Style Guide

A
abbreviations Spell out unfamiliar abbreviations on first use, and then casual or shortened references are usually preferable to abbreviations. With most abbreviations composed of capital letters, it is not necessary to use periods after the individual letters: two exceptions to this general rule are degree names (B.A., M.S., Ph.D.) and when abbreviating "United States" (U.S.).

acronyms Acronyms are abbreviations that form words from the first letters in a series of words. Avoid acronyms unless they are familiar or if the full name is cumbersome, spell out most acronyms on first use, and use casual or shortened references instead of acronyms when possible. Example: A valuable source of information about college polices can be found on the college website in the College Online Policy and Procedure System (COPPS).

addresses Spell out all words unless short on space. The college address is Greensboro College, 815 West Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27401.

a.m., p.m. Lowercase, with periods. The terms a.m. and p.m. stand for ante meridiem, meaning "before noon," and post meridiem, meaning "after noon." For more information, also see the entry for "time" in the A to Z section.

ampersand (&) Use an ampersand only in graphs or tables where space is too tight to allow for the word "and" or when the ampersand is part of an official company name. Example:  News & Record.

B
board Capitalize when an official name of a specific board, and use all lowercase for casual references. Examples: Greensboro College Board of Trustees
The board of trustees of Greensboro College

branding This term refers to the consistent use of a distinctive look and message to differentiate one organization from another (similar to how cattle brands designate a particular herd). Effective branding assists the reader in understanding the organization and the message. Greensboro College's branding efforts consist of the content and style of our messages, the college logo, fonts and colors, and a family of design features that are used consistently.

C
chair Capitalize as a formal title before a name. Do not capitalize in other uses.
class or course titles Capitalize official course titles, and do not enclose in quotation marks. Example: Farrah excelled in French 103.

college Capitalize the word "college" when part of a proper name; use lowercase in other uses. Example: Anne-Marie Littlesong has chosen to go to college at Greensboro College.

committee, council Capitalize formal committee and council names, and use lowercase for casual references. Example: Among his committee duties was chairing the Academic Affairs Committee.

contractions Contractions evoke a casual conversational tone in writing, and, as a result, they are an advantage or disadvantage depending on context, purpose and audience. Contractions are recommended for college marketing publications, and they are typically discouraged in academic discourse and journalistic publications.

D
dash Em dashes are the length of the letter "m" and are used for dramatic emphasis—so avoid overuse. En dashes are the length of the letter "n" and are used between numbers or dates.
–    En         — Em

dates Use numbers without st, nd, rd or th. Use day of the week, comma, then month, date, comma, and finally year when needed, followed by a comma or other punctuation mark (most often a period). Month-year combinations don't require commas. Use an apostrophe to indicate numbers from a year that are left out (the year '99). There is not an apostrophe before an s (1990s). Separate dates involving spans of time with an en dash (2000-05).

days of the week Capitalize. Avoid abbreviating except in tabular formats, and then use the first three letters but no period.

degrees The various degrees are all lowercase when spelled out. Use an apostrophe in associate's degree, bachelor's degree and master's degree. Use abbreviations only in tabular or non-sentence material or when there are credentials to cite for multiple people. When using abbreviations, use only after a full name, set off with commas, and punctuate with periods (this is one of the exceptions to the general rule against using periods in an abbreviation). Example: Leah McDonald, M.S., will talk about requirements for the associate of applied science degree.

departments, divisions Capitalize official names of divisions and departments.

desktop Use one word whether referring to a computer monitor or to the top of a desk.

E
e-mail The standard at Greensboro College is to use "e-mail" (lowercase and hyphenated) rather than "E-mail" or "email."

F
fiscal year Do not abbreviate except in graphs and tables.

full time, full-time, FTE There is a hyphen when used as a compound modifier only, and there is not a hyphen when a noun. FTE is an accepted acronym for full-time equivalent; spell out first reference with FTE in parenthesis. Use figures with FTE. Example: Chang has a full-time job (1.0 FTE), and Smith works part time (.6 FTE).

G
GPA An accepted acronym for grade point average. Spell out on first use.
Greensboro College It is preferred to use the full name of the college initially, and then “the College” in internal publications; the college in AP style or publicity.   Avoid in general use “GC,” although it can be used if reference is made to Greensboro College repeatedly in long printed materials.  Spell out first reference with GC in parenthesis.  Example:  Greensboro College (GC) will celebrate 170 years at the Founders’ Day ceremony.  GC was chartered in 1838.

H
height There is never an h at the end of the word.

homepage The college has one homepage, the first page of the site, and other pages are webpages; webpages for departments should be referred to as "department webpages on the college website" rather than "department websites." Greensboro College's homepage is designed to present a pleasing entrance to the college, allow visitors to quickly find what they are looking for, and to promote key messages and provide information about important dates and upcoming events.

I
Internet Capitalize since it is a proper name.

italics Avoid using italics on webpages as italicized text tends to be less readable on computer monitors. Italics are acceptable for selected use in paper publications.

its and it's To differentiate between the contraction and the possessive form, only use an apostrophe when it's is a contraction of "it is" or "it has." When using the possessive form of the word, omit the apostrophe.

J
job titles Capitalize titles of office only when they precede a name; general occupational titles should be lowercase. Examples: Executive Vice President Tiffany Franks is in charge; the new vice president is in a meeting; and Susan Sessler, vice president for business, is attending a conference.

L
logo A logo is a designed name, symbol or trademark that is used consistently to represent an organization, business or product. The college logo is the official mark of the college. The college logo is the only logo that should be used to represent college departments and programs, and departments may not use a separate logo unless they have a unique need and special approval has been made by Marketing and Public Relations. As the official symbol of the college, the logo needs to be used in a consistent manner and should not be altered in any way.

