Code-access boxes to replace mailboxes

Students will no longer have individual, key-access mailboxes beginning in the Fall 2025 semester. All mail will go through code-access drop boxes in a renovated mailroom in a different area of the Janzow Campus Center basement.

Photo credit: Nora Betts

By Nora Betts

Managing Editor

This article is featured in the May print edition of the Sower newspaper. 

Renovations in the basement of the Janzow Campus Center over the summer will replace traditional mailboxes with code-access drop boxes and incorporate a new Concordia fan shop and home base for campus security.

Chief Operating Officer Kim Boyce said the floor plan of the Janzow basement will look different next semester. The current Concordia bookstore will become two separate rooms, one for a new fan shop and the other for a new mailroom. The current mailroom and its wall of key-access mailboxes will be turned into a campus security office.

Plans for the new mailroom eliminate personal mailboxes and mail keys, opting instead for code-access drop boxes of various sizes. Boyce said there will be more than 100 Amazon drop boxes and more than 100 drop boxes for regular mail.

When a student’s Amazon package arrives on campus, they will receive a text or notification with a code to unlock one of the Amazon drop boxes. Because the Janzow Campus Center is open to students 24/7, they will be able to get their packages at any time of day, not just when student workers are available.

Boyce said Concordia is budgeting for the same number of mailroom student workers, since people will need to sort package deliveries and send notifications. He said that more than 43,000 packages are delivered to Concordia students and faculty members every year, including a high volume of Amazon boxes.

After a delivery notification is sent, students will have 72 hours to pick up their Amazon packages before the product is returned to the sender. Students may share their one-time codes to let friends pick up packages at their own risk.

“There will be a little bit of a learning curve for all of us to say, ‘if you get a text, please go get your package,’” Boyce said. “It also allows us to be able to, with 43,000 [packages] coming, make sure everyone gets their packages timely.”

Junior Hannah Ethridge said she worries about what will happen if a mailroom notification does not go through.

“I feel like that would be unfortunate if your phone isn’t working or getting the notification, like if there’s a mess-up in the system,” she said.

Boyce said Concordia conducted a study and found that over a two-month period, only 7% of student mailboxes were being used for regular mail. As a response, Concordia will install more than 100 similar drop boxes for non-Amazon mail using the same access-code process.

Boyce said that when there is an influx of packages, such as at the beginning of the semester, everything may not fit in the drop boxes. In that case, excess packages may need to be claimed from mailroom workers during operating hours, like the traditional pickup process.

Ethridge added that it will be nice not to worry about checking her mailbox, but she hopes the mailroom has the logistics in place to handle busy package days.

Junior Ramona Ojeda plans to continue working in the mailroom next semester. She said the renovations feel a little unnecessary since workers know how to handle the current mailboxes, which have been in place for years.

She said she wants more information about the new process to lessen her worries. “I feel like if I didn’t work in the mailroom, I would not have this big of a concern,” Ojeda said.

Official communications about the mailroom will be sent to students over the summer, so Boyce encouraged everyone to check their emails as next semester draws closer.

What else is happening in the Janzow renovations?

The security office is moving to Janzow to establish closer connections with people on campus. Starting in the fall, security will be “in a more visible space and have hours of operation,” according to Boyce. Campus security is about people’s physical safety, not just the safety of buildings and property, he said.

Concordia will begin hiring student security guards, which Boyce said is a natural opportunity for students to get to know the security team.

Concordia will manage its own fan shop and design, price, and sell merchandise.

Concordia will no longer have a place for students to buy textbooks on campus. A new contract with the textbook vendor Akademos lets students opt in or out of a whole-semester book bundle for a flat-rate fee. Students opting out must find their textbooks through alternative vendors like Amazon.