Boston University will extend its contract with the United Parcel Service, offering students the Pack, Store or Ship Program until Sept. 15.
BU partnered with the UPS Student Storage Service in March to cover the cost of shipping and storing students’ belongings left in on-campus residences. Due to uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, the University will continue these services into the Fall.
For students who have been unable to collect their boxes from last Spring or have belongings larger than the allowed size, their items will remain in storage free of charge until the Fall, according to the UPS Store Student Storage Service website.
Students who currently have items in storage will not have to contact UPS directly about their contract extensions — the University will manage this process, BU spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email Tuesday.
If students wish to have their items sent home, the UPS Store Student Storage Service offers free domestic shipping, which will be offered for packages no larger than the standard UPS box size, according to its website.
Free shipping and storage of belongings is also extended to students who lived on campus in the Fall but were released from their Spring 2021 Residence License Agreement, Riley said in an interview.
These students will receive free shipping if they pack their own belongings, otherwise their items will be stored, according to the UPS Store Student Storage Service website.
“This extension … provides students with peace of minding, knowing that their boxes and room items will remain in storage until they are able to travel to Boston to collect them,” Riley wrote.
Off-campus students are required to schedule a pickup date for their items three days in advance and can use packing supplies provided by UPS.
Those affected by the policy change were notified when the decision was made earlier in the Fall, Riley said.
“It all falls under the umbrella of the unanticipated costs of the pandemic,” Riley said.
The effort that went into the program was “unheralded,” Riley said in reference to President Robert Brown’s State of the University, Fall 2020 letter in October.
“You have to realize how many people were involved in the activity of packing and shipping or storing nearly 50,000 boxes for around 6,500 students,” Riley said, “that was really a big undertaking.”
Riley said the University intends for all students to receive their stored items once circumstances allow.
“We’re committed to getting the belongings back to those students,” he said, “and hopefully all students will be able to return to campus at some point, reclaim their belongings if they’re in storage here.”
