Nacums

CUMSA

College and University Mail Services Association (CUMSA)

This organization began through the efforts of Ralph Yates of Appalachian State University. Ralph invited several schools in North Carolina to meet with him at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro to discuss an organization statewide for college and university mail services employees. There was a need for an organization that would establish standards, promote ethics, and foster professionalism for campus mail personnel. The educational institutions were represented at the organization meeting Appalachian State, Campbell University, Davidson College, Duke University, Durhan Tech, Fayetteville State, Johnson C. Smith, Lees-McRae, North Carolina A&T, NC State, Pembroke, Saint Augustine, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, and Wake Forest University. In July of 1988 the North Carolina Educational Postal Personnel Association was born. The very next year it became apparent that NCEPPA would be no more. The reason was simple - schools outside of North Carolina wanted to be members. During the business session of the annual meeting in 1989, the bylaws were amended and the NCEPPA became CUMSA.

According to the bylaws, CUMSA's purpose and objectives are"to promote, develop and unite educational postal employees, to facilitate cooperation and communication between its members, and to provide a means through which their knowledge and experience may be pooled...to promote and maintain high professional standards, to develop and improve training and educational opportunities, to collect and distribute information of value to its members, to render assistance when requested, and to generally further the interests of postal personnel."

One of the most popular segments of the annual meeting is an afternoon of open roundtable discussion that focus on problems and suggest possible solutions. CUMSA is strongly motivated by an awareness that no matter what our individual school and state policies may be, regardless of whether our school is a small community or private college or a large university, our mail services responsibilities are so similar that an adaptable solution is probable in place within our member schools. CUMSA has made a visible difference in campus mail operations in many Southeastern schools.

If you are not a member of CUMSA and are interested in learning more about this organization, get in touch with Connie Lawson at the address list below.

Connie Lawson, CMM
Director of Mail Services
Wake Forest University
P.O. Box 7201
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7201
phone: (336) 758-5013
fax: (336) 758-1923

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