Mailing Guidelines

Interdepartmental mail is restricted to official University of Maryland, Baltimore business. If you are not certain if your mail qualifies as University business, contact the Mail Center postal manager for clarification on extension 6-3700. The examples listed below are considered to be misuse of campus mail:

• Chain letters
• Hate mail
• Mail with obscene content
• Information promoting business to gain profit
• Political endorsements
• Any correspondence that is not official University of Maryland, Baltimore business

To expedite handling of mail, Mail Services employees color-sort items to separate interdepartmental mail from First-Class mail. Items mailed in white First-Class envelopes are metered and sent to the USPS as quickly as possible without proofing the address. It is assumed the individual initiating the mail item has placed it in the proper envelope, interdepartmental vs. First Class, and used the appropriate addressing format.        

• Use only the manila or blue campus mail envelopes for interdepartmental mail.
• All interdepartmental mail must be separated from USPS First-Class Mail.
• Use white letterhead envelopes for USPS First-Class Mail requiring postage.

General Guidelines

• Type all outgoing U.S. Mail when possible. The U.S. Postal Service is utilizing automation. The envelope you mail will most likely be read by a multi-line Optical Character Reader (OCR). Your mail has a greater chance of reaching its destination with more speed and accuracy when read by an OCR than if it is handwritten and must be read by the human eye. The time allowed to process mail is so minimal that it is nearly impossible for the human eye to read and sort with the speed and accuracy of the OCR equipment.      
• All campus mailings that have address labels and consist of one single piece (single sheet of paper) must be folded and tabbed or placed in interoffice envelopes and sorted as stated above.   
• The address should be typed in all capital letters. Do not use any punctuation in the address except for the hyphen in the ZIP + 4.   
• All lines of an address should have uniform left margins.        
• The "attention" line should be placed above the name of the firm. No printing should be placed below the City/State/ZIP code line.        
• Use only the delivery address. If delivery is made to a street address, there is no need to include a post office box. Including both post office box number and a street address is called "dual addressing" and should be avoided whenever possible.      
• City names should be spelled out completely (i.e., BALTIMORE).    
• Additional address information such as apartment, room, building, etc., should be placed on the same line as the street address with one space separating each word. Words such as apartment, building, floor, suite, room, and department should be abbreviated to the following: APT, BLDG, FLR, STE, RM, and DEPT.    
• Do not use the name of a building in place of a street address. A substitute carrier might not know where the "Landmark" building is.       
• When addressing mail to a postmaster, include the post office name and delivery address.      
• Leave one character of space between words and the state abbreviation and ZIP code.
• When possible, use black ink on white paper. The U.S. Post Office Optical Character Reader (OCR) needs clean contrasting copy to read. Script-type style and other styles where the characters touch cannot be read by the OCR. (The OCR cannot tell where one ends and another begins.)
• Campus bulk mailings must be broken down by department, school, and building. Departments should notify the University of Maryland, Baltimore Mail Center at least two days before a bulk mailing.
• All forms for Certified, Express, Priority and Registered Mail must be completed by the campus department. Should a department require assistance to complete the forms, please contact the Mail Center.
• It is the responsibility of the department’s mail contact person to advise the Mail Center of any change-of-address information. This includes movement of employees to other campus departments as well as new employees or employees leaving the University System.
• Call the University of Maryland, Baltimore Mail Center on extension 6-6619 or 6-5695 with inquiries related to forms and/or mailing supplies.