What’s your job? is a series focused on the work of FP&M employees. As the largest and most diverse nonacademic unit on campus, it can be challenging to learn everything our division is responsible for. These stories shine a light on FP&Mers and what they do to keep campus safe, sustainable and successful.
Letters and packages appear at university mailboxes every weekday, but the process behind how mail moves through campus can be a mystery. He’s no magician, but, at times, the work of FP&M Shipping and Mail Coordinator Dan Schroeder can look like magic.
A university employee for nearly 25 years, Dan has worn many hats during his tenure at UW–Madison. He began in the print shop at the Medical Sciences Center, assembling academic booklets, before joining Transportation Services as a booth attendant and later performing administrative tasks for Biochemistry.
Luckily for FP&M, Dan found his way to Campus Mail almost 10 years ago. Part of Campus Services in Physical Plant, he is the guiding hand that sorts all internal mail and prepares it for delivery, verifying addresses and designing delivery routes.
With approximately 175 stops per day for the drivers, Dan must be incredibly detailed and accurate to ensure mail is delivered to the correct addresses in a timely manner. He also works with other campus partners that manage mail (such as UW Health, Housing and the Department of Administration). At times Dan says he feels a bit like a conductor.
“It’s kind of like running trains, everything needs to be on time,” he said. “If I just get everything where it needs to be, then no one knows I exist, which means it’s a good day.”
Dan also created the first list of all addresses the campus mail room delivers to in case of his absence, but it’s been helpful to him too. Though he stressed it’s an ongoing process, the list has led to order and efficiency.
Campus Mail is constantly engaging with the campus community. Though most interactions are positive, Dan says patience, flexibility and attention to detail are key, especially when there is a delivery or scheduling issue.
“Asking nicely gets you far,” Dan said. “There’s a little bit of finesse involved, and I thrive on that to ensure that everything gets done in a timely fashion and issues are handled with sensitivity.”
While Dan is used to navigating challenges in the mail room, he reflected on the unique hurdles posed by COVID-19. Faced with the challenge of delivering mail in a contactless environment. Dan worked with his supervisor, Building & Grounds Manager Brad Schenkel, to develop a curbside pickup system. The team collaborated to make the most of a difficult situation.
“Now that it’s over, it was the best time I had here purely because of the collaboration experience I had with Brad,” Dan said. “It is one of my favorite memories from my time here.”
The experience made Dan better equipped to manage challenges that pop up and impact mail delivery, including weather, construction and campus growth.
“There can be obstacles, but we [find a way to] accommodate,” Dan said.
Though all of the mail that’s delivered is important, Dan recalled his favorite mail senders — the elementary students from across the state who write to the Chancellor.
“Those letters from elementary kids are the cutest things to see because they usually write with a colored pencil and sometimes the addresses trail off a bit,” he said. “But who knows, maybe we’ll get a brilliant student here on campus that changes the world all because we delivered their letter.”
Dan emphasized that though his job is a bit more behind the scenes in nature, he feels grateful to be a part of such a necessary process that benefits the entire campus community.
“If there’s one thing I could stress, it’s that mail still serves a purpose,” Dan said.
Want to learn more about mail delivery on campus? More information is available on the Campus Mail Services web page.
By: Corinne Loth
Corinne is a strategic communications student intern with FP&M Marketing & Communications. She is a senior at UW–Madison majoring in Communications and Information Science with a certificate/minor in Digital Studies. Corinne has been working at FP&M since January 2024.