Firstly, thanks to the candidates we met at MLA. The upside of the job market, at least if you are an interviewer, is the consistent high quality of the people you see for most of the specialties we would be hiring in modern languages, and this search is no exception. While the MLA experience tends to be non-optimal as groused about below by myself and others, that part of it does give you confidence and satisfaction that at least, our profession is doing something right.

Today's theme, though, is unsolicited advice (and by the way, I am full of it, and happy to share at any time). A sabbatical, assuming you are on reduced pay and traveling, is likely to be a financial disaster, but the upside is that nearly all associated costs are deductible. The reason is that one was granted the non-teaching partly-paid leave for the purpose of working on the research project that one applied for leave to do; accordingly, you are being paid to do that, and uncompensated costs incurred along the way are deductible work expenses, if properly documented. That means travel, food, laundry, housing--pretty much everything that is incurred in the course of getting to and living in the locations where you work on it. And, the living costs can be per diem'd rather than itemized, so long as the receipts to back that up are on hand.

I bring this up simply because not many faculty seem to understand this, and their tax people can't be blamed (much), since this is a unique wrinkle that doesn't come up in the world outside academe, except for freelancers and self-employed perhaps (and even in our world--in my case--has only now come up for the first time in a decade-plus of professoring, since sabbaticals don't happen every day).

While you can, and should, take my word for it on this and indeed all things, you don't have to. Though there is a baffling shortage of publication about sabbaticals--one topic that has huge pan-disciplinary professional self-interest--this angle is discussed in Ralston, Jayne and Tony, The Sabbatical Book (Buffalo: Roylott Press, 1987), and also to some extent in tax guides tailored for educators. And on a more up-to-date note, my own reliable tax person has validated this philosophy also.

Since I used to work in the financial industry, I of course must pop off the usual disclaimer that I am not a licensed financial or tax advisor, and you should check with someone with professional credentials before taking anyone else's word for anything. (For a more entertaining financial disclaimer covering any and all liabilities, see the parody of a high-tech business plan presented in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon).

A side note: if traveling extensively, don't forget the savings to be had by turning off electricity hogs like your refrigerator, and by cancelling subscriptions such as cable TV and internet. It's a minor inconvenience when you visit home during the period, but the savings add up--and you may end up wondering if you need to pay for HBO when DVDs are free at the local (and college) library anyway.

That's enough useful advice for one day. Next time, we will aim for more docere et delectare (though we are not sure academics enjoy anything much more than saving money!).

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