Residence Halls get new $35,000 lockers

Starting this semester, a new mail system in UF’s residence halls will provide students with 24/7 access to lockers holding packages waiting to be picked up.

The lockers cost approximately $35,000 per area office, Todd Morrone, the associate director of public and governmental relations for Housing and Residence Education, wrote in an email. Morrone said there are 11 area desks getting the lockers, making the total cost around $385,000. He said the new system aims to improve service and make it easier for students to get their deliveries.

With the new system in place, staff will no longer sort and hand off packages to residents. Instead, when the system activates, students will receive a message with a code allowing them to open the locker with their package, said Aniyah Girtman, an employee at the Springs Complex area desk.

A start date for the lockers has not been decided, Morrone said. The new method is in beta testing and is still being evaluated.

In the past, packages often faced delays, which caused UF to seek out the new system, Morrone said.

“The system is envisioned to enhance the package delivery service that the area desks offer residents and improve the efficiency of area desk operations,” Morrone said.  

Though the system is due to start soon, some area desk staff are unsure of the impact the technology will have on their jobs.

Girtman, a UF applied physiology kinesiology junior, said her area desk at Springs Complex has been operating on the previous, hand-delivered system.

“We haven’t gotten a lot of information on it because it hasn’t happened yet,” the 20-year-old said. “Packages are still coming as usual.”  

Abigail Bartosek, an 18-year-old UF nursing freshman, said she thinks the system will make finding her packages easier.      

When picking up her packages, Bartosek said she sometimes has to wait for area staff to dig through the high stack of boxes to find her specific one.

“I think it’s easier for them behind the desk and just simpler, because things that are electronic normally turn out to be easier once they’re figured out,” she said.

Jim and Starlyn Fikkert of Great Bay Signs install Gator decals to the mailing systems in Springs Complex. There is not an official operational start date for the lockers.