Students may find it a bit more complicated to get packages to other students who live on campus this year.

Previously – although they were never technically allowed to do so – students would often drop off packages at the dorm front desks and let the desk clerk know who the packages should be delivered to, said Kit Tolbert, director of housing operations.

Typically, the student would receive note of the delivery, within a day.

Unless the package was lost.

All packages – besides those dropped off to the recipient personally – delivered on campus must be sent through the U.S. Postal Service because of liability reasons, Tolbert said.

“This rule has been enforced for as long as I can remember,” she said. “If something were to come up missing, it would be our responsibility to replace the item right away.”

Minton Hall desk clerk Stephanie Gray, a senior from Dale, Ind., said this semester, desk clerks were asked to not accept packages from students.

Gray said that last year, packages were dropped off at the front desk infrequently.

Though few were dropped off, she said there were instances when packages could not be found.

Gray said she believes that this new procedure may reduce human error and prove to be beneficial.

“What (the desk clerks were) told is that we can’t be held responsible for lost packages,” Gray said. “We have had a few packages misplaced before, so I think this could be beneficial.”

While students can send letters to specific departments on campus without any charge, students may incur the regular postal fee when sending a package on campus, said Marshall Gray, director of Postal Services.

“Technically the Postal Service is only set up for official university business or departmental mail,” Gray said. “Students in residence halls needed the service to be able to send items for university business.”

Louisville freshman Kaitlyn Clark said she believes students won’t want to use the Postal Service to deliver packages, especially if they are charged for shipping fees.

Clark said students should be allowed to drop packages off at dorms, even if there is a possibility the package could be lost.

“It’s the student’s responsibility that it makes it to their friend,” Clark said. “There are always risks involved. And they are willingly trusting the desk clerk when they could deliver it by hand, in person.”