Barnard College Barnard College

Receiving Your Mail and Packages

Incoming Letter Mail

  • Letter mail is delivered to Barnard Monday-Friday and is generally placed into student mailboxes by noon. To the extent that space permits, Mail Services will also use your mailbox for large envelopes and small packages that do not require a signature. If an item does not fit, we will treat it like a signature-required item.

Incoming Package Mail

  • Packages are brought to Barnard at various times throughout the day. When you receive a package or item requiring a signature, you are automatically sent an automated email from mailer@witstracking.com.  The email alerts you from our package tracking software that we have received and processed a package for you.  
  • NEW FOR SPRING 2023: You will no longer receive a mail slip in your mailbox. Once a package has been processed, you will receive the email notification from Mail Services as noted above.  
  • You must present your Barnard I.D. and your mailbox number at the service window to retrieve your package. (Please allow one hour from receipt of email before heading to the service window.) 
  • Under exceptional circumstance, you may ask another student to pick up a package for you. In those cases, you must send an email to Mail Services (mailservices@barnard.edu) giving the full name of the person who will act as your proxy for that item only—this is not a general proxy. You must send this email from your Barnard email account, and your proxy must present his/her I.D. at the service window.
  • Carts and hand-trucks may be borrowed for up to 30 minutes for the 600, 616 and 620 residences and for up to 45 minutes for Plimpton Hall. Your Barnard ID (or other government-issued ID) will be kept at the service window until the cart or hand truck is returned. All borrowed items must be returned at least 15 minutes before Mail Services closes. 
  • Perishable packages must be picked up from the Student Mail Services window within 24 hours of notification of delivery.   

Delivery Confirmation Issues

  • Many companies use USPS Delivery Confirmation as their preferred shipping method. “Delivery Confirmation” is something of a misnomer. At present, most Delivery Confirmation items do not require a signature or even an acceptance scan at Barnard. When the USPS web site tells you that such an item has been “delivered,” it means that it has arrived at the local Post Office, not at Barnard. For this reason, we do not accept Delivery Confirmation by itself as proof that an item has been received at Barnard.

Proper Use of Mailboxes

  • Barnard College issues mailboxes and mailbox combinations to Barnard students only. Students are not permitted to use these boxes for relatives or guests. Incoming mail for non-Barnard students is "Returned to Sender." Similarly, combinations should not be given to others for "convenience." An open or improperly closed box invites problems; students should close mailboxes tightly and spin the combination. If a mailbox does not close or lock properly, please notify Mail Services immediately so that it may be repaired.

Package Notification

  • Barnard's package tracking software ("WITS") provides email notification of package arrivals. You should never reply to these emails, which are automatically generated. In your email index, the following headers should appear:

Subject: WITS Automated Email
From: mailer@witstracking.com