Whether it’s a college application for the admissions office or a care package for a first-year student far away from home, UC Merced Mail Services Supervisor Laura Siebrecht makes sure it gets to the right place and the right person as soon as possible.
“I love people and this is a way I can get to know them,” Siebrecht said.” I’m certainly never stuck at my desk.”
If Siebrecht and her two student assistants are ever at their desks, it sure isn’t for long. The three are responsible for processing and delivering U.S. and campus mail to faculty, staff and students at UC Merced.
It’s a job that might sound repetitive, Siebrecht admits, but is very challenging.
“It’s the same thing every day, but never something you can put off doing,” she said.
Siebrecht’s day begins early in the morning with deliveries, sorting, drop-offs at the U.S. Post Office, pick-ups, foldings and the 20,000 bulk mailings she has to fold, address and send off any given week.
“The hard part is keeping track of where everyone is because the campus is growing so fast,” she said.
From the mail services office, Siebrecht has seen the campus grow in the two years she has been at UC Merced simply by looking at the stacks of mail received or by the number of visits to offices she makes.
“When I started, I could deliver all of Student Affairs mail to one mailbox,” she said. “Now there are several departments, and everyone has their own proper slot.”
But Siebrecht is a pro, and for now she is able to handle the responsibilities herself, she said.
Siebrecht came to UC Merced after working for 10 years at the mail services department at California State University, Stanislaus. She thought the move was a good opportunity, but said it was difficult leaving her co-workers behind.
“I had a real hard decision to make,” she said. “Now that I’m here and have made new friends and I see the campus grow, I know I made the right one.”
