Campus Information

Writing Style Guide

Contents (alphabetical)

abbreviations - course work | dashes - numbers | off-campus - wordiness

off-campus/on-campusback to top

Hyphenate when used as an adjective (off-campus housing), but not when used as an adverb (he lives off campus).

onlineback to top

Set as one word, no hyphen, in all uses.

pluralsback to top

Abbreviations that contain no periods and numerals used as nouns form the plural by adding s.

MBAs
RNs
W-2s
FAFSAs
1980s

Acronyms ending in the letter s, single letters, lowercase letters, and abbreviations with both lowercase and capital letters form the plural by adding 's.

SOS's
A's and B's
x's and y's
PhD's

Hyphenated coinages and numbers used as nouns (either spelled out or as numerals) add s (or es) to form the plural.

hi-fis
follow-ups
sixes and sevens

post/preback to top

In general, don't hyphenate words with post or pre prefixes (postsecondary, prerequisite).

professor/doctorback to top

Use of professor is preferred. Professor is an academic rank or title. A doctor (in academics) is one who has earned the highest academic degree (e.g., Ph.D.). Not all professors have doctorates, nor are all holders of doctorates professors. See titles of people.

punctuationback to top

(See colons, commas, dashes, ellipses, hyphens, and quotation marks)

quotation marksback to top

Use quotation marks to indicate a citation or direct quotation. Place commas and periods inside the closing quotation mark; colons and semicolons outside. Placement of a question mark depends on the meaning: Does it apply to the part quoted or to the whole sentence? Question marks that are part of a title go inside quotation marks.

The University Catalog says this about our satellite technology: "In 1983, the University installed a 10-meter Scientific Atlanta earth station on campus."

"I can't attend," she said.

Was she called "President"?

He asked, "Is it time to go?"

Read chapter 2, "Where from Here?"

salutations for form lettersback to top

Form letters are addressed to groups. The salutation should, therefore, be plural.

Dear Friends:

Dear Members:

Dear Alumni and Friends:

If a form letter is addressed exclusively to women who are alumnae, use Dear Alumnae for the salutation. If it is addressed exclusively to men or to men and women who are alumni, you may use Dear Alumni or Dear Alumni/ae for the salutation.

seasonsback to top

Use lowercase, even when referring to an issue of a publication (capitalize only if the season is part of the official title, as in The Fall Update).

the fall 2009 issue of Chico Statements

sexismback to top

See biased language.

singular/plural wordsback to top

Singular: Criterion, parenthesis, phenomenon, medium, and memorandum

Plural: Criteria, parentheses, phenomena, media, and memorandums

Collective nouns such as committee, faculty, and staff name a group. If the group functions as a unit, treat the noun as singular; if the members of the group function individually, treat the noun as plural.

The committee, at its last meeting . . .

The committee put their signatures on the document.

springback to top

See seasons.

student-athleteback to top

Hyphenate this compound word.

student honor societiesback to top

Alpha Psi Omega (theatre)

Alpha Zeta Eta (agriculture)

Beta Alpha Psi (accounting)

Beta Gamma Sigma (business)

Eta Kappa Nu (electrical & computer engineering)

Gamma Theta Upsilon (geography)

Golden Key International Honour Society (academic)

Kappa Delta Pi (education)

Lambda Pi Eta (communication)

Omicron Theta Epsilon (biology)

Order of Omega (Greek)

Phi Alpha Theta (history)

Phi Eta Sigma (freshman academic)

Phi Kappi Phi (academic)

Phi Sigma Iota (foreign languages)

Phi Sigma Tau (philosophy)

Pi Sigma Alpha (political science)

Psi Chi (psychology)

Sigma Lambda Chi (construction management)

Sigma Tau Delta (English honor society)

Tau Beta Pi (engineering)

The Honor Society of the Educational Opportunity Program (academic)

Upsilon Pi Epsilon (computer science)

telephone numbersback to top

University convention calls for the area code to be followed by a hyphen.

530-898-4139 (x4139 in on-campus publications)

theatres/auditoriums/recital halls/museumsback to top

Use full name on first reference. For second reference, you can use the room number.

Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144)

Larry Wismer Theatre (PAC 135)

Laxson Auditorium

Ruth Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall (PAC 134)

Museum of Anthropology (LANG 301)

timeback to top

Use numerals with AM and PM set in small caps. If you can't set type with small caps, use lower case a.m./p.m. Eliminate zeros if all time referred to in the statement is on the hour. Never use AM with "morning" or PM with "evening," and never use "o'clock" with either AM or PM or with numerals. Avoid the redundancy of "The game is at 8 PM tonight."

Office hours are 8 AM to 5 PM (or 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

(8–9 PM is acceptable in tables and lists.)

Registration will occur 9:30 to 11:00 AM.

eight o'clock; noon/midnight

titles of peopleback to top

Official personal titles immediately preceding a name are capitalized; those following a name or set off by commas are not. This rule applies to both academic and administrative titles. Distinguish between official titles and purely descriptive titles (e.g., Maintenance Supervisor Susan Smith; maintenance employee Susan Smith).

The latest discovery by Professor Anne Fisher . . .

James Allen, assistant professor of anthropology, has discovered . . .

A professor of engineering at CSU, Chico since 1995, Mary
Roth studies . . .

Vice Provost Juan Garcia . . .

Juan Garcia, vice provost since 1998, . . .

Professor Emerita Joan Levy . . .

David Sachs, professor emeritus of art . . .

titles of worksback to top

The following titles are set in italics:

titles and subtitles of published books, pamphlets, proceedings and collections, periodicals, and newspapers and sections of newspapers published separately

titles of collections of poetry and long poems

titles of plays

titles of motion pictures

titles of Web sites ("visit the Class Schedule online at ...")

titles of operas, oratorios, and other long musical compositions

titles of paintings, drawings, statues, and other works of art

The following works are set in roman (regular/plain) type and enclosed in quotation marks:

titles of articles and features in periodicals and newspapers

titles of short stories, essays, chapter titles, and individual
selections in books

titles of dissertations and theses, manuscripts in collections, and lectures and papers read at meetings

titles of television and radio programs (unless it's a series; then italicize the program title and put the episode title in quotation marks—The X-Files, "Trust No One")

titles of songs and short compositions

Exact titles of campus publications should be italicized.

The 2009–20011 University Catalog or The University Catalog but the catalog

under-back to top

In general, don't hyphenate words with under as a prefix (understaffed).

uniqueback to top

Unique means "without like or equal." Logically, there can be no degrees of uniqueness, as in "the most unique. . . ."—so, even though it is a commonly used term, in formal writing it's best to avoid this usage.

universityback to top

Uppercase "the University" when referring to CSU, Chico, but lowercase when university functions as an adjective, as in "university policy." (See California State University, Chico.)

university farmback to top

For first reference, use the official name, "The Paul L. Byrne Agricultural Teaching and Research Center." You may wish to indicate that its common name is the"University Farm." The official abbreviation is FARM.

upper-divisionback to top

Set with a hyphen when used as an adjective.

upper-division classes

URLs and e-mail addressesback to top

When possible, use parentheses to enclose a URL, or a colon to introduce it, or italics to highlight it. If an address won't fit on one line, break the address after a forward slash or before a period. Do not hyphenate.