College of Education Style Guide

Abbreviations and acronyms

In general, avoid alphabet soup. Do not use abbreviations or acronyms on first reference if the reader would not quickly recognize them. Some widely-used acronyms, such as ROTC or HTML, are acceptable on first reference. After first reference, it’s generally acceptable to use the acronym so long as the acronym is shown following the first reference. Example: Office of Research Support and Operations (ORSO).

If there is no second reference to an organization, there is no need to put the acronym parenthetically.

Academic degrees

In text, use bachelor’s degree or bachelor’s rather than B.A. or B.S.; master’s degree or master’s rather than M.A. or M.S.; doctoral degree or doctorate rather than Ph.D. or Ed.D.: He has a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s in translation, and a doctorate in comparative literature.

Graduate students who haven’t yet graduated will be referred to as: an MBA student. Once they graduate, their graduation year will appear with a comma before the advanced degree, as in: John Smith, MBA ’17

B.A. or B.S.; Ph.D. or Ed.D. and J.D. (all with periods); degrees with more than two letters do not take the periods such as MBA, MSN, BSN, MFA, DNP, etc.; master’s degree and bachelor’s degree (with apostrophes), but there is no possessive in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science.

Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, a master’s, etc., but there is no possessive in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science. Or, as we know in our college, Master in Teaching.

Use abbreviations such as B.A., M.A., LL.D., and Ph.D. only when the need to identify many individuals by degree on first reference would make the preferred form cumbersome.

Academic degrees – majors

A major is capitalized when used with its formal degree type. For example:

Academic titles

Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as chancellor, chairman, etc., when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere.

Example: Dean Mike Trevisan. Mike Trevisan, dean of the College of Education. Associate Professor Simon Licen. Simon Licen, associate professor of sport management.

Ampersand (&)

Use the word “and” unless the ampersand is found in the formal name of a company or organization.

Example: Teaching and Learning, not Teaching & Learning.

ACT, SAT

Do not spell out.

Adviser/advisor

Advisor should be used when specifically referencing university academic advising functions, such as academic advisor or study abroad advisor. All other generic uses or non-academic activities should use adviser, such as student organization faculty adviser, community adviser or investment adviser (as per AP Style, 2013). To avoid ambiguity, other university positions, such as financial aid specialist, or admissions counselor, should remain true to their descriptive titles rather than describing themselves as an adviser.

Alumna, alumnae (female); alumnus, alumni (male)

Use alumni when referring to a group of men and women.

Avoid using the word alum when speaking about one individual. Use either alumnus or alumna.

SUPPLEMENTAL COE GUIDE: Use of alum is OK if its use is to avoid referring to someone whose gender isn’t identified or shared.

a.m., p.m.

See TIME.

Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science

A bachelor’s degree or bachelor’s is acceptable in any reference.

Board of Regents

Use Regents after first reference.

WSU Advocates

Use Advocate safter first reference.

Campus buildings

Follow the spelling listed on the campus map in the University telephone directory. Capitalize proper names of buildings and subunits of buildings and shortened forms based on proper names. Do not capitalize generic names of facilities or abbreviations based on generic names.

Capitalization

• Committees, commissions and boards. Capitalize full, formal names of committees, commissions, task forces and advisory boards. Strive for consistency.
• Distinguished titles. Capitalize only proper names in titles of named and distinguished professorships and endowed chairs.
• Divisions and affiliates of the university. Capitalize the names of schools, academic departments and divisions of the university when writing them as they appear in the telephone directory. Lowercase the names that are flopped or shortened:

COE

This is a secondary reference to the College of Education. It is acceptable on first reference in some instances such as graphic design where a logo already exists.

COE vs. the COE????? Good question. Because this is not being used as a singular noun to indicate something as a whole class, but rather is a determiner to refer to an actual entity (our college). So, rather than say “she was a first-year student in COE,” you could say “she was a first-year student in the COE.” HOWEVER, unless there are multiple colleges, and the College of Education has already been referenced, it may be better to just say “the college”, thus, “she was a first-year student in the college.”

Composition titles

On titles, we go with the Times/MLA style: italics for titles of books, plays, movies, collections, TV series; “quotation marks” for individual stories, poems, songs, episodes.

Courtesy titles

Refer to both men and women by first and last name. Use the courtesy title only in direct quotations.

Use Dr. preceding the name of anyone with a medical degree, but only on first reference. Not for use with other doctoral degrees, including, but not limited to Ph.D.s

Dashes

We use em dashes instead of en dashes or hyphens, with a space on either side.
(Ex. Leon has traveled a long road toward the election for State Attorney — one marked with many potholes.)

Database

One word, in keeping with widespread usage. The collection of all data used and produced by a computer program.

Days of the week

Capitalize them. Do not abbreviate, except when needed in tabular format: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat (three letters, without periods, to facilitate tabular composition).

