Mail Services

Below is information regarding campus mail and packages.

The mailroom will begin receiving mail and packages for residential students on July 17.  Packages received prior to August 14th will be placed in your room.  There is a limit of 4 packages per student that can be delivered directly to your room. We highly recommend these items to be essentials such as bedding, refrigerators, microwaves, etc. We also suggest that smaller items be shipped to your home address so they can be consolidated into one larger box that you may then ship to Emerson for in-room delivery prior to the deadline. Any packages received after the deadline will be held by the student mailroom for pickup.  Please note, that due to the high volume of packages in August and September, there may be a delay in package processing of up to 2 weeks and you may not have immediate access to items shipped. Should you have any questions please reach out to Business_Services [at] Emerson.edu.

Your mailing address for both packages and letter mail will be:

Emerson College
Student Name – Box Number
120 Boylston Street
Boston MA 02116

You will receive your Box Number along with your housing assignment. This address is the address you will use the entire time you reside on campus. During the academic year, packages and mail can be picked up in the Little Building Mailroom. You will be informed via email when either a package or letter arrives for you. Letter mail can be retrieved Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Little Building Mailroom service window. Packages that are not oversized will be placed in lockers. Locker packages can be retrieved 24 hours a day. Packages in lockers must be retrieved within 48 hours. After 48 hours, the packages will be moved to the Little Building Mailroom storage and must be picked up within 5 business days. Packages remaining in storage after this time will be returned to sender. Packages that are larger than 23.5”H x 20”D x 17”W are considered oversized and can be retrieved Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You must present your Emerson ID to pick-up oversized packages. Mail is received from the United States Post Office Monday through Friday and is distributed to students the day it arrives on campus. Please note that the mailroom does not have the ability to hold packages that need refrigeration. The Mailroom is not responsible for misaddressed or misdirected mail or packages. The Mailroom is also not responsible for the handling of items that are shipped to the campus using same Day Delivery.

Location & Contact

Campus Mail Center: 100 Boylston Street, Colonial Building, Lower Level
Student Mail Center: 80 Boylston Street, Little Building, Main Concourse
617-824-8594
emersonmailroom [at] gmail.com (emersonmailroom[at]gmail[dot]com)

Available Services

  • Mail sorting and distribution
  • Posting for first class and bulk mail pieces
  • Mail fulfillment
  • Intermediary support for incoming packages
  • Student email notification of package arrival
  • Interdepartmental mail deliveries
  • Packaging and shipping services
  • Postage stamps
  • UPS Campus Ship: for student and faculty personal shipping

Hours of Operation

  • Academic Year: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Mail Centers closed on weekends)
  • Summer: Monday to Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Friday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Mail Centers will have extended hours during student move-in

The Mail Center is closed on weekends except where noted.


Faculty/Staff Mail & Packages

Incoming mail and packages for faculty and staff should be addressed accordingly:

Emerson College
Name/Department
120 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116-4624

Mail Services delivers all incoming mail to departments, including traceable mail and small boxes that are entered into the mailroom's package tracking system. Once a box exceeds 18" length by 12" height by 13" width, it is categorized as a "package" and must be picked up by the recipient at the Mail Center.

It is important that all incoming packages include the recipient's name on the address so that Mail Services can ensure that delivery goes to the appropriate staff or faculty recipient.

Please keep in mind that, per recommendation by the USPS, the services provided by the Mail Center are not for personal use.

We strongly urge employees not to ship personal items to the College. Emerson employees (faculty, staff, etc.) who do ship personal packages to the Mail Center will receive a package notification email or phone call requiring them to pick the package up from the Mail Center. Mail Services will not deliver personal packages under any exception. Any personal packages that are not picked up after five business days will be returned to sender.


Student Mail Delivery & Residence Halls

Student Mailing Address

Mail and packages sent to on-campus students should be addressed accordingly:

Emerson College
Student Name, Box#
120 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116

Information regarding the Box# will be sent to students during the summer.

Please do not ship packages to the Mail Center if you live off campus. The Mail Center is for on-campus students only.

Student Letter and Package Pickup

Mail is received from the United States Postal Service Monday–Friday and is distributed into virtual “High Density Mail” folders the same day of arrival.

Students will receive an email when a letter arrives for them on campus. Letter mail can be picked up at the Little Building Mail Center Monday–Friday 9:00 am–5:00 pm. You must your present your Emerson ID card for pickup.

The Mail Center is not responsible for misaddressed mail.

