of campus mail, with student mail collected from the residence halls to be readdressed and
sent to student homes. (Photos by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)
There is a saying that many hands make a lighter load. Add in blue latex gloves, and that’s what happened last week when Campus Safety and University Operations division supervisors helped campus mail staff collect and readdress student mail to be sent home.
At the end of the academic year, it’s normal protocol for Patti Sikorski, manager of campus mail, and her crew to sweep the residence halls of U.S. mail that didn’t make it to the intended recipients. With students not returning to campus after spring break, the big job came early this year.
Campus Mail staff members Steve Smorin and Casey Dankert collected the U.S. mail (letters and packages) from the halls and brought them back to the mail distribution building to be re-sorted.
Helping to look up names in Banner and readdress the mail were Cory Thompson, manager of transportation services; Stephanie Katzelis, operations assistant manager in transportation services; George Schramm, manager of general services; Deanna Ponsler, director of transportation, warehouse and delivery services; and Carol Mullaney, senior director of the Office of Sustainability.
“Teamwork is what we are all about,” says Thompson.
Ponsler adds, ”It's so strange here without the students. Helping them helps us feel connected.”
Every day last week, Sikorski drove two loads of the readdressed packages to the U.S. Post Office on campus to be sent out. As of Friday night, about 80 percent of the packages (750) had been mailed.
This week, the team is tackling the rest of the job, including letters.
“This would not have been possible without the cooperation of our whole division, There is no way I could have done this without everyone’s help,” Sikorski says.
Vice President of Campus Safety and University Operations Mike Seamon, says of the cooperative effort, “It’s another example of teams answering the call during this challenging time. I am very proud of them, and all our colleagues across campus who are rising to the challenge of serving Notre Dame during these unprecedented times.”