The University’s Print and Mail Department has adjusted its policy to ensure that all mail and packages are processed within 48 hours, following years of delays in package delivery at the start of the school year.
The start of the fall semester typically sees significantly more deliveries to Frist Campus Center, with roughly 20 percent of all packages delivered in a year being delivered from late August through September, according to numbers from last year. In recent years, this increase in deliveries has caused significant reported delays in processing times.
In Fall 2023, students told The Daily Princetonian that processing times in Frist were typically longer than a week, often closer to two weeks. First-years reported the extended processing times as hindering the adjustment to college life, while other students circumvented the system by changing shipping locations to package lockers in town, or to the homes of family and friends nearby.
“Oftentimes, I would rather go to 7-Eleven than order to Frist,” Daria Popova ’26 told the ‘Prince.’
Following the delays of previous years, the Print and Mail department has committed to a more consistent processing time this semester: providing students with the opportunity to collect their mail and packages within 48 hours of delivery to the Forrestal Receiving and Sorting Facility. This commitment includes the weekends and holidays, and will continue throughout the peak ‘move-in’ period, deemed by the department as from one week before first-year move-in to mid-September.
According to University Spokesperson Jennifer Morrill, all packages and mail have been processed within a 48-hour window since August 16, with many being processed within 24 hours. Students are then notified that their package is available for pick-up, and are given a 48-hour window in which to collect it. Morrill wrote that the average time that a package is waiting in a locker or mail room for pick-up is currently 22 hours.
The reduced processing time comes from several changes to the operations of the Print and Mail Department over the summer. According to Morrill, the package and mail processing software has been improved and the number of temporary staff has been increased. The organization of the area has been updated as well, with signage throughout Frist enhanced and TigerCard scanners added in Frist 106 for package look-up.
During the move-in period, there were also extended mailroom hours for pick-ups, opening up on Sundays and for two extra hours on Saturdays.
The Print and Mail Department has sought to make picking up deliveries more convenient for students receiving oversized packages, particularly those students furthest from Frist Campus Center. The main event entrance of Dillon Gym is currently serving as the oversized package distribution point.
This year also marks a shift in coursebook supplier with Princeton no longer partnering with Labyrinth bookstore. Princeton has launched its new eCampus Online Bookstore platform. This has led to a 22 percent increase in packages received by the Frist packaging system as compared to the same time period last year, with coursebooks accounting for a quarter of this increase.
Morrill said, “we are prioritizing [the] processing of eCampus packages so students receive materials in a timely manner. These packages are currently being made available for student pickup — including an email notification to the student — within 24 hours of being received by the University.”
The 48-hour delivery window seems to be consistent with some student experiences. Aliya Kraybill ’28 reported that her package arrived in a Frist locker within two days of it arriving on campus.
“I had heard Frist was taking a while, but so far I haven’t had any issues,” Kraybill said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’
However, other students reported that this 48-hour processing time is not consistent with their experience this semester.
Riley Yowell ’26 said “I don’t really know how feasible” the 48-hour processing time would be, explaining that it wasn’t consistent with her experience this semester; according to Yowell, “it took four to five days” for her package to be processed.
Isabel Connolly is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince’ from Port Washington, N.Y.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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