With the COVID-19 pandemic, there has come a massive increase in dependency on delivery systems and ways to get goods and services to people without contact.

The Northwestern State University Post Office, located next to Kyser Hall, is a part of this dependence in the new normal.
Towards the end of the spring semester, the NSU Postal Office introduced electronic lockers to their lobby room.

The electronic lockers are straightforward and simple to use.

“I never expected it to be so easy to get a package from the campus post office,” said Jada Bragg, a freshman biology major.

Items that are too large to fit in the normal mailbox, which all students on campus pay for in their student fees, are then put in the electronic lock outside in the lobby area. Students with in-coming mail are given a QR code to access that locker and get their mail, according to Bruce Dyjack, the coordinator of Postal Services.

The electronic locker fits a total of 24 boxes and can be accessed 24/7.

“Being able to get my packages after hours helps with my busy class schedule,” Bragg said.

These electronic lockers are very similar to what you might find being used in more urban areas with a lot of Amazon packages, such as the apartment complexes in Baton Rouge, or even Whole Foods Market in Shreveport.

This isn’t the only change being made, automatic emails are now being introduced to the NSU Postal Service, where students can receive an email giving them their P.O. Box number and alerting them of any mail they have been sent.

“Having this kind of technology on campus my freshman year makes me feel special,” Kamarreo Jernigan, a freshman biology major said.

These recent innovations being brought to the NSU Postal Office, expands their operational hours from 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. to now 24/7 and with the goal of needing no physical contact to use.

Dyjack said, “We did this to mostly work on the schedule of the students rather than just our schedules, and with COVID to also make it easier for us all.”

“The Lobby doors are open and unlocked 24/7 now, and if you realize at 2 a.m. you have mail, you can come down here,” said Dyjack.

Dyjack explained that this was the first and main objective of these innovations, and according to them has seen great success.
According to Dyjack, the electronic locker can see up to 50 to 60 packages a day being sent and is always full due to how often it is used.

With such success so early on with the new service, Dyjack hopes this signals that more lockers like this can be brought to NSU to modernize and ease the overall process and make the entire office 24/7 operational.