Mail Resources

For Students

Grinnell College enrolled students are each assigned a mailbox in the campus mailroom. The mailbox holds incoming mail and intercampus communications. Letters, magazines, and small packages will be placed in your mailbox and are available at your convenience throughout the day and evening, seven days a week. Large parcels will be stored in the mailroom and available at the service window during regular business hours.

You can find your mailbox number in the online campus directory, available from GrinnellShare. The campus directory displays campus contact information for all students, faculty, and staff at Grinnell College and is updated regularly.

You will use a combination code to access your mailbox. You can find your mailbox combination code on GrinnellShare (login required), where it is secure and available to you at any time of the day or night. Of course, mailroom staff are available to assist you with locating or opening your campus mailbox when you arrive.

First-Year Students: Your mailbox combinations may not be in the system prior to your arrival.  If you are not able to retrieve your combination, please contact Mail Services.

The campus address for Mail Services is: 1115 8th Ave., Grinnell, Iowa 50112.

Include your four-digit mailbox number — found in the online campus directory, available on GrinnellShare — when specifying a ship-to or return address. A sample label is shown below. Please share this information with family members and friends, catalog vendors, publishing companies, and others who will send mailings to you.

Sample Student Mailing Address

Student Name
Grinnell College
1115 8th Ave., # (Campus Box #)
Grinnell, IA 50112-1670

For more information about Mail Services (e.g., window hours during the academic year, shipping methods, policies), please peruse our web site. You may also reach us at 641-269-3421 with any questions.

Processing Your Mail Quickly and Efficiently

When mail is addressed, bundled and documented accurately, it goes through the mail system more quickly.

Here are some simple guidelines and tips to help you get your mail processed quickly and efficiently.

You can send postcards, letters, large envelopes (flats), and small packages using USPS First-Class Mail.

  • First-class mail prices are based on both the shape and weight of the item being mailed. For items weighing more than 13 ounces, use Priority Mail. 
  • If your letter is rigid or contains keys, coins, pens, or other rigid contents, additional postage will apply (in addition to a standard First-Class Mail stamp).
  • Visit USPS for more information about first class mail.

Other helpful shipping websites include United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx.

Separate international mailings and intercampus mailings from other types of mail.

Sealed Envelopes — The mail machine in Mail Services can seal #10 envelopes for you. Nest the envelopes so that the flaps are together; they may face upward or downward — just be sure the flaps nest together.

Presealed Envelopes — Seal envelopes with presealed or peel-off seal flaps before you send them to the mailroom.

Separate international mail from other mail.

Customs slips are automatically created when shipping USPS international packages through Mail Services.

  • Please call Mail Services a few days before sending a large mailing (500 pieces or more) to the mailroom. This gives the staff time to schedule additional student employees in the operation.
  • If mailings are being handled by Total Choice or Premier Printing delivered directly to Mail Services, please call Mail Services at 641-269-3421 to let them know that a mailing will arrive in the next day/week from Total Choice or Premier Printing.
  • If you need tubs and trays for mailings, call ahead to Mail Services and we will have them delivered to your location.
  • Call Mail Services for large mailing picks for delivery to Mail Services.

The campus courier picks up items in Mail Services for delivery to the Grinnell Post Office around 3 p.m. most weekdays. Exceptions include holidays, closings, etc.

Make sure letters and packages requiring meter postage are in the mailroom no later than 2 p.m. for processing and loading.

USPS, UPS, FedEx received after 2:50 p.m. will go out the following business day.

Keep intracampus mail separate from other mail

Address your intracampus mail properly, as follows, to assure prompt and accurate delivery:

  • Student Mail:  First and last name and 4-digit box number
  • Faculty/Staff Mail: First and last name and department

Mailing Perishables to Students

Campus Mail Services strongly discourages sending perishables (i.e., food) to students by any carrier (UPS, U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, etc). The College is not responsible for perishable items sent to students.

The U.S. Postal Service enforces general rules for sending perishables through the mail. These include:

  • Mailable perishable matter may be sent through the mail only if it can reach its destination in good condition in the normal transit time between the mailing and address points.
  • Mailable perishable foods that do not rapidly decay or generate obnoxious odors in the mail may be sent at the mailer's risk.
  • Any container used to mail perishable matter must be constructed to protect and securely contain the contents.

 

Mail Services notifies students when packages arrive for them, but students may delay pickup for days or even weeks.

If it is absolutely necessary to mail a perishable item, please notify the student that the item will be delivered to their campus mailbox address.

  • Most packages do not fit inside student mailboxes, so it is necessary that the student pick up the package at the Mail Services Window during business hours.
  • Packages arriving on a Friday may not be accessible until business hours the following Monday or later if a national holiday falls on that day or during that period.

Forwarding Mail

Faculty and staff mail is not forwarded. They will need to update their address directly with the people or organizations who send them mail.

Students leaving the College will need to make an address change in two locations.

Once these steps are complete:

  • Magazines and newspapers classified as Periodical Class Mail will be forwarded for up to 60 days.
  • Magazines and newspapers falling outside the regulated dates and/or classifications and Third-Class Mail will be recycled or discarded.
  • In compliance with the United States Postal Service regulations, Grinnell College Mail Services will forward First-Class Mail and Priority Mail for up to six months after departure for students on extended leaves or no longer enrolled at the College, including recent graduates.

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