Mail Services

Students Faculty and Staff: leaving Reed?

You need to forward your mail!

If you are leaving your on-campus mailing address (for the summer, an extended leave, or permanently) please log into Iris to submit your forwarding address to Mail Services. We will see your USPS mail is delivered to the new address for one year. Be sure to update your address with your friends and places you shop online.

Faculty on sabbatical

Your mail will be delivered to your Eliot box. Please make forwarding arrangements with your faculty admin.

We have shipping containers for various express services, shipping tape, a small selection of envelopes and intra-campus envelopes available at Mail Services. The recycling center is next to our window and is a great source for repurposed materials. The bookstore carries a wider selection of stationery notecards and envelopes, thank-you cards, boxes and packing material. Printing Services (in Eliot Hall) can help you if you need specially printed envelopes or postcards.

There are several things you can do to speed the delivery of your box stuffing.

• Get it to the mailroom at least two days before the information is needed.
• Use at least 3 inch by 5 inch pieces of paper; half sheets are better.
• If the stuffer is for a selected group, write their box numbers and put the stuffing in box number order.
• Call ahead and tell mail service (extension 7214) you have something to be stuffed and when it will be ready.
• There will be no Saturday box stuffing except by specific prior arrangement.

The mailroom will not accept or allow the following types of material for insertion in the student mail boxes:

• Anonymous submissions
• Advertisements for sale of merchandise or services (except those that arrive in the U.S. mail)
• Political advertising for college, city, county, state, or federal election (except those that arrive in the U.S. mail)
• Personal statements of opinion (use the Quest)

What mail services will do:

• We will put your stuffer in the boxes same day or next day depending on when it reaches us and how busy we are. Call if your stuffer needs to go into the boxes immediately; if that is the case mail services may ask that you send someone to help with delivery.

• Never use duct or masking tape to seal a package. It peels off and catches on other boxes.
• Oddly shaped articles (keys, bottle caps and pens) will not be accepted by the post office in letter-size, first-class envelopes. They do not fit in their machines or ours. They need to be in boxes or sandwiched in cardboard.
• See the recycling area near our window to repurpose boxes, packing material and bubble mailers.

How to Address a letter or package

Addressing an Envelope

The address you are mailing to should be written as follows:

• Recipient's name
• Business's name (if applicable)
• Street address (with apartment or suite number)
• City, State and ZIP code (on the same line)
• Country

The return address should be written in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.

• Omitting a return address prevents the USPS from returning the item to you if it is undeliverable. (examples damage, postage due, or an incorrect address)

The stamp or postage is placed in the upper right-hand corner of the envelope.

For more information, including how to mail international letters, check out “A Customer’s Guide to Mailing” from USPS.

Addressing a Package

When addressing write the address on the largest face and parallel to the longest edge of the package.

The address you are shipping to should be written as follows:

• Recipient's name
• Business's name (if applicable)
• Street address (with apartment or suite number)
• City, State and ZIP code (on the same line)
• Country