Doctoral degree, doctorate

Doctoral is the adjective, doctorate the noun. Doctoral degree and doctorate are interchangeable. Do not use doctorate degree.

Dormitory, dorms

Use residence halls, not dormitories or dorms

Email

Short form of electronic mail. Do not use e-mail with a hyphen as it is an antiquated style.

Emeritus

This word often is added to formal titles to denote that individuals who have retired retain their rank or title.

When used, place emeritus after the formal title, in keeping with general practice: Professor Emeritus John Doe, Dean Emeritus Jane Smith. Or: John Doe, professor emeritus; Jane Smith, dean emeritus. In addition, professor emeritus of computer science.

FAQ

Acronym for frequently asked questions, a format often used to summarize information on the Internet. FAQ is acceptable for use on page titles. Spell it out in copy.

First-year Experience
Hyphenate first-year when used as an adjective, such as “first-year studies” and “first-year students.”

Grade-point average, GPA

Use GPA on first reference when used with figures: a 2.5 GPA is required.

Honorary degrees

All references to honorary degrees should specify that the degree was honorary.

Do not use Dr. before the name of an individual whose only doctorate is honorary.

International students

Not foreign students.

Major and minors

Majors and minors, like subjects, should be lowercase unless a proper noun (i.e. English, American history).

SUPPLMENTAL COE GUIDE: On our college’s owned media (i.e., blog, website), program names are always capitalized. Thus, unlike submissions to WSU Insider or other news outreach, we will have something such as: The college’s Sport Management program is unique for its internship possibilities.

Multi, not multi-

The prefix “multi” should not be hyphenated in most cases: multicultural, not multi-cultural, multimedia, not multi-media.

Numbers

Numbers below 10 are spelled out.

• Exception: Percentages, semester hours, and grade point averages.
  • 10 percent, 3 semester hours, 3.5 grade point average (unless the number begins a sentence).
  • Enrollment increased by 25 percent. Twenty-five percent of the students were over the age of 20.
• Exception: It is sometimes better to use numerals in ads, posters, and websites for ease of reading.
• Treat numbers alike in a sentence if they refer to the same thing: “The class of 150 students was separated into smaller groups of 4 students each.”

Use “more than” rather than “over” with numerals.

• “Enrollment is more than 18,000 students.”

Numbers at the beginning of the sentences
Always spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence or reword the sentence to avoid spelling out a large number.

Ordinal numbers
Spell out ordinals in text.

• first
• second
• tenth
• Not 1st, 2nd, 3rd

When ordinal numbers are needed (as in rankings), do not use superscript letters.

• “The program is ranked 16th in the nation” (not 16^th).

Ordinals are never needed with months and days.

• “On May 2, the program began” (not “On May 2nd”).

Percent
Spell out percent rather than use the % sign.

Plurals of numbers
List plurals by adding an “s.”

• 5s
• 20s
• 1980s

Decimals and fractions
List decimals and fractions in figures.

• 1.25
• 2/3

In some cases, a fraction may be spelled out.

• “The professor covered about two-thirds of the chapter during the class.”
• Note that hyphens are used when spelling out fractions.

Centuries and decades
Spell out centuries and decades where possible.

• fifteenth century
• the sixties

If using figures, they should have an “s” at the end.

• 1960s
• ’60s

Phone Numbers

Write telephone numbers with a hyphen after the area code.

• 509-335-3518
• Do not use a 1 to precede the area code: 800-335-3518

Seasons

Capitalize Fall or Spring if it is in conjunction with the particular year, such as “the Fall 2012 semester.” But, lowercase, “he studied piano during the fall semester…” or …The team practiced in fall.”

Serial comma or “Oxford comma”

SUPPLEMENTAL COE GUIDE: Yes, we use it and encourage you to, as well.

State abbreviations

We always use postal abbreviations, such as FL instead of Fla.

SUPPLEMENTAL COE GUIDE: In all instances of owned media (i.e., college blog, website), postal abbreviations are encouraged.

Time

Figures plus a.m. or p.m. (lowercase with periods) are used to designate time in both text and schedules.

In many informal contexts, a shortened form is fine. But in some cases, it’s better to use the full time. Readability and comprehension are the guiding factors.

• “The lecture will begin at 10 a.m. with a luncheon to follow at noon.”
• Meeting: 5 p.m.
• The event will be held from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.
• The event will be held from 1:00-3:30 p.m.
• Note that “noon” is lowercase and is not used with 12:00. So, don’t put 12-noon or 12:00 noon or anything like that.
• Very formal or ceremonial contexts may be best served by using a spelled-out format:
  Dinner will be served at six o’clock in the evening.

Website

Use website, lower case. Also: webcast, webcam, the web and webpage. In addition, internet is lowercase. The use of Internet, Web, Website, with capitalization, is an antiquated practice per current AP Style. And exception is World Wide Web when used as an abstract noun.

Years

Use complete figures to reference a span of years, such as 2010-2011, not 2010-11.