The Rose Hill post offices’ weekday working hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Comparatively, the Lincoln Center campus mail room hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday.

Many Fordham University students who reside both on and off campus rely on Rose Hill’s post office, located in the basement of the McShane Student Center, to receive and send mail. Students pick up a paper slip from their P.O. Box, hand it to a post office worker, sign their name and receive their package.

The hours are determined by the United States Postal Service (USPS) regulations and the staff union. Since the staff are unionized, their shift hours are non-negotiable, and if they work overtime, they are paid time and a half.

The Rose Hill post office has six full-time employees working Monday through Friday, and has 13 student workers total. De Castro said he has one worker who comes in on Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

While housed on Fordham property, the Rose Hill Post Office is an official contract station for the United States Postal Services, according to the Post Office Administrator, Ysmael De Castro.
“We sell stamps to you, money orders we do, we do all the business that a regular post office does, so we have to abide by their rules and regulations as well,” De Castro said.

When asked about whether their operating hours could be extended, De Castro said it would not be feasible.

“No, that would not be possible,” De Castro said. “The post office has to close at 3:30. No, that’s an impossibility to change that. It’s impossible.”
A survey conducted by The Ram on Fizz, which received 1,447 responses, had found that 87% of students are dissatisfied with Fordham’s current mailroom hours.

Student Eva Verstegen, FCRH ’28, said she feels like she always needs to plan her day around getting her mail.

“It feels like I always need my package and I can’t get it, and I think that they should be open more to be more accessible for students,” Verstegen said.
De Castro said that the university has conducted several time and motion studies, which is a method of observing and timing steps of a task to find the most efficient way to do it.

“When we do time and motion study, we concentrate on allocating manpower funds to where the university needs it,” De Castro said. “We have conducted several motion studies and the manpower and the funds that are allocated for the post office is best served in this schedule.”

Natalie Sheehan, GSB ’28, said she usually picks up her packages immediately after receiving the email confirmation.

“Usually I go immediately because I’ll already be in McShane for something else,” Sheehan said. “Or I just wait until the next time I’m in McShane.”
However, Sheehan said she could see them extending their hours to 5 p.m.

“I understand how, if you had a class in the morning and you had something to pick up, like if your class gets out at 2:15 p.m., now you’ve already lost your chance for the day,” Sheehan said.

However, if the students are unable to pick up their package, then they can have someone else pick up their package for them by sending an authorization email to the post office.

“When the person comes to the window, they have to show us a proper ID corroborating their name, and then we give them the package,” De Castro said.

Regarding student concerns about the post office hours, De Castro said they come once in a blue moon.

“I mean, we’ve gone now for years without a complaint or concern about our hours,” De Castro said. “I’ve been here 16 years and I’ve been in charge of the post office for 16 years, and I can tell you I’ve only heard maybe two or three concerns,” De Castro said.

One student, Teddy Williams, GSB ’28, said he wishes the mail room were open later, and said 7 p.m. would be a more reasonable closing hour.
“I wish it was open later; I feel like everybody does,” Williams said. “I feel like a lot of the other places [are] — like the dining hall’s open until seven, Dagger John’s open later — so why not keep the mail room open as there’s traffic around that area.”

Although the post office is just a place for students to collect packages, De Castro said the most rewarding part of his job is seeing everyone happy.
“[Students] order everything online from a toothbrush to research and homework and everything,” De Castro said. “Everything comes through us and it’s just very rewarding that at the end of the day, everybody’s happy. Everybody gets their package.”

As of now and for the foreseeable future, there will be no change to the Rose Hill post office hours.