Students at information desk

Mail & Deliveries

Residence Hall Address

To ensure delivery to your on-campus residence, letters and packages must be properly addressed as in the format below, and include your official first and last name. Although many students go by a middle name or a nickname, mail that is addressed to anything but an official first and last name is often refused.

Residence Halls:


Your full name
Hall name + room number
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA 98225

Birnam Wood Apartments:


Your full name
Apartment name + room number
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA 98225

Moving Out

  • No Mail Forwarding: Mail Services cannot forward any mail or packages to a new address (or your permanent address) after you move out. Your items are not automatically routed to your permanent address. Any items that arrive to campus for a non-resident are ‘Returned to Sender’ and the student is responsible for contacting the original sender.
  • Change Your Default Shipping Address Online: On-campus residents cannot use a change of address form from USPS to forward their mail. You must update your shipping address with each company (Amazon or Pay Pal), business, or bank. This includes all reoccurring publications, subscription boxes, etc.
  • Update your Web4U Mailing Address: To ensure important Western documents are sent to the appropriate place, update your mailing address in Web4U.
    Note: You can update your mailing address in Web4U 3-5 business days after checking out.
  • Notify your Friends & Family: Be sure your friends and family know your new mailing address.

Students Sending Mail/Packages Off Campus

Best Practices for Successful Mail and Delivery

  • Correctly address mail and packages: Incorrect addressing is the most common issue that causes a delay in students’ mail delivery. See Official Mailing Address section above.
  • Be sure to select the accurate “Ship To” address when making online purchases.
  • Do not ship items that might arrive more than one week before your scheduled move-in date. Packages that arrive more than a week before this date may be returned to sender.
  • Do not send valuable items that are easily identifiable; never send cash! (See Mail of Value or Importance section below).
  • Please note that weekend and holiday deliveries by carriers such as Amazon is NOT AVAILABLE for campus residents.

Sending Mail or Packages

Residence hall front desks cannot accept outgoing mail or packages. Here are a few options for students to send letters or packages off campus:

On Campus

A Few Off Campus Options Near WWU

Students Receiving Mail From Off Campus

Official Mailing Address

Every student has two addresses on file with the university: a permanent address associated with a hometown or family home, and a mailing address in the Bellingham area. As a campus resident, your residence hall or apartment is your official mailing address in Web4U; when you move out, you are responsible for updating your mailing address with your new location.

Delivery Schedule

Monday – Saturday: WWU Mail Services delivers mail to residence halls

Sunday and postal holidays: No residence hall delivery.

  • Saturday & Sunday delivery by carriers such as UPS and companies like Amazon is NOT available for campus residents. Please take this into consideration when ordering items requiring a tight delivery deadline.

Whole Foods Orders (via Amazon)

Orders placed to Whole Foods through Amazon cannot be delivered to your on-campus residence. 

Whole Foods orders are dropped off at Mail Services with no name or room number, and therefore Mail Services are unable to deliver to the resident. You will not receive your order.

Amazon Packages

If you order packages from Amazon, you will need to add specific delivery notes:

  • No Saturday or Sunday delivery
  • No deliveries after 4:30 pm

Failure to do so may result in misplaced or undelivered packages.

Mail Services is closed on holidays and does not receive packages. If your Amazon order delivery is scheduled for a holiday observed by Western (classes not in session), we recommend contacting Amazon directly to reschedule your delivery. Failure to do so may result in stolen, misplaced, or undelivered packages. 

Mail During Breaks

Mail is delivered to all residential buildings during breaks with the exception of when the desk is closed. Students are notified when a package is ready for pick up, but can only claim them during the reduced Intersession desk hours, posted at the front desk. If you have any questions please contact Housing-Mail@wwu.edu or Mail Services (360-650-3770).

Flowers & Other Surprise Deliveries

Residence halls are locked 24 hours a day, and they do not have traditional street addresses. This makes person-to-person delivery of flowers, balloons, cupcakes and other fresh surprises difficult. If you are planning such a delivery, please ensure someone on campus (your student or a friend/roommate) is available at the time and location of the delivery.

