Students: Going on Vacay? Don't Forget to Set Up Notifications

I, like many college students, have the luxury of being able to take a (mostly) worry-free, week-long vacation this spring break. I'll be cruising through the Caribbean with my roommate and her family, hoping we don't come across any tidal waves.

But it's important to remember that many students have responsibilities, whether it be schoolwork, extra curricular activities, a job or something else. The times of being able to disappear from society for a few days are pretty much gone for most students, despite not having full-time jobs.

So it is important to give proper notification if you are going on spring break or will be out of touch for an extended period of time. Some ways to do this are:

• Leave notification on your cell phone or main phone number's voicemail message. This way, anyone who tries to reach you will not think you are just ignoring their call.
  
• Set up an automatic e-mail vacation responder. Most email servers have this capability, which will automatically reply to any emails you receive with a message you create.
• Post the notification to your appropriate social networks.
  

For all of these options, remember to only give the basic/necessary information which is: you are on vacation, are unable to immediately respond and the date you will return. You don't want to give not-so-professional details about your spring break, such as "I'm going to Panama City Beach to get crazy for a week! See ya!!" Keep your messages professional and to the point.

The purpose of this is to ensure that anyone who tries to contact you while you are away is aware that you are out of touch. In our society of instant communication, any response that takes more than a day (or even a few hours) can leave some people scratching their heads. You don't want your contacts guessing about why you aren't responding, which can lead to assumptions and possibly some unfortunate outcomes.

Not all students will need to use all, or even any, of these tips, but as the old saying goes...it's always better to be safe than sorry.

What other pointers can you add?