The Campus Post Office is known primarily as the holding place for student mail, where packages and letters are picked up and confirmation photos are taken and sent. However, the department is responsible for much more than what meets the eye.
“Campus Post has many big and small tasks that simply cannot all be named in a concise answer,” said Melissa Viruez, the ITS Media office manager. Viruez has been working at GC for 9 months, and has been “truly enjoying” being a part of the ITS Media team.“We serve as the sole campus delivery and pickup location for all USPS mail,” Viruez said, “as well as package delivery services. We sort and distribute all GC faculty, departments, and student mail using digital softwares to efficiently keep record of every item that lands in Campus Post.
“We’re in charge of looping mail back that is not intended to be at GC, daily auditing of letters and packages, processing through junk mail and unsubscribing things that are no longer needed at GC.” Viruez added that all of these operations don’t even encapsulate the ITS Media side of the job, which pertains to AV gear and ID badge protection.
Jazmin Flores, lead technician, described several other responsibilities taken care of by Campus Post that GC community members benefit from, including creating Rec-Fit Center memberships, library community cards and replacing any damaged or lost student IDs.
With a multitude of responsibilities, Campus Post, like any department, is not without its challenges. Viruez feels that “a way that would make the department better is if we work together as a campus to ensure we double check that our packages and letters are being addressed to us specifically. With that, good communication with businesses, friends and family sending letters and packages, ensuring they always use your first and last name.”
When asked about her personal favorite parts about working at Campus Post, Flores said, “One of the best parts of working at Campus Post is the ability to learn how to interact more with people and being able to help anyone that may have any questions. I know that I am a very reserved person, so this job definitely gives me the ability to put myself in an environment that helps improve myself.”
Ryan Snider, a junior social work major, described his experience both in the mailroom and strolling around campus, where he delivers packages across campus to faculty and staff with his trusty mail wagon. Part of his job is emailing students when their packages have arrived with their confirmation photos. As he said, “When people come get their package, you just take a picture awkwardly” — a universal experience for GC students.
Camaraderie seems to be a staple of the work environment at the Campus Post Office. Laney Brielle, a fellow GC student and Campus Post employee, claims that Flores is “the sweetest” and that Viruez is “the best ever.”
Snider attested to this sentiment, saying, “I think everybody gets along very well, and [there are] fun vibes all the time… our boss [Viruez] is really chill too, she often joins the conversation.” Snider added that management at Campus Post will often get employees birthday gifts and bring donuts for everyone to enjoy.
Flores, when asked if she felt that Campus Post workers were given enough credit for all the hard work being done, said that, “our supervisor never fails to be appreciative of every single worker for everything that we contribute to this job.”
Responding to the same question, Viruez said, “I believe the many duties performed at Campus Post are not generally well known to all across our community. Campus Post is here to serve the GC community in the most efficient way that we can, receiving credit or not, we are here to serve you!”
Viruez said that her favorite part of working in ITS Media and Campus Post is the team, saying, “The opportunity to work with such incredible people day in and day out brings such joy to me and to this department.”
Though they are sometimes taken for granted, the crew at Campus Post works hard to serve and sustain our GC community.
