Lost and Found Duties
 Monthly dungeon runs
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Monthly campus collection runs
Go through lost and found and account for all items/contact owners
Put on bi-annual (or annual) lost and found sale
Manage lost and found Facebook and email pages
Simply do your best to try to return missing items to their appropriate owners
It helps to pick a day of the week and do lost and found on that day. One week can be a dungeon run, the next a collection run, and the other two weeks can be spent up-keeping lost and found, preparing for sales, contacting owners of missing items, etc.
Dungeon Runs
Once a month (or more often if demand warrants) all items that have been in the lost and found for over a month need to be moved to storage. The item number of each item that is moved to storage should be highlighted in the log book. If you have two staff members working on this, one can read outgoing item numbers, while the other highlights it in the book. Items are then bagged in trash bags by category and labeled. Labels should include category, category #, date and initials. We usually do them on colored paper, changing colors 30 days out from a sale, so we can easily differentiate which bags of items are being sold and which aren't. After each dungeon run, Lost and Found staff should mark the date and other appropriate information in the Dungeon run log sheet (located in the back of the log book).
We have a new Lost and Found storage room available downstairs (hopefully with future shelving units). The key to this room is AVWX. Make it easy on yourself and roughly organize bags of old items based on their category.
All desk staff members should be familiar with this room, as any employee may need to retrieve old items for owners who come looking for any missing item older than 30 days. This task is not restricted to Lost and Found staff.
Collection Runs
Once a month we pick up lost and found from the following locations: SRC, facilities services, the ice arena, IARC, Murie, Arctic Health (bioscience library), Reichardt, Art dept., Music dept., and the
Bursars office. The Library prefers to bring their items to us on an as-needed basis. Residence life and the Police Station also occasionally deliver items to the Wood Center. The grey, metal clipboard in the
Lost and Found box is used to keep track of which department we collected items from. We used to email departments letting them know what days we were collecting, and to respond if they had no items, but most of the time they wouldn't email back even if they didn't have anything.
After collecting, label the bags with the department and the log date. It's a good idea to put a note at the desk letting staff know it needs to be logged!
Weekly up-keep
This includes several things. If there is time, it can even be just checking to ensure all the items are accounted for (especially high value items). This is a good time to go through books, binders, notebooks, electronics such as phones, laptops, music devices, flash drives, etc. and attempt to identify the owner. This is also when we usually go through IDs and check through the list of missing items to see if any have been turned in. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the Lost and Found staff to print extra log sheets for the log book. A copy of the log sheets are located on the back room desktop
(“supervisor folder” > “Lost and Found”). Change the category name and number (Ex: “Bikes” “2”) and print.

Email/Facebook
The lost and found email address is: uaf-lostandfound@alaska.edu. Individuals who have lost or found items can email a description to that address. It is also used to email owners when we have found items, such as IDs. After emailing an owner, make sure you make a note either in the log book, on the sticker, or both, that the individual has been emailed/contacted. Once you are set up, any emails sent to that account will go to your personal university account. Keep in mind that if there are more than one people on the account, you will need to co-ordinate who responds to them. We also get a decent amount of spam emails sent to that account, so just be aware and delete/disregard accordingly.
There are a few templates that we usually use for emailing owners about lost items:
Hello, (owner's name), I am email in regards to a (item) found (with your name on it), We have it at the front desk in the Wood Center. Please stop by anytime during our hours to pick it up.
~Wood Center Lost and Found Staff
For high value items:
Hello, (owner's name), I am email in regards to a (item) found (with your name on it), We have it at the front desk in the Wood Center. Please stop by anytime during our hours to pick it up. We will ask to see ID to verify that the (item) is yours.
~Wood Center Lost and Found Staff
Hello, (owner's name), I am email in regards to a Polar Express Card found (with your name on it),
We have taken it to the Polar Express Office located in Signers Hall. Please stop by anytime during their hours to pick it up.
Thank you!
