Tufts Mail Services staff are working to mobilize students to join them in the fight to keep open the local United States Postal Service (USPS) branch, which services both the Tufts community and Somerville residents.
On Nov. 14, Support Services Manager Sheila Chisholm sent an email to students, asking them to complete a Postal Service Customer Questionnaire designed to assess how often the post office located in Curtis Hall is used. Chisholm also placed a link to the email and survey on TuftsLife for better exposure.
"With the survey, we are trying to get a full assessment from [the] Tufts community of their opinion of a potential closing," Chisholm said. "The USPS sent out to the Tufts students one survey per hall, which isn't representative of the close to 3,300 residential students. So, what we decided to do is get the survey out there to get the opinions of the Tufts students and the faculty and staff."
The survey is designed to convince USPS of the need for the Tufts branch, according to Mail Services Supervisor Ronald Drauschke.
Students must print out the questionnaire, complete it and deliver it to Mail Services by Nov. 23.
After Nov. 23, students will have to turn the surveys into the post office directly. They will have until late December to do so. The surveys will be reviewed by the USPS Boston office, which will generate a final evaluation by mid−January 2012, according to Dennis Tarmey, a communications specialist for the USPS Greater Boston District.
Once results are compiled, if USPS makes the final decision to close the office, they will provide the community with at least 90 days notice, Tarmey said.
The Tufts USPS branch is one of approximately 3,700 post offices in the United States being considered for closure, one of the 43 considered in Massachusetts and one of the 31 in the greater Boston area, according to Tarmey.
Offices being considered for closure must meet three criteria, Tarmey said. They must have made less than $600,000 in the last fiscal year, have decreasing revenues over the past two fiscal years and be one of five vendors within a two−mile radius.
General President of the Boston Metro Area American Postal Workers Union Paul Kilduff believes the office should stay open despite meeting closure criteria.
"I'm willing to bet that the Tufts branch hasn't made $600,000 ever," he told the Daily. "But it's part of the community. It's vital to the students who don't have transportation."
Drauschke explained that, in the event that the post office closed, Mail Services would take steps in order to mitigate inconveniences posed to Tufts students and faculty.
"In the event that the post office does close, we would look into how we might be able to provide some of the services to students, probably not on a full scale," he said.
Residents from across the greater Boston area have gathered in recent weeks for town hall meetings to discuss the potential closures of various branches.
A meeting concerning the West Medford and Tufts post offices occurred Oct. 18, according to Tarmey. He explained that USPS sincerely hopes to hear the views of all members of the community.
"It was well−attended, and people voiced their opinions and thoughts," Tarmey said. "The process for us is very open. Post offices are not like a Friendly's or a Lowes that closes in the middle of the night. The community input phase of the study is to reach out."
Kilduff doubts the town hall meetings will achieve anything, as he is certain that the fate of the local post office has already been sealed.
"I think it's a done deal," Kilduff said.
He voiced frustration at the potential closure of the local office, which he believes is unjustified.
"The postal services are setting these [meetings] up, sending out surveys, posting rinky−dink signs in branches," Kilduff said. "The bad economy is a weak excuse. I could see if we were losing $200,000, but the post office at Tufts still makes a profit. It doesn't make sense."
