From Dec. 13, 2004, until Oct. 28, all outgoing University international mail - including graduate student acceptance letters - was arriving up to six weeks later than expected, according to Fred Yattaw, mail services manager. Problems arose after the University contracted International Bonded Couriers, an intermediary mail processing service, to inexpensively presort foreign mail before it arrived at the post office.
The first complaints came in April, when graduate students were not receiving their acceptance letters. Unlike undergraduate admission decisions, graduate admission decisions are not posted on the Internet. Acceptance letters contain important financial information, and for international students, information necessary to obtain a visa.
Following repeated complaints from parents, faculty and students, the presorting service was canceled last month. All University international mail is now sent through the U.S. Postal Service.
"Things that should have taken a week or less took two-and-a-half or three weeks," Yattaw said. "We thought we covered our bases in securing a company that would provide good service, and obviously it didn't do that."
IBC charged the University a discounted rate of 37 cents per letter instead of 80 cents per letter, the U.S. Postal Service fee. IBC processes mail in bulk and applies a barcode in order to reduce work in the post office, qualifying for a discount.
Last year, the University saved over $21,000, about half of the foreign postage budget, by using the intermediary service. Savings were split between departments and the administration. This year's budget can absorb the added cost of using the USPS, Yattaw said.
For the past two years, the University has used D3Logic, an East Providence-based mail presorting service, for all domestic mailing and has had no problems. Success with the domestic program prompted Yattaw to investigate foreign mail presorting programs. After a rigorous search, Yattaw decided to hire IBC, he said.
There were no international mailing complaints until last spring, when graduate admission decisions did not arrive on time. Yattaw had no international contacts, so he could not test IBC's reliability the way he could verify D3Logic's.
Despite the delayed mail arrival, international graduate student enrollment for this year's matriculating class rose 11 percent, to 131 students from 115 last year.
But the matriculating graduate class in the Department of Chemistry, traditionally between 50 and 75 percent international, is only 21 percent international this year, with three international students out of 14 total.
While most departments sent an e-mail notifying students of the delay, the chemistry department did not, said Peter Weber, professor and chair of the chemistry department.
However, more American students accepted offers of admission in 2005 than the chemistry department anticipated, so the department was able to meet research and staffing obligations this year.
"It's not a desirable situation, but in terms of operations, it did not affect us," Weber said. "Worldwide recruitment broadens the experience and coincides with our belief that research should be international. However, I support the University in trying to run things more efficiently."
Other departments had a similar situation. "It was a hassle and a minor embarrassment and that's it. Other than that, it didn't have any impact," said Philip Klein, professor and head of the master's program in computer science.
When word of the mail delay reached the Graduate School, administrators quickly intervened. After sending e-mails to accepted students, officials sent acceptance letters directly to students via UPS, said Chad Galts, director of communications for the Graduate School.
"With UPS, you get a receipt and a tracking number, and when you send it to the mail room, you send it to the mail room," Galts said. "Was (the original delay) an issue for us? No. We decided not to make it one. We had to get things in the hands of applicants."
This summer, Yattaw and a representative of the Purchasing Department met with executives from IBC, who apologized and assured him that the delays would stop, Yattaw said. IBC attributed the problems to a location change, adding that more personnel were being hired to expedite the mail presorting process, Yattaw said.
In October, some parents of international students complained that Parents Weekend information was arriving late, and an economics professor abroad on sabbatical complained that letters from a colleague were arriving late, Yattaw said.
"In hindsight, it was an error in my judgment not to suspend the service at that time," Yattaw said. "It might be a little while before we try something like this again. But in 37 years working here, I haven't had something like this happen before."
IBC officials did not respond to repeated calls for comment.
