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3. BULK MAIL PREPARATION CENTER (BMPC)

Phone Number: 974-3885

Business Hours: 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M., Monday - Friday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. is the busiest time.)

On-Campus Mail Addressing Service

USF Post Office can apply names and campus addresses to an on-campus mailing. Then the mail will be sorted and delivered to the appropriate address. Customers can choose to use the USF Post Office's address list or their own. Please call us for further details.

1) We can address the mail by using a computer program that extracts data from the university’s address database.

Option 1: Customers can select the employee type - USPS, A&P, FACULTY and OPS and select the location Tampa, Lakeland, Sarasota and St. Pete Campus.

Option 2: Customers can choose Dean, Vice President, Director, Department Head and Faculty Chair Person. This option does not allow you to select employee type or location.

2) We can also address the on-campus mailing using an address file that is supplied from the customer via disk or e-mail.

Folding, Stuffing and Sealing Envelopes Service

This service will collate, fold, insert and seal a mailing. Please call us for further details.

Bulk Permit Mail Addressing and Preparation Service (Also see Domestic Mail Classes –First Class Mail and Standard Mail.)

The USF Post Office owns and maintains bulk-mailing permits - First Class Mail Permit #516 and Standard (A) Mail Permit #257 - (nonprofit and regular rates). The term bulk refers to a large number of pieces per mailing instead of single pieces. A mailing requires at least 200 identical pieces.

Permit mail provides a way to obtain reduced postage rates. Non-profit postage is the most economical rate available however; the mail must be substantially related to the purpose of the University, which is education. Nonprofit rates cost less than regular bulk rates. All nonprofit mail, using Permit #257, must bear a complete University Of South Florida return address.

Authorized users of the First Class Mail Permit #516 and Standard (A) Mail Permit #257 are University E&G and Auxiliary accounts, Contracts and Grants, USF student organizations, foundations and commercial accounts. Approval must be obtained from the USF Post Office prior to using First Class Mail Permit #516 or Standard (A) Mail Permit #257. No authorized user may delegate or lend the use of these permits.

The USF Post Office Bulk Mail Preparation Center processes all mail that utilizes these permits. This service will correct the customers address list and print the address and barcode on each piece of mail. This will decrease the postage expense and improve delivery time. We are happy to preview your address list and mail design in order to work out any problems there may be prior to printing and mailing.

Each mail piece should already have the permit indicia and return address on it and is sealed when we receive it. However, for a fee, we can print the permit indicia, return address and seal envelopes up to a 1/4" thick.

Send USF Post Office the mailing, two extra pieces of the mail for record keeping, a Mail Service Document and the address file. Provide the address file on a disk or email to bulkmail@pplant.usf.edu.

Please use the following when creating address files.

• Very important! Some address lists contain extraneous information, which is not meant to be printed on the mailpiece. Our procedure is to remove all extraneous information. Therefore, it is very important that you tell us if this information is supposed to be printed on the mailpiece. The type of information that may be included with the address is appointment dates, codes, to the attention of, etc.
  
  
• The files should be in MS Excel, MS Access or text format. NOTE: If you send a MS Access file by e-mail, you must first change the extension to (.txt).
  
  
• Make sure there is a maximum of eight columns. Each field of data must be in a separate column.
1. extraneous information
2. extraneous information
3. business or person's name
4. primary address
5. secondary address
6. city
7. state
8. zip code
   
   
• Make sure the column width is 40 characters or less. This can be checked by double clicking the right edge of each column. If more than 40 characters are required, please contact us.
  
  
• If there are multiple files that need to be processed for one mailing, make sure the columns are the same in all files. For example, if one file has fields like Name, Company, Title, Address, City, State, and ZIP, then please make sure the other file you send to us has the same fields.
  
  
• Make sure the person’s name is accompanied by an address because any names not accompanied by an address will be rejected automatically and will not be sent out.
  
  
• There should be no blank rows between names.
  
  
• When typing addresses, please spell out full names and do not use abbreviations. If it is abbreviated, then the software may reject it. For example, MLK should be written as MARTIN LUTHER KING BLVD.
  
  
• If there are a few campus addresses in the list, make sure to add the complete university street address.
  
  
• When denoting highways please make sure to place “HWY” in the appropriate place. For example, “US 19” should be written “US HWY 19.”
  
  
• Do not mix international addresses with local addresses. International addresses should be sent as Air Mail and must be processed separately.
  
  

Move Update Requirement

Effective November 23, 2008 university mailers who want presorted or automation rates for First-Class Mail and Standard Mail must demonstrate that they have updated their mailing list before mailing. The Move Update Requirement is a means of reducing the number of mailpieces in a mailing that require forwarding, return or disposal. The mailer’s address records are matched with the change-of-address orders maintained by the U.S. Postal Service.

USF Post Office provides two methods to meet the Move Update requirement

• National Change of Address (NCOA)

• Ancillary service endorsements (except for Forwarding Service Requested).

1) National Change of Address (NCOA)

Mailer’s lists are matched against the updated change-of-address computerized information maintained by the US Postal Service. If a match is made, NCOA can correct the address before it is printed.

2) Ancillary service endorsements

Mailers may use Ancillary service endorsements (except for Forwarding Service Requested) to request a printed notification of the addressee's new address and to provide the Postal Service with instruction on how to handle undeliverable-as-addressed mail. A special endorsement is placed on each mail piece. The USPS will provide Ancillary service for the mailer based on the endorsement. The endorsements require specific wording, placement, size, and color contrast.

For an address to meet the Move Update requirement, the mailer must send at least one letter or card to the address with an approved ancillary service endorsement within 95 days before reuse of the address in a discounted mailing. To complete the Move Update process, the mailer must make the address changes received as a result of the use of the approved ancillary service endorsement. It is recommended that mailers retain address correction records for up to two years.

Please contact the USF Post Office for complete details.

Copyright © 2002, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620        For general comments or questions about this site, contact Technical Services at workmanagement@pplant.usf.edu. Last Updated June 30, 2006