Towson considers adding on-campus package lockers
By: Gabriel Donahue, News Editor
Package lockers across campus for residential students could become available next semester if the administration approves plans from the Towson University Parking and Transportation Services.
The lockers would be available for residential students to pick up packages 24/7, Parking and Transportation Director Pam Mooney said in an email. The university’s postal service is under Parking’s jurisdiction.
Mooney said they don’t know what the lockers will cost regarding installation or ongoing expenses. A request will be made to fund the installation, and the Postal Services budget will be adjusted to cover the costs.
Student auxiliary fees should not be affected as the annual cost is anticipated to be low.
Mooney said that students would be able to choose the lockers as the method of picking up their packages. They will receive an email with a code to open the corresponding locker. Codes will reset after each use so that students cannot open lockers after they have retrieved their package.
If a student does not receive their package within a designated timeframe, packages will be sent back to the sender, according to Mooney. This “mirror[s] our current process used by Postal Services,” she said.
Terri Kotschenreuther, the postal retail supervisor of the University Post Office, said that those working in the Post Office had not gotten detailed information yet about how the lockers would affect their daily responsibilities.
Currently, on-campus residential students who do not live in a building with mail services at the front desk must pick up packages from the Post Office in the University Union.
Some students said the lockers sound like a good idea.
Junior Zarina Moore said that it seems more efficient for students to receive their packages from an always-available locker rather than waiting for when the Post Office is open.
Similarly, Freshman Elyse Bahorich said she’d use the lockers as they seem more convenient.
Mooney said that the administration would decide whether the package lockers would be installed.
“We are well beyond the idea stage and feel it is very likely we will be moving forward with the program,” she said in an email. “A final decision will be made by the administration following additional discussions.”
If approved, the lockers may be installed during the summer and ready for use in the fall.
