Amazon Hub lockers have arrived on north and south campus near residence halls at Western Washington University, bypassing residence hall mail rooms for Amazon package delivery. Western’s Residence Life Programming Board and university mail services hope these lockers provide convenient package pickup for students living on campus.
Each locker is open 24 hours, seven days a week, and has a personalized name that students can upload into their Amazon address books. “Heater” is located on the north side of the first-floor entrance to Higginson Hall and “Davy” is located in front of the main entrance to Ridgeway Commons.
Two more lockers are planned for installation in the Fairhaven Complex and beside Haggard Hall later this spring and summer.
Packages from a variety of vendors such as UPS, DHL, FedEx and Amazon have historically passed through two mail rooms on campus, said Andrea Rodger, director of Western’s Mail Services. Now, when students choose to use the lockers, Amazon packages can be delivered directly to the selected residence hall.
When a package is delivered, students must have the Amazon Shopping app downloaded on their personal device to access the locker. Rodger said that each student’s app receives a unique verification code, ensuring packages are released only to the intended recipient.
“Amazon lockers are intended to be an additional option for students,” Rodger said. "They offer flexibility and another secure pickup method for students who choose to use them.”
Although Amazon Hub lockers are currently placed in conjunction with university mail rooms, Rodger said they are not a replacement for existing processes.
Holly Allar, Western’s director of Residence Life, said she appreciates the flexibility the lockers provide while recognizing their importance.
“Student feedback around desk areas has been that the hours aren’t long enough,” Allar said. “They can’t pick up packages in the morning or late at night.”
According to Allar, up to 60% of all incoming packages to Western are from Amazon. Additionally, Amazon provides package lockers at no cost to the university.
Allar said Western is not intending to cut mail room staff or hours, citing valuable resources for students outside of package delivery, like letter mail distribution, rentable cleaning supplies, and free bathroom tissue and trash bags for dorm residents.
Adrian Carlson, a Western desk attendant for three years, said Amazon packages have decreased since the introduction of the lockers. As a campus mail distributor, they predict future struggles in package organization.
“Unless the university finds a way to funnel all Amazon packages to one place, there will be overlaps,” Carlson said. “I think we need to be careful not to cause confusion.”
Carlson reported a lack of communication from higher levels of mail services, stating they were not aware the lockers were being introduced until they arrived at Higginson Hall.
Western is the latest of many universities opting for Amazon lockers in residence areas. In the Pacific Northwest, Seattle University, Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Oregon and Bellevue College have all already integrated the lockers into their package services.
Amazon has partnered with Global Student Accommodation, a student housing development firm, to deliver lockers to college residence halls at low to no cost to universities. Now on Generation 3 of its locker development, Amazon covers all costs for installation, software updates, maintenance and repairs.
“We’re bolstering the opportunities and options that folks already have, helping to meet a demand that we have previously struggled to meet,” Allar said.
Gray Pendell Jones (he/him) is a campus life reporter. He is a pre-major on the environmental studies/journalism track, happy for the opportunity to work with a dedicated team of reporters at The Front. Gray enjoys rock climbing, backpacking and catching a quick sunset on the beach. Originally born in Albuquerque, he is still searching for good Mexican food in Bellingham. You can reach Gray at graypj.thefront@gmail.com.