Letters, Cards, Magazines, and other non-tracked items

  • All letters, magazines, postcards and non-tracked items are delivered to students' mailboxes which students check at their convenience. One mailbox is shared with all occupants of a room, whether that room is a double or a triple.
  • Most mailboxes are in your building - but Alma Clark Glass, Ridgeway Beta and Ridgeway Gamma mailboxes are located at the Ridge neighborhood desk. Buchanan Towers and Buchanan Towers East mailboxes are located at the Buchanan Towers desk.
  • Alma Clark Glass/Ridgeway Beta & Gamma residents: letters, magazines and other non-tracked items are held behind the Ridge desk. Buchanan Towers/Buchanan Towers East residents: letters, magazines and other non-tracked items are held behind the Buchanan Towers desk. Residents can request their items at the desk during desk hours.
  • No email notification is sent when a resident receives a non-tracked item so we recommend all residents check their mailboxes or inquire at the desk for their mail regularly.
  • All mailed items are processed with the highest security of personal items in mind. However, items without tracking numbers often can’t be located by the University if misplaced or not properly delivered. Please see Best Practices above for successful mail delivery.

Mail of Value or Importance

  • Parents or family members sending anything of value or importance—such as cash, gift cards, passport or medication—should use a method that includes insurance and delivery confirmation, such as Priority Mail or Certified Mail.
  • Mail requiring a signature (Registered Mail, Certified Mail, etc.) must be picked up and signed-for in person by the addressee. Students receive a notice in their mailbox with pickup location and instructions.

Resolving Mail or Package Issues

  • Please contact University Residences Mail Operations at Housing-Mail@wwu.edu with questions or concerns about residential mail or packages.

    • Please be prepared to provide the students' name, W#, and the tracking number of the mailed item.
  • If a package is reported to University Residences Mail Operations team as lost, missing or extremely delayed, we take due diligence to perform a thorough search through each step in our delivery process. This process may take a few business days, which may further delay delivery of the item to the student.

  • Ultimately, if the package cannot be located, the student is referred to WWU Risk Management to follow the Tort Claim process. This is a separate process with its own established timelines and requirements.

More Delivery Information

Packages for residential students go to WWU’s Mail Services Center and are delivered to the appropriate residence hall front desk, typically within one business day.

Exceptions include fall quarter opening week when, due to the high volume of mail, packages may take up to three business days to reach residence halls.

A package with a tracking number:

  • Arrives on campus at WWU Mail Services Center, and is sorted for afternoon delivery to residence halls
  • Is delivered to the appropriate residence hall front desk between 2-5 p.m. for processing; student is notified via WWU email from WesternPackageTracking@wwu.edu that their package is ready for pick-up.
  • Student brings ID to the front desk to claim their package. PLEASE NOTE: Students will receive one reminder email to pick up their package. If the package is not claimed by the timeframe indicated in the reminder email, the item will be returned to sender.
  • FYI: Students can track the progress of their package once it arrives on campus by navigating to wwu.sclintra.com and entering the tracking number provided by the carrier.

StatusDescription

No StatusPackage often has not yet arrived to campus or has an unexpected issue that is causing a delay

Arrival ScanPackage has arrived on campus and received by WWU Mail Services Staff

Departure ScanPackage is in route and being transported to the Residence Hall

Desk AcceptedPackage has been received by Residence Hall Front Desk staff & is being sorted

Ready for Pick UpPackage is available for the student to claim at the Residence Hall Front Desk with their ID

Picked Up at HallAfter the package has been claimed & picked up by the student

If a different status appears and the student has questions, they are encouraged to contact their front desk staff.

  • Fall: Delivery begins on Friday before the start of fall quarter and ends on Friday of finals week.
  • Winter: Delivery is suspended during winter break and resumes on Monday before winter classes begin; any mail received during the break is held at Mail Services until delivery resumes.
  • Spring: Delivery is suspended during spring break and resumes on Monday before spring classes begin; any mail received during the break is held at Mail Services until delivery resumes.
    Delivery ends on Friday of finals week; any mail received thereafter is returned to sender.
  • Summer: Delivery during summer session begins on Monday before classes begin. Delivery ends on the last day of the nine-week session; any mail received thereafter is returned to sender.

Once the last day of spring quarter has passed, your campus address will be automatically updated to reflect your summer assignment. Mail and packages for summer residents will be delivered to their summer assignments beginning the first day of summer quarter.