The Hidden Security Risks on Campus
As a person who has to deal with packages every day, I often get a kick out of how many terms are similar between shipping and people. We “arrive” in the world as someone’s “bundle of joy” and we “ship out” in a “pine box”. The term “Handle with care” of course started in the shipping industry. It is a firm but gentle reminder to those who were tasked to deliver something that the item in question is precious and needs special attention. It is no wonder that this simple phrase has found itself in so many places and situations. I particularly enjoy the Travelling Wilburys’ song of that name, but I digress. The real question is how are you handling the precious cargo at your University?
Naturally you take the well being of your students pretty darn seriously. There are campus security officers, student groups designed to protect and council others, Keycard locks, and even special Student ID numbers to protect Social Security information. You have taken great care to protect your students’ safety, and even their possessions… but have you forgotten something?
The packages that arrive for your students need your protection as well. After all, whether you like it or not once they are on school property, you are liable for them. You protect your students’ belongings when they are in their room, but do ensure that they are accounted for with a professional package logging software or do you leave their packages in a hallway?
A very large and prestigious university representative told me recently that his school wanted nothing to do with student packages. They have no facilities, policies, or a university package logging software set up. They just let all package delivery people directly into the students’ residence halls and “let them sort it out”. I can think of few situations which make me more uncomfortable. There are few, if any, screenings for delivery people. There are even fewer delivery people who carry credible company IDs. This means that this school has chosen to allow anyone wearing the right kind of shirt and carrying a bag or a box to bypass their entire security system. I will not mention the worst case scenario here, but I’m sure you can imagine an unpleasant one on your own.
Most schools do not have such a glaring security flaw, but you would be surprised at how many do. Lesser evils in terms of mailroom management include a “community package room,” which is just an unmanned, unlocked room where packages are dropped off and picked up… by anyone. Since this is on school property it means that when the wrong student takes that laptop, it becomes your problem. Some schools also hand out packages to anyone who asks for them without any kind of checking or signature. So whether a package gets lost or “lost,” the problem and the replacement cost may be yours as well.
The good news here is that truly applying a “Handle with Care” policy and adopting a proper package logging software to your student packages pays you pack in several ways. One can’t really put a price on the additional student security or goodwill that a real inbound package tracking software can bring. Nor can you easily measure how much happier your students will be, but there are plenty of hard numbers of cost savings that can be easily had by integrating the Easy Track It package tracking software into your school’s existing hardware. Remember that those packages are just as much your responsibility as the students, so handle with care!
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