An Amazon Locker was installed behind Mooney Hall, giving students and staff a direct way to receive packages without having to go to the campus mailroom.
Announced earlier this semester, the locker is part of the university’s effort to deliver packages more efficiently and reduce long lines during peak mailing hours.
Associate Vice President of Facilities and Business Affairs, Victoria Pivovarnick, said that the decision was driven by both convenience and cost.
“We were looking for ways to connect the campus community more directly with their packages while reducing the number of packages in the mailroom,” she said. “In addition to being a system the campus community may already be familiar with, the Amazon Locker installation also comes at no cost to the University compared to other locker options.”
The locker’s goal is to address common frustrations with deliveries, especially the time between a package’s arrival and when it is ready to pick up. Pivovarnick said she expects the lockers will ease the burden on the mailroom, especially at the start of the academic year and the holiday season, when the volume of packages delivered significantly increases.
“Ideally, students will be able to get to their Amazon packages directly, while also increasing mailroom efficiency and faster pick-up times for non-Amazon packages,” she said.
The policies for the locker follow standard Amazon guidelines, including restrictions on package size and time limits for pickup. More information can be found on Amazon’s website.
Seton Hall has not yet committed to additional lockers, but expansion is a possibility.
“Amazon has indicated if they see the usage, they will provide us with additional lockers,” Pivovarnick said. “We will continue to monitor usage with Amazon, and [have] advocated for more lockers if our campus community is utilizing it—which we think it will be.”
As of now, any future lockers would be added in the same location as the first. If demand increases and Mooney is outgrown, administrators will consider other sites across campus.
Despite the launch, student awareness seems sparse. Several students said they had not used the locker and were unaware it had been installed.
Julia Kaluzna, a sophomore education major, said the mailing services remained the same. “Normal,” she said, describing her experience with Mooney Hall’s mailing services.
Student worker and junior Henry Azun agreed with Kaluzna, noting no changes in workflow since the locker’s installation. When asked if he thinks it will change the way the mail room works in the future, he simply nodded his head and said, “I don’t know.”
The university's administration encourages students to pick up items from the lockers quickly to keep them available for others. They also ask that consistent availability issues be reported to the Student Government Association (SGA), which can communicate concerns to both the school and Amazon.
Julia Roman is a writer for The Setonian’s News Section. She can be reached at julia.roman@student.shu.edu.
