Effective Out of Office Messages for Sabbatical

[Morgendorffer]

Hi All,

Do you have any particularly useful/effective automatic out-of-office replies that you use for sabbatical? My first sabbatical starts today and I'm looking for something that balances "leave me alone" with "I still care about you."

I'm also working on telling my students (in my lab and my advisees who need to switch to their temporary advisor while I'm away) that I'm not doing Zoom calls (at least not with video). If you've got ideas there, I'm listening.

I also just imagine that some of you have some funny and/or pithy material, which I'd love to see.

I'm struggling a bit because I am usually quite direct about these things, but I feel some pressure to maintain an appearance of warmth (I'm a pre-tenure, youngish woman who studies things that make others expect me to be warm...).

Thanks!

[Vkw10]

Not particularly funny, but here's what I used last time.

Hello, thanks for your email.
I'm away from the university for a very long time, until DATE. I'm in a rural area with no Internet access, so I only check email on my rare trips to a town with modern amenities. I don't want you to wait weeks on a response, so I've arranged for other people to help while I'm away. I encourage you to contact:
Mr. X for this
Ms. Y for that
Dr. Z for the other.

Since I expect most people to contact someone who can help them fairly soon, I will delete any email that doesn't have the magical subject line CALLING DR VKW10. That will let me quickly sort through emails on the rare occasions I have Internet access, so if you truly want to Wait Weeks because I'm the only one who can help you, please re-send your email with the magical subject line.

I look forward to seeing you when I return to campus on DATE.

Dr. VKW10

I was careful not to reply to any email within 48 hours of receipt, no matter how urgent it looked. I did not want word to get around that sometimes I replied quickly. Sometimes, I used delayed email to send response. I also avoided Facebook and other social media. After a few weeks, most people stopped emailing me.

Where was I?  Housesitting in SC for a friend on sabbatical in Europe, with internet disconnected and a half-hour drive to a library with Internet access. It was weird at first, but made for a productive semester.

[Cheerful]

When someone is out of the office, I prefer short automated replies.  I hate long emails.

I wouldn't overthink this.  A short message:

"Thanks for your email.  I am on sabbatical and out of the office until January 1, 2021.  Best wishes, Prof. Morgendorffer."

If you're someone like Vkw10 with many time-sensitive duties, kindly provide the relevant contact info for those who will fulfill those duties while you're away.

Reply to a given email only when and if you so choose.  I sometimes receive replies from people with out-of-office replies.  It's their choice.

Best wishes on the sabbatical!

[jerseyjay]

"Thank you for your email. I am on leave until January 2021 and have only very limited access to email. I will reply to your email when I return to campus. In the meantime, if you have questions about the Basketweaving Department, please contact the departmental secretary or chair [email]. If you have questions about the Master's Program in Basketweaving, please contact professor X [email].  If you have questions about my research or me personally, please email me [give gmail or something] and I will reply when I am able."

Check your email when you are able or you want to. But do not respond to emails unless it is really urgent. And even then I would probably just forward the email to the person who is supposed to be taking over your responsibilities.

[Morgendorffer]

Thanks, folks! These are helpful!