Metered Mail and Postal Permits

Mail Services is responsible for proper management of the University’s metered mail and postal permits. The department maintains postal accounts with the United States Postal Service (USPS) and processes mail charges back to the individual departments in the schools, colleges, centers, and administrative units. In order to carry out this responsibility, Mail Services must:

• Maintain sufficient monies in the Postal Permit accounts to pay for mailings as they are processed by USPS
• Review each mailing and certify that it conforms to USPS regulations for Standard nonprofit mail
• Process the paperwork needed to charge back the mailing costs to the individual departments in the schools, colleges, centers, and administrative units which have budgetary responsibility for their own postal expenses

To ensure compliance with USPS regulations, individual departments may not process any mail under the University’s Postal Permits without the assistance of University Mail Services.

Individual departments, for example, are not authorized to:

• Purchase and/or lease postage machines
• Contact a United States Post Office for the purpose of directly charging mailings to one of Boston University’s Postal Permits
• Directly purchase any service from a mail house vendor without advance approval from the Director of Mail Services
• Use Boston University’s Postal Permits for cooperative mailings with non-University organizations that violate USPS regulations for Standard nonprofit mail