Receiving policy for all incoming packages

Over the years we have lost not just a few very expensive (though some very small in size) pieces of equipment for several different reasons. Some of those lost packages were personal, and may have simply been delivered to the wrong office, and some were purchased equipment for the department which was not properly marked by the vendor. Since we instituted the current policy several years ago, we have only lost two pieces of equipment, and those were signed for by office personnel and left in the open in the front office where they were then stolen from (policy not adhered to). The current policy is that all incoming packages are routed directly to the department receiving office (either Room 163, or Room 118/120), where they are immediately logged into a database, with information such as who from, who to, carrier, type (Overnight, 2nd day, or Ground), content, purchase document number, date received, time received (am or pm), and time and date delivered to the end user (am or pm). This way, if even personal packages become lost , the department Operations Staff has a full, in-house record, for tracking them right to you, the end user.

In many cases, we receive packages with little or no markings on them. It is sometimes impossible to tell if they are purchased by the department or not, and in those cases we have no choice but to open them to discover whether they are personal or not. Many personnel in the department deliberately ask vendors to not place anything on the labels except their name, thinking we will not take time to process the package because we might think it is personal. (I know this from past conversations with vendors when tracking missing packages) Our front office is a UNM enterprise, and processes incoming mail and packages as such. We do allow personal mail and packages to be sent here (even I have UPS send my packages here so they won't be left out in the rain at my home in the east mountains), but we all understand that if the packages are not marked PERSONAL, or have no other means to identify them as such, they WILL be opened for inspection and/or determination of that issue. Our goal, intent, and mission, is to: 1) Stop the loss of any incoming packages or mail completely. 2) Deliver all incoming packages that are Federal Express, overnight, 1 or 2 day, on the same day they are received, unless they are received very late in the day and we just cannot handle the work load that day. In that case, they will be delivered as soon as possible the next morning (Monday, if it is Friday). 3) Be able to trace all packages from entry into our Building to the point and time they were delivered to the end user. 4) Deliver all other packages (Ground or non-marked) within 2-3 days, and after they are properly identified and processed through our purchasing system.

Temporary Policy Addition September 16, 2004:

In order to alleviate some space issues in Gary's office, we will temporarily be storing mislabeled or unlabeled packages (that is, no end user identification) in Elliott's office beginning September 16.

To avoid or reduce "storage" time delay of receiving your package(s):

1) Talk with your vendor, and demand that they put YOUR name on the outside shipping label of EVERY package they send you.

2) If our office staff orders an item or items for you, ask them to please also demand of the vendors that they place YOUR name on the shipping labels of every package shipped to you as a part of their "Ship To" address.

3) If you are expecting a package and it either does not arrive, or seems to be late, contact either Steve Portillo (Room 163, 277-8671), or Gary Harrison (Room 118, 277-4447) and meet with one of them at Gary's office with a description of the company you are expecting a package from, and the items it may contain, and they will review any packages in "Hold" status to determine if yours may be in the queue.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Gary and the Operations Staff