East Central University Stylebook 2009/2010

A

  • Academic degrees Put an apostrophe in bachelor's degree and master's degree. (The degree belongs to the bachelor or master.) Even when shortened to bachelor's and master's (no "degree" afterward), you keep the apostrophe. Use periods in abbreviations. (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.)
  • Adviser Not advisor
  • Alma mater Do not italicize
  • Alumna Feminine singular
  • Alumnae Feminine plural
  • Alumni Masculine plural, but use for group of men & women
  • Alumnus Masculine singular
  • Alums More than one of either gender
  • Area code 804-555-1212.
  • Athletic Facilities
    • Baseball and Softball Fields
    • Elvan George Athletic Building
    • Intramural/Practice Fields
    • Kerr Activities Center - not to be referred to as the Gold Dome
    • Mayhue Tennis Courts
    • McBride Gym
    • Norris Stadium
    • Oscar Parker Tennis Courts
    • Pat O'Neal Strength and Conditioning Center
    • Philpot Track
    • Soccer Field

B

  • Baccalaureate Capitalize the ceremony but not the degree
  • Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (not Bachelor's of Fine Arts)
  • Bachelor of Science Degree or use B.S. (see Bachelor of Fine Arts example)
  • Building & Other Location Names
    • Administration Building
    • Boswell Chapel
    • Danley Hall
    • Dorothy Summers Theatre - note the spelling of theatre
    • East Central Credit Union
    • ECU Bookstore
    • ECU Child Development Center
    • Education Building
    • Faust Hall Auditorium
    • Fentem Hall
    • Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center (HBFFAC)
    • Horace Mann Building
    • Linscheid Library
    • Memorial Student Union
    • Physical and Environmental Science Center
    • Raymond Estep Multimedia Center
    • Science Hall
    • School of Business
    • Stanley P. Wagner Ballroom
    • Sterling L. Williams Foundation and Alumni Center
    • Taff Cafeteria
    • Tommy Hewett M.D. Wellness Center
    • University Center

C

  • Catalog Not catalogue
  • Chair (noun) Not chairman, chairwoman or chairperson
  • Classes Do not capitalize (freshman, sophomore)
  • Commas Don't use a comma before the "and" in a series of three or more items
  • Commencement Capitalize
  • Courtesy titles Don't use "Mrs." or "Mr." Do not use "Dr." after first reference

D

  • Days or dates Spell out days of the week and months and capitalize. Use time/day/date sequence (7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, in the University Center)
  • Decades Use numerals with no apostrophe: the 1960s
  • Department names Department of Psychology
  • Dimensions Use figures for all numbers that indicate height, weight, width, etc., even for numbers less than 10. Example: The book weighs 2 pounds.
  • Doctoral degree, doctorate The terms are interchangeable.
  • Dot-com (n. or adj.) Takes a hyphen
  • download
  • DVD Acceptable for all references to digital video disc

E

  • East Central University or ECU, not East Central
  • College of Education and Psychology Departments of:
  • E-mail
  • Emeriti Do not italicize
  • Emeritus Masculine singular
  • Emeriti Masculine plural
  • Emerita Feminine singular
  • Emeritae Feminine plural
  • Events Capitalize events of the college year

G

  • GED Acceptable on all references to Oklahoma's General Educational Development Certificate
  • GPA On second reference for grade-point average

H

  • Halftime
  • Home page Two words; The "front" page of a particular website.
  • Housing
    • Briles Hall
    • Pontotoc Hall
    • Pesagi Hall
    • Knight Hall
    • Tiger Commons
    • Family and Adult Housing
  • College of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Hyphen (-) Hyphenate adjectival phrases formed by adjective and a noun preceding the noun modified: first-year student. Phrases formed by an adverb ending in ly and an adjective are not hyphenated.

I

  • Inc. Do not precede it with a comma
  • It's, its "It's" is a contraction that means it is, or it has. "Its" means "belonging to it."

J

  • Jr. Sr. The abbreviation -- do not set off by commas

K

L

M

  • College of Mathematics and Sciences
  • Master of Science Degree (not Master's of Science)
  • men's and women's sports Use the apostrophe
  • Miles Use figures in dimensions, formulas and speedsFor distances, spell out numbers under 10 unless the number is fractional, in which case use numerals.
  • Months Never abbreviate months when they do not immediately precede a date. When the name of a month immediately precedes a date, abbreviate it -- but only if the month's name is six letters or longer. Example: We got married Aug. 6 last year. We were divorced March 5.

N

  • Names and Titles
    • Titles for faculty, staff and students usually are used after the person's name (not capitalized) and look like this:
      • Kyle Foster, Bromide junior Dr.
      • Duane C. Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs
  • Numbers Spell out numbers from one through nine. Use numerals for 10 and above. Do not use the abbreviations th, rd or nd with numerals or dates. Exception: centuries. 21st century.

O

  • Online

P

  • Percent Spell out, do not use %
  • period Use a single space after the period at the end of a sentence Do not put a space between initials (C.J.)
  • phone numbers Write phone numbers with area codes this way: 202-555-1212
  • Physical Plant
  • P.O. Box At ECU we say PMB
  • plurals -- Note the rule that when you form the plural of a proper noun that ends in a "y," you usually add an "s," as in Kennedys, Grammys, Emmys.

Q

  • Quotation marks Use quotation marks around the titles of articles, poems, songs, plays, television programs, books and sculpture.

R

S

  • State names Spell out all names of states in sentences unless they are preceded by a city, county or military base name. Use postal abbreviations only in addresses that contain zip codes. Otherwise, use traditional abbreviations. Place comma between the city and state name, and another after the state name, unless at the end of a sentence (She traveled to San Diego, Calif., to go to school in Ada, Okla.).
  • Scholastic Assessment Test The new name of the Scholastic Achievement Test. SAT remains acceptable on second reference

T

  • Temperature Use figures unless the temperature is zero.
  • Titles, academic and professional Capitalize titles when they appear before the name. Lowercase when they come after. (Dr. Duane C. Anderson, ECU, provost, or Provost Duane C. Anderson) Do not capitalize when they stand alone.
  • Titles books, plays, music Italicize names of books, newspapers, journals, films, plays, symphonies, titled art works, operas, ships, spacecraft and airplanes. Use quotation marks around the titles of articles, poems, songs, one-act plays, television or radio programs, series of books and sculptures.
  • Theatre Theatres on campus use this spelling.
  • Time of day 11 a.m., noon or midnight

U

  • URL Acceptable in all references to universal resource locator.
  • United States Abbreviate it as "U.S." only as an adjective before a noun, otherwise spell it out.

V

  • Vice president

W-Z

  • website, webpage
  • women's and men's sports Use the apostrophe.
  • www World Wide Web