Saint Mary's Post Office Changes Coming February 1, 2014

The College has been given the option of becoming a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) and retaining all the PO boxes and providing the basic services offered by the United States Postal Service (USPS) and will exercise this option effective February, 1, 2014.

The USPS has been closing all on campus post offices or converting them to CMRA’s over the past few years. The Saint Mary’s location is one of the last in California. Read below for all the details.

What is a CMRA?

A CMRA is a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency that allows a non-Governmental entity to act as an agent for the USPS

How does this impact the College community?

The College is hoping to generate a positive impact on the College community by taking over the operations and expanding the hours of operations as well as the services offered. 

Will I need to change the address on my letterhead, business cards or envelopes?

The USPS has assured us that they will continue to process mail coming to the PO Box addresses for an extended amount of time. It will be unnecessary to reprint these pieces, but going forward these things should start to reflect the changes in the address.

New Hours and Services!

SMC Mail Services will operate tentatively from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

It will act like an official USPS Post Office. It will sell stamps. It will be able to process overnight packages and process certified and return receipt mail.

It will also offer Fed Ex, UPS and DHL as alternative shippers. You may pay by cash, credit card or debit card for these and all USPS products and services.

Who will run the new SMC Mail Services?

SMC Mail Services will be operated by Saint Mary’s staff and student workers.

Will departments still have PO boxes?

There will be no changes in PO boxes. Campus mail boxes will be integrated with the existing PO boxes in the SMC Mail Services Center in order to bring everything into one location.

Will anyone be able to have a PO Box now?

Due to space limitations, the existing rule that only campus community members living on campus will be allowed to rent boxes will remain in effect.  An audit of boxes will be done to determine if extra boxes will be made available to other members of the campus community.

Are costs going to change since the Post Office will be run by the College?

Initially, the cost for PO Box rental will remain the same. The cost for stamps and other services will be the same as at a regular USPS Post Office. A full fee schedule will be available soon.

Who should I contact if I need further information?

Contact John Palmieri II at ext. 4374 or via email at jpalmier@stmarys-ca.edu. For general information about the USPS please visit the USPS site.