The postman may always ring twice – but he’ll be making one less appearance on the Hill.

Western’s postal services will reduce its departmental pickup and delivery schedule to one run per day because of expected state budget cuts.

Gene Tice, vice president of Student Affairs and campus services, said the university cannot afford continuing two service runs as it has previously done.

“We’ve run a deficit in the past and the university has covered it,” Tice said.

Campus mail used to run at 8 a.m. and a second time at 1 p.m.

“We know we’re gonna run a deficit if we continue with two,” Tice said.

Marshall Gray, director of Postal and Printing Services, said departments are used to such change because postal services reduce the runs during vacations and university holidays.

An e-mail sent Friday from Gray informed campus departments that it wouldn’t be resuming its twice-a-day runs.

“It is not anything new to the departments, but it is new for the school year,” Gray said.

Postal services will save money by not filling three student positions, but no one will lose their jobs, Gray said.

“We were able to reduce our delivery schedule immediately because we were already three employees short, which allowed us to make the reductions without letting anybody go,” Gray said.

Postal services only employs students as delivery personnel.

Gray said he doesn’t know how much money will be saved. He also expects vehicle expenses to go down because of fewer runs.

The schedule changes only affect academic departments. Postal services already did just one run to dorms.

Gray said in the e-mail that a time for the new mail pickup/delivery run has not been set yet, but it is expected to be in the “late morning/early afternoon hours.”

Registrar Freida Eggleton said reducing the pickup/delivery schedule will slow things down in her department minimally.

“We are accustomed to doing that for a certain time of the year anyway, and we have had no complaints from constituents and don’t anticipate any significant problems,” she said.

Reach Marlene Brueggemann at [email protected].