A Survey of Auburn University Mail Services

Zihao Chen, Bowen Chu, Kaiyan Li, Lingzi Pan, Roger Smith and Yiren Zhou

Introduction
Sending and receiving mail is essential
Although e-mail and other technologies have streamlined communication, often
necessary to send physical mail
Auburn University Mail Services strives to ensure speedy and accurate delivery

Auburn utilizes the USPS, UPS and FedEx

Indoor mail&go kiosk locations offer postage purchase, weighing services,
advanced delivery options, domestic and international service

Objectives
Survey mail services provided on Auburn Universitys campus
Analyze the area of campus between W. Magnolia Ave. and just south of W.
Samford Ave., moving north to south and between S. College St. and Wire
Rd., moving east to west

Evaluate:

Service locations
Location conditions
Buffer ranges between locations
Pickup/dropoff times

Search for potential areas to enhance mailing services

Approach
Campus structure and parcel data was imported from the City of
Auburn.
Step 1: Set Data Dictionary
Step 2: Data Collection
Step 3: Import & Label Data
Step 4: Map Buffering
Step 5: Add New Proposed Locations

Step 1: Set up the data dictionary:

- 10 point-features and 4 polygon-features
- Attributes: type, operator and condition

Step 2: Data Collection:

Upload data dictionary into Trimble Geo7X GPS device
Walk around campus to collect the raw data
Set GPS device to receive minimum 90 positions for point-features
Record pickup time and condition of each location, taking a picture of each
Transfer spatial data into Pathfinder

Once confirming all the feature points for map, export raw data into ArcMap as
shapefile

Step 3: Import & Label Data

Once the features imported into the ArcMap, analyze the distribution of the maildrop
Rename point-features with type and rough location
2 maildrop-boxes for UPS and FedEx too close in proximity, so we added an additional data frame to magnify the partial area

Once each feature was clearly presented on the map, correspondent picture added to the features as hyperlink to provide more detail detail
Last data entry: condition of the units and locations divided condition into three classes
Good new, clean, without rust
Fair slight abrasions, damage
Poor heavy rust

Step 4: Map Buffering

Step 5: Adding New Proposed Locations

GIS Mapping & Features

Created 7 maps outlining:

Distribution of mailing rooms & mailboxes

700-ft distance range for USPS, UPS & FedEx locations
700-ft distance range for mail&go locations
700-ft distance range for all mail services
Mailroom locations relative to student housing
Conditions of mail service locations
Potential locations to add mail services

Hyperlinked map with photographic location information for easy

recognition

Potential locations to add services:

Funchess Hall
Lowder Hall

Results
5 mailing units located across campus:
1 USPS unit, 2 UPS units and 2 FedEx units

4 mail&go locations:

Foy Hall - Ground Floor, near Photographic Services

South Donahue Residence Hall 1st Floor near elevators
Student Center - Second Floor, near Information Desk
Village Food Court - north side of food court

4 mail rooms:

Quad
Transit Bus Stop
Burton Hall
South Donahue

photo courtesy of Auburn University

Results
Pickup/Delivery Info:

Mail rooms are open from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Mail received from USPS once daily at 6:30 a.m.
UPS and FedEx deliver between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. daily
All packages are received and processed by 2:00 p.m. daily
Last pickup at mail&go locations is 2 p.m.

Physical condition of the 9 mailing facilities and units:

4 in good condition
3 in fair condition
2 in poor condition

Conclusion & Suggestions

Positive:
Overall, mail services are adequately distributed and available across campus
As mentioned, mail service locations are in close proximity to most student
housing

Negative:
As mentioned, to provide better mailing service across campus, we suggest
adding 2 service locations
We recommend the (2) units in poor condition be replaced or, at least,
refurbished

Proposed Location Funchess Hall

Proposed Location Lowder Hall