Boston University Department of Biology

Office Services

Mail

Faculty, staff, post-docs, and graduate student mailboxes are located in the Main Office and can be ac­cessed both from the office and from the corridor. Combinations to open mailboxes from the corridor side can be obtained from the Front Desk Coordinator.

The Department offers U.S. Mail, Federal Express, and UPS service. The Department covers the cost of U.S. Mail for staff and faculty for departmental business. UPS and Federal Express services must be paid by an individual or grant and can be obtained through the Stockroom.

U.S. Mail

Mail is picked up and delivered once a day, Monday through Friday, at approximately 12:00 pm. Office staff will sort the incoming mail into the appropriate boxes. Outgoing mail may be placed in the red bin next to the mailboxes.

• All departmental mail (grant-related business, requests for reprints, publications, recommen­dations, etc.) will be metered by the BU mail room and charged to the Department.
• All personal mail must have a postage stamp on it before being placed in the bin.
• The Front Desk has a set of ink stamps to mark various types of mail. For example, printed matter should be stamped as such so that it is not sent first class.

Interdepartmental Mail

Interdepartmental mail should be stamped as such and put in the red outgoing mail bin. When ad­dressing interdepartmental mail, do not include the city, state, and zip code or it may be sent U.S. mail by the mail room.

Once a day, the Department has a Work-Study student hand-deliver urgent interdepartmental mail across the Charles River Campus. Mail for hand-delivery can be placed in the runner’s box behind the front desk, but please check first with the front desk to make sure there is a runner available that day, and that the runner has not already left.

Telephones

The Department pays for each faculty member to have an office phone and one laboratory phone (if the faculty member has a laboratory). Additional phone lines must be paid by your start-up funds or IDC account. Every staff member should have an ARS code for long distance calls. Faculty should have two ARS codes: one for Department business and one for grant-related business. ARS codes can be obtained from Sara Martin.

You will receive a monthly statement for your ARS code(s). Please review your bill each month for unauthorized calls. The Department will pay the first $20 worth of long distance charges for faculty. Everything over $20 must be charged to a grant or paid by personal check. It is up to the faculty member’s discretion whether or not to allow graduate students to use the faculty member’s ARS code, but the faculty member is still responsible for all calls placed.

• For on campus calls, dial the five digit extension (3-xxxx or 8-xxxx for faculty/staff and 2-xxxx for on-campus student phone numbers).
• To make an outside call, press 9 and dial the number you are trying to reach. Local calls within 617 and 781 require the area code.
• For long distance calls, dial 9, the phone number, wait for the tone, and dial your ARS code.

If you have voicemail, you can access the voicemail system by dialing 3-9999 and following the in­structions.

Facsimile (FAX) Machine

The Department has a fax machine located in the Main Office which is available for everyone’s use. The Department covers the cost of all local faxes. All long distance faxes must be charged to your ARS code. If you have forgotten your code, are unable to make international calls on your code, or have trouble getting through, the front desk can assist you.

Incoming faxes will be placed in your mailbox. Please request that senders clearly identify your name on the fax. Faxes of uncertain destination will be placed on the counter next to the fax machine.

Photocopying

There is a copy machine located at 5 Cummington Street, Room 106 (Main Office ) that is available for general use. In 5 Cummington Street, the copy machine can be accessed from the Main Office or from the corridor after hours. Copy codes are available for department, grant, and teaching use. Personal codes may be purchased at individual expense. See the front desk for more information.

The Department covers the cost of all photocopying that pertains to courses and Department-related mat­ters; for faculty, these include grant applications and student recommendations. Each faculty member is given one copy code for each course that they teach. Additional codes may be obtained using grant funds. The charges for photocopying on Department machines is tracked by Rich Rigolini. Do not share your code with anyone, as you may be charged for another’s copies!

Please keep the following in mind:

• Large copy jobs should not be done between 9 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday
• Faculty and staff have priority at the copy machines
• If you have questions about how to operate either machine or about your copy code, see the front desk.

Recycling

Two paper recycling bins are located in the copy room in the Main Office for Department use. Recycling bins for toner and batteries are also located in the Stockroom at 24 Cummington Street.

Bins for recyclable glass, plastic, and metal containers are located on the first floor of 5 Cummington Street in BRB 117and the Biology Stockroom at 24 Cummington Street. These bins are maintained by the Biology Graduate Student Association.

Copying Services

Copying services are available to faculty and staff from the front desk. These services are not available to students. The staff is happy to copy any of the following: exams, syllabi, grants, etc. Please note that sufficient lead time should be given so that the job can be completed in a timely fashion in keeping with the workload of the machine. Two days is usually sufficient.

You can request copying online by filling out the form and attaching a copy of the document you would like printed. Alternatively, at the front desk, there is a tiered set of boxes where you can submit your copy request by filling out the form completely and attaching the document. When requesting copying, it is critical for you to indicate what account to charge, as we will be unable to complete your work without this information. The form and the work will be returned to you so that the account code can be filled in. Copying of grants may be charged to the Department.

Work will be returned to you in your mailbox.