The consolidation of student mailboxes and the postal services into one central location in the University Center was the topic of discussion at a town hall meeting held Wednesday night.
University of Memphis students expressed anger about the proposed changes, and some felt it would be an inconvenience.
Senior English major Shronda Watson, who is also a resident advisor, said the consolidation would definitely cause problems.
"This is unfair," Watson said. "This change will make a lot of people mad. I don't think it is fair to have to pay for our mailboxes. This was something that was always provided to us as a service."
The proposed consolidation would include moving the mailboxes from all residence halls and Carpenter Complex to a central location on the first floor of the University Center.
It would also involve moving the post office in Jones Hall to the first floor of the UC.
Danny Armitage, associate dean of residence life, said postal services at The U of M have been a problem area for several years.
"The mail services are responsible for receiving the daily mail, but not sending it to the residence halls," Armitage said. "The current situation involves two groups of people handling the mail -- one delivers mail to residence life, and then another group places the mail in the boxes. The changes would involve only a few people handling the mail," he added.
The changes in postal services would require students to pay $15 per semester, according to the office of business and finance. Students can choose to pay $36 per calendar year if they do not want to worry about being charged each semester.
Armitage said other Tennessee Board of Regent schools charge for mailboxes provided to students.
"The charge was always there," Armitage said. "It was part of the rent -- now rent can be reduced, possibly, and/or no new rent increases will occur."
An official with the U. S. Post Office said charging students a rental fee for the mailboxes is allowed, even though it may not be common at other institutions.
"It is not against the law -- because other businesses (Mailbox Etc.) charge a fee," a postal clerk said. "But it may not be ethical in a university environment."
Junior industrial engineering major Nsombi Kent said moving the student mailboxes would not affect her, because she stopped using The University mail services several semesters ago.
"I don't care," Kent said. "I don't use the mail here because it is too slow. It is faster to get my mail sent to my cousin's house."
Watson said students are already paying an activity fee, and the mailbox rental fee would be yet another expense.
"The activity fee is already too high," Watson said. "I see nothing good about moving the mailboxes."
According to the office of business and finance, the changes would allow students to be able to pick up mail anytime the University Center is open, but there would still be no Saturday delivery of mail.
Armitage said the changes will save money and provide more services to the students.
"The students were asking for services such as stamps and the ability to ship and receive UPS packages," Armitage said. "To provide these services and to replace mailboxes that were damaged and old would be very expensive. The people in business and finance, student life, residence life and the UC started talking about ways to solve the problem, and consolidation of the mail services and postal services was the answer."
Armitage said the changes are part of the renovations and remodeling of the UC.
"Overall, there will be some frustrations and concern, but the students will get brand new boxes and full service mail opportunities like stamps and the ability to receive and ship packages easily," Armitage said. "There will be fewer people handling the mail and the mail will be in the students' boxes earlier."
The new mailboxes are scheduled to be in operation beginning January 1, 2001 -- or as soon thereafter as the construction on the first floor of the UC is complete, according to the office of business and finance.
New mailbox numbers will be assigned to residence hall students after the boxes are installed.
Armitage said the changes should be welcomed by the students.
"We are looking for a University Center with a purpose," Armitage said. "We want to create a full service mail service that will keep cost under control and give the students a better quality service."
Interim vice president for business and finance, Raymond P. Pipkin said the rental fee issue was going to surface anyway because of the continuing cost of operating the mail services department.
"The fees are not an issue," Pipkin said. "The mail service has to be reformed, and the funding is necessary to improve the quality of the service."