~Wood Center Lost and Found Staff
In addition to an email account, UAF Lost and Found has a Facebook page of the same name. This is a convenient way to advertise lost and found sales, as well as reach out to the student body in regards to missing items (Ex. “Missing iPhone 5 with a picture of a yellow cat on the lock screen. If found please contact us!). Many people make their own postings to the page about lost items or send us personal messages through Facebook. Once added as an admin lost and found staff members will be able to view the page and use the Lost and Found Facebook by signing on to their personal Facebook account.
In the drop down section of the Facebook main page simply select “use Facebook as: UAF Lost and
Found.” As a general rule we do not make posts about found items that specifically describe the item.
Anyone who reads the described item could then pretend to be the owner and pick it up. We have, however, emailed or Facebook message potential owners pictures of items that match the description of their missing item to confirm whether or not it belongs to them. Use personal discretion :)
Remember that by using the University's Lost and Found email and Facebook you are representing
UAF and the Wood Center. Present yourself appropriately.
Contacting owners
There are many ways to find out the contact information of an owner of a found item. The Edir directory gives email addresses and sometimes phone numbers. If a found iPhone has Siri it is possible to ask Siri “who am I?” or “Who is my mom/dad?” to find the owner's name and/or contact information without unlocking the phone. Don't hesitate to call a “mom” or “dad” and explain that you have found their child's missing phone. Most of the time they have alternate means of contacting their child.

Polar express cards/IDs
30 days after an owner has been contacted (or 30 days from found date if unable to contact), drivers licenses and credit cards can be shredded, and polar express cards can be taken to the Polar Express
Office in Signers Hall. Make sure to note in the log book when credit cards have been shredded.
Checking missing items
There is a section in the back on the log book specifically for owners of missing items to leave their contact information and a description of their lost item. This is more organized that taking information on sticky notes :) Periodically, or as part of weekly up-keep, it is the responsibility of the Lost and
Found staff to read through the list of missing items and check to see if it has been found. If it has, contact the owner and let them know we have their lost item.
Bikes
Bikes are usually turned in to the front desk by the police department. Do not put the bikes in the back room, as Facilities Services has asked us not to block the breaker boxes. Make sure that the bikes are locked to the bike rack with the long cable and the lock ( the key to the bike lock is AVWX).
Keys
When the key bin is full, the keys are taken to the back room and kept on a shelf for an additional 30 days. Put a note on the empty key bin up front that says there are more keys in the back. The bin in the back should have an “In” date and an “Out” date (30 days) on it. After 30 days we go through the keys and separate any official looking keys (such as university post office, dorm, or building keys), and remove all the key chains and key rings. Key chains, key rings, and official keys are given to Jeri. All remaining keys and auto starts are separated and scattered in various trash cans and/or dumpsters.
Wallets
Wallets that get turned into lost and found are to be taken directly to Security at the Police Station by the Supervisor on shift. This is not a task specific to Lost and Found staff members! We recommend having the desk attendant confirm the amount of money in the wallet at the time the wallet is received
Do not wait until the end of a shift or rounds to take a wallet to the police station! Fill out the appropriate information on the “Wallet” spreadsheet in the log book, including Supervisor initials and the date. Supervisor should take a walkie-talkie and/or cell phone with them to the police station and make sure to have the CSO who receives the wallet confirm the amount of money and initial the log sheet. If you email the owner of a wallet make sure to tell them to pick it up at the police station.
If someone comes to the front desk looking for a missing wallet, check the spreadsheet in the log book for one that matches their name/description. If it has been turned in, notify them that their wallet is at the Security. Even if a wallet has not stopped at the desk first, it is a good idea to direct people to
Security for wallets and other high value items.
Files
All documents related to Lost and Found are found on the desktop in the back room. Files are located in “Supervisor” folder, “Lost and Found.” This is where you can find the log book spreadsheet, wallet spreadsheet, dungeon run log, collection run sheet, and any other files pertaining to the lost and found sale (silent auction forms, to-do lists, etc.).
9.17.2014