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How to propose placing a cache to a university?


Zakureth

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Posted

At the university I attend, just inside the main doors of one of the many buildings on campus, is a set of old disused mailboxes. You know the kind, a bank of mailboxes in the wall that are open in the back. Not USPS, just the old campus mail setup.

 

Over 20 years ago (when I first noticed them as a kid) they were decommissioned and boarded up in the back. No attempt was made to remove them but they have clearly not been used since and there is no plan of using them.

 

We had figured out the combinations to many of these when I was a kid, and I noticed recently that they are unchanged today. So I worked out all of the details for putting a geocache here and leading people to it.

 

My only concern is how to approach the university and ask permission to do this. I know my chances are pretty slim but I was wondering if people had any suggestions on how to present my idea, or who to approach, to best increase my chances.

 

Or is this just an entirely inappropriate cache?

 

Thanks.

Posted (edited)

This is one of those situations where if you ask for permission, the answer is probably going to be "No", but moving forward without explicit permission is not necessarily going to cause any problems. Some feel that explicit permission is ALWAYS required and some feel that explicit permission is not required in some situations. Because these mailboxes are the property of the college, I would say this situation falls into the category of requiring explicit permission.

 

I would start with student services. You are more likely to get buy in from that department. Another option is going to student government. Having student government request the permission from administration is going to get you a LOT further and increase your chances for success.

 

I live in Portland, what college are we talking about here?

Edited by ReadyOrNot
Posted

...Or is this just an entirely inappropriate cache?...

 

It's a good cache. However who to ask for permission is a tough thing. It's not going to be grounds. It may be whoever is responsible for the building. Could be security, Could be maintenance, Could be the Dean inside that building.

 

Universities have a complex bureaucracy.

Posted (edited)

I live in Portland, what college are we talking about here?

 

To attempt to obfuscate the location, for those who don't want to ruin the "surprise" if I ever do this:

 

It would be here

 

Follow the link to floor plans, it would be on the 1st floor. The outer wall of "room" 180.

Edited by Zakureth
Posted

I work in the IT dept for a University. I am about to set my first cache on campus property. I started by talking to University Relations since this will bring outside people to campus. I also plan to inform the head of grounds as well as campus police.

 

I HIGHLY suggest you let campus police know. With all the paranoia going on with campus incidents (Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois), you need to be careful inviting non-university people to look around suspiciously for something, especially inside a building. Just explain to your campus police people what geocaching is and where the cache is located. I plan to state very clearly on my cache page that if the cache finder is stopped by campus police to let them know they are geocaching.

 

Craig

C&S 143

Posted

I work in the IT dept for a University. I am about to set my first cache on campus property. I started by talking to University Relations since this will bring outside people to campus. I also plan to inform the head of grounds as well as campus police.

 

I HIGHLY suggest you let campus police know. With all the paranoia going on with campus incidents (Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois), you need to be careful inviting non-university people to look around suspiciously for something, especially inside a building. Just explain to your campus police people what geocaching is and where the cache is located. I plan to state very clearly on my cache page that if the cache finder is stopped by campus police to let them know they are geocaching.

 

Craig

C&S 143

 

I also work at a university (Florida State), and Craig is absolutely right. It's an extremely bad idea to hide on campus without permission, even if the location seems harmless.

 

In this case the location seems anything but harmless -- if I understand, you're planning to put a cache inside a campus building that houses the President and Provost's offices, in an inner space near a large classroom?!? That sounds like a lousy idea and an invitation to trouble.

 

Another big issue for campus caches is parking. Many universities have very limited parking and complex rules about who can park where, when. That can make a campus cache a real pain for the majority of cachers, who aren't students, faculty, or staff.

 

Consider abandoning this idea and putting a nice cache somewhere else instead.

Posted
I work in the IT dept for a University. I am about to set my first cache on campus property. I started by talking to University Relations since this will bring outside people to campus. I also plan to inform the head of grounds as well as campus police.

 

I HIGHLY suggest you let campus police know. With all the paranoia going on with campus incidents (Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois), you need to be careful inviting non-university people to look around suspiciously for something, especially inside a building. Just explain to your campus police people what geocaching is and where the cache is located. I plan to state very clearly on my cache page that if the cache finder is stopped by campus police to let them know they are geocaching.

 

Craig

C&S 143

 

 

Very good suggestions. There are several caches at my alma mater, one of which has been there since 2002. Both the campus police and the grounds keepers know of its existence and the grounds keepers keep an eye on it. It is, I might add, prominently marked as a geocache with a huge Groundspeak sticker on it. It is also located outside, away from most buildings, in an historical (and idyllic) setting.

 

With good planning, a good location, and the proper people being informed, sucessful caches can be placed on university grounds.

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