjunction with Housing and Facilities Operations to ensure rooms are ready in time for student arrival and carefully coordinate access to rooms for the Mail team. 

As part of continuous improvement initiatives and in response to growing package volume, the Student Mail Center moved from Lerner Hall to its current (and larger) space in Wien Hall in 2016. The operation also added two package lockers for late night or emergency deliveries, expanded hours into the evenings and weekends, launched satellite package locations during the check-in period, rolled out a condensed mail solution (accordions) for letter mail, and launched an internal inventory and notification system.