Mail Resources

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

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.

Faculty and staff mail is not forwarded. They will need to update their address directly with the people or organizations who send them mail. Faculty and staff should not send any unrelated-to-work letter mail or packages to the College for themselves.

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

• On the mail services website under My Mailing Profile (login required).
• On the alumni directory. You may use the Development and Alumni Relations site to create an account and update your address.

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.