The Materials Management and Business and Operations Departments have found a way to save NIU thousands of dollars in postal fees by taking advantage of a special presort discount offered by the U.S. Postal Service.

To obtain the discount, NIU hopes to contract a presorting agency to tackle the job of sorting the 1,350,000 pieces of mail NIU expects to send this year, said Joe Baird, associate director of material management.

Two prospective agencies have been considered, and their bids will be submitted next Thursday to the Board of Regents for approval, Baird said.

The discount allows bulk mailers, such as NIU, to send a 22-cent letter for 18 cents. The added services of a presorting agency would raise the cost to 20 cents per piece.

The 2-cent savings per letter on 1,350,000 pieces of mail results in a substantial annual discount of about $26,000 for NIU’s postal budget.

Baird said this new system would bring savings to every department at NIU in proportion to their postal output.

Other possible advantages of using a presorted mail system include earlier delivery to the addressee and discounts on other types of mail, such as international mail.

James Harder, acting vice president of business and operations, said that hiring an agency to presort mail will not eliminate any NIU mail service jobs.

With the Regents’ approval of the plan, the new agency will begin their money-saving operations on Feb. 1.