M
money Monetary amounts should be given in numbers rather than in word form. Spell out and lowercase the word "cents" for amounts less than a dollar. Use the dollar sign ($) and decimal system for larger amounts. Examples: The general ticket prices are $10 for adults and $8 for students, and programs cost 75 cents.

months Capitalize and spell out. In tabular format, use the first three letters of each month without a period.

N
Names Use full names of all buildings and rooms on campus (i.e., Annie Sellars Jordan Parlor Theatre, Lea Center of Main Building, Campbell Lyceum, The Royce Reynolds Family Student Life Center.)
Other examples:
The Greensboro College Department of Music
The department of music
Greensboro College’s department of music

The Greensboro College Marching Pride
The Greensboro College marching band

The Greensboro College men’s cross country team
The men’s cross country team at Greensboro College
noncredit One word with no hyphen.

numbers in fractions Use a hyphen when fractions are expressed in words, and use numbers rather than words for mixed numbers. Example: In the survey, one-third of the respondents gave a score of 4 1/2 or better.

numbers in ordinals Spell out first through ninth unless part of a formal name or title, and use numbers for 10 and up. Example: Vijay was a surprising third in the 3,000 meters while Sammy finished 12th.

numbers in ratios and ranges Use figures and hyphens with no spaces. Example: Yamashita used a ratio of 2-to-1 whereas a 5-3 ratio was used by Donaldson; They estimate that 200-300 students will attend.

numbers in sentences Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence except for years. Avoid starting a sentence with a number; when unavoidable, spell out the number. Example: Forty students enrolled last year, and 60-70 are expected this year.

O
online The standard version at Greensboro College is one word without a hyphen.

P
PC Avoid using "PC". To describe the operating system on a personal computer, specify Mac or Windows.

part time, part-time Two words when a noun. Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier. Example: Harrison works part time, and Pena has a full-time job.

percent Use numbers and decimals for percentages. Spell out the word "percent" except in tabular material or at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Twenty percent of her clients provided 80 percent of her revenue.

phone numbers Use hypens with no spaces between area codes and between the prefix and the last four digits. Example: 336-272-7102.

program names Capitalize formal instructional program names. Example: Selena is enrolled in the Teacher Education program.

R
residence hall Never referred to as dormitory.

S
semester Capitalize when referring to Spring Semester or Fall Semester (i.e., The event will take place during the Fall Semester of 2008.  Or, the event will take place in fall 2008).

semicolon Use semicolons to separate items in a list that already contain commas or to connect two parallel parts of a sentence. It is best to use this mark sparingly and judiciously. Think of a semicolon between sentences as a "semi-period," and think of the semicolon between items in a series as a "super comma." Example: He will be traveling to Antelope, Oregon with his wife, Jane Doe; two daughters, Peggy Deere of Cheshire and Patty Moose of Portland; and a brother, Michael Hunter of Eugene.

sexist language Instead of using "he" to refer to an abstract person, use another noun that is not gender-specific. Example: Instead of saying, "If a student wants to add a class, he should register…," it would be more inclusive and accurate to say, "The student should register in the Registrar’s Office.

spacing after a period Use two spaces after a period.

state abbreviations Use AP style abbreviations in text when used with the city.

state names Spell out the names of states when used in a sentence. Separate city and state names with commas. When writing a complete address with zip code, use the two-letter Postal Service abbreviations for state names.

T
technology If referring specifically to computers, use the word "computers" rather than "technology" (which can refer to practically anything made by humans).

time Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes. It is not necessary to include zeros in full-hour times. Use a.m. and p.m. without capitals and with periods. Use an en dash with spaces to depict spans of time. Example: The workshop is 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and there will be a break for lunch from noon – 1 p.m.

titles Use Dr. for appropriate faculty and staff member names on internal publications.  Do not use Dr. for anything written in AP style (i.e., newspapers, press releases)
President Craven Willliams
Craven Williams, president of Greensboro College,

Board of Trustee Chair Robert Stout
Robert is a trustee of Greensboro College

titles of books, documents, newspapers, magazines and other publications
Below are examples of Associated Press style and conventional usage for the titles of books, chapters of books, documents, reference materials, newspapers, and magazines. Capitalize the principal words. Don't capitalize conjunctions of three or fewer letters.

Examples:
Titles of books, newspapers and magazines:
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (AP)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (conventional usage)
Titles of documents, chapters, and articles:
The article in The Register-Guard is called "Travel is Good for You." (AP and conventional usage)

U
underlining Avoid the use of underlining because it is distracting and looks unprofessional.

URL Acronym for "Uniform Resource Locator" or Internet address. Greensboro College's URL, or domain name, is www.greensborocollege.edu.

U.S. Abbreviation for United States. Use only as an adjective. When referred to as a noun, spell out. This is one of the exceptions to the general rule against using periods in an abbreviation. Example: Maria is teaching us about the United States in her U.S. History course.

V
voicemail The convention is now to use the term as one word.

W
Web Use of a capital letter when referring to the World Wide Web: Web site, the Web, Web page.

Windows Capitalize when referring to a computer operating system since it is a proprietary name.

Y
years Use figures without commas. Use an s without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries. Years do not have to be spelled out when they begin a sentence, like other numbers do, but are awkward so try to rewrite the sentence so the year is not the first thing. Use an en dash to indicate continuing or inclusive dates. Example: In 1989, the average increased to 4.5, it remained at 4.5 throughout the '90s, and from 2000-06 the rate was 5.

Use hyphens when describing age.  Example: John Smith is 6-years-old.

Z
zip code A comma is not necessary between the state name and the zip code. In the college address, the zip code extension number is usually optional. Example: The college address is Greensboro College, 815 West Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27401.