Lori Englehardt: administrative program assistant, Printing and Mailing Services

Years at OSU: 32

City of residence: Albany

While most employees and students have left the Oregon State campus in Corvallis because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mail keeps coming. And coming.

That created a problem. With almost no one on campus to receive the mail, who would make sure it reached its destination?

OSU’s Printing and Mailing Services solved that problem. And Lori Englehardt and her mail room team led the effort.

“This has turned our world upside-down,” said Englehardt, who has been with the department almost 33 years and plans to retire July 1.

She later added: “Everybody’s had to make an adjustment, but I think for the most part everybody’s adjusting pretty good.”

Pre-COVID, the mail team – Shelly Hayden, Stephanie Vomocil and Joey McIntosh – delivered mail and packages from the U.S. Postal Service on campus. Separately, UPS, FedEx and DHL delivered packages on campus.

Mail and package delivery stopped March 30, when almost all of OSU’s operations moved to remote delivery with the start of the spring quarter.

Englehardt and her team quickly set up a new mail system in a matter of days.

They worked with UPS, FedEx and DHL so that the delivery companies dropped off OSU packages at Printing and Mailing’s facility. The team then created a system to scan in and scan out about 130 packages a day.

On top of that, they worked with each department on campus to create a list of people approved to pick up packages. They continue to update that list on an almost daily basis.

Now, people on that list can pick up packages, as well as mail from the Postal Service, from Englehardt and her team from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Printing and Mailing’s building on Research Way, just off campus.

Beyond that, Englehardt tracks packages that are critically needed by campus departments because of COVID-19 and coordinates special pick up times and deliveries if needed.

Judy Bankson, who is Englehardt’s supervisor and has worked with her for 16 years, said Englehardt was the ideal person to lead this effort.

“She’s very detailed,” Bankson said. “She’s very organized. And she’s been the lead in that area for years. She is the key person. Whenever I need anything accomplished in that area, for the most part, I go to Lori.”

~Sean Nealon

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