Student packages, that are not oversized, will be placed in the Mail Center’s Smart Locker system, located in the Little Building. Packages delivered to Smart Lockers can be picked up 24 hours a day.

Student packages not picked up from smart lockers after 48 hours will be moved to the Little Building mailroom storage. Students then have 5 business days to pick up their package from storage. Any packages remaining unclaimed in storage after 5 business days will be returned to sender.

Oversized packages can be retrieved Monday–Friday 9:00 am–5:00 pm. You must present your Emerson ID card for pickup.

Oversized student packages are held for pickup at the Little Building Mail Center.

All packages have a shelf life of 7 days. After 7 days, all packages will be returned to sender.

Change of Address/Mail Forwarding

At the conclusion of the academic year, on-campus students will be required to fill out a Mail Forwarding form online with information regarding where their mail should be sent during summer break. If a student does not fill out a form, any mail received will be returned to sender. Foreign students should provide a US address if they'd like their mail forwarded, since it cannot be forwarded outside the country.

Students moving off campus will be asked to complete a similar Mail Forwarding form online and their mail will be forwarded for approximately three months (summer) to the address submitted.

Please remember that only some USPS packages can be forwarded. All UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. will be returned to sender.

Missing Mail

If you are expecting a letter and have not received it, please check with Mail Services to ensure that the letter has not been missorted. You may contact Mail Services via phone at 617-824-8594 or emersonmailroom [at] gmail.com (via email). The Mail Room in the Little Building is open during the academic year Monday–Friday 9:00 am–5:00 pm.

If your letter is not found on campus, you may request a search through the US post office by going to usps.com/help/missing-mail.html and follow the instructions provided.

Information Needed to File a Missing Mail Search Request

  • Mailer and recipient addresses
  • Date of mailing
  • Tracking number(s) (highly recommended, if available)
  • Important information pertaining to the mail piece (type of container, size, and color of container or packaging)
  • Detailed description of contents (title, color, size, brand, make, model, etc.), including each item—Attach photos, if available, to help identify contents

Time Restraints to Submit a Missing Mail Search Request

  • The earliest the Missing Mail application will allow you to submit a search request is seven days after the original date of mailing.
  • The latest the Missing Mail application will allow you to submit a search request is 365 days after the original date of mailing of the mail piece. We strongly suggest that you submit your search request as soon as possible within the 7 to 365-day window.

Checking Missing Mail Search Request Status

You can access the Missing Mail Search History page in the Missing Mail application to view the status of all your submitted search requests. You will also receive email notifications with status updates of your submitted searches. The emails will be sent to the email address that was provided in the “Whom can we contact about this search?” section on the search request form. In addition to email notifications for status updates, you will also receive a final resolution email for the return of the mail piece or the expiration of the search request.

A Missing Mail search request will display one of the following statuses:

StatusMeaning
Accepted (received)This status indicates you have completed your search request form. It has been successfully submitted and received by the Postal Service™ and is undergoing the inventory search process.
Mail piece FoundThis status indicates that the lost mail piece has been identified and retrieved in the Postal Service’s inventory and is in the process of being rewrapped and mailed back to the customer.
ExpiredThis status indicates that the search form has reached its retention period and is now expired within the Postal Service’s search system and will no longer be run for matches in the system.
Saved as DraftThis status indicates the customer has initiated a Search Form request but has saved their progress for continuation and completion at a later time.
RejectedThis status indicates that the search form has been rejected by a clerk because it was a duplicate, or for some other specific reason.
CanceledThis status indicates the customer has decided to cancel their Search Form request.
If the lost mail piece is recovered

If your Missing Mail search request is successfully matched and your lost mail piece is recovered, the Postal Service™ will rewrap your mail and send it to the address that was provided on the completed search request form. You will also receive an email notification indicating that your mail piece has been found and the missing mail search request status will indicate, ”Mail Piece Found.”

If the lost mail piece is not found

A search will continue to run for matches in the Missing Mail system until it expires. If a search request is unable to connect to any matches and eventually expires, then you will receive an email notification indicating that your item was unable to be found.  Unsuccessful searches status will change to “Expired”. 

Multiple items in Missing Mail search request

If your mail piece contains multiple items inside, you can include all of those items in single missing mail search request. Please be sure to include descriptions for each item. After completing the description for your first item, select the option to add another item under the 'Contents of Your Mail Piece'.  You cannot, however, include multiple mail pieces in a single search request. You must submit a separate missing mail search request for each missing mail piece.