The official style reference for the Office of University Communications is the Associated Press Stylebook. Some rules depart from the AP Stylebook and will be outlined in this style guide.
These guidelines are intended to assure consistency in the creation of University of Nevada, Reno magazines, news releases, brochures, newsletters and publications of this sort. They also should be applied to web copy and advertisements where practical. They are not intended to be rules for composition of correspondence or articles for publication in scholarly journals.
The official reference dictionary will be the Webster’s unabridged electronic dictionary, which can be accessed through the University’s home page: www.unr.edu. Click on “libraries,” and then “dictionaries” under the Web Reference Shelf heading. This electronic version comprises the text of Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged and subsequent updates which take account of current usage.
If this dictionary is not available, the second choice is Merriam-Webster Online, which can be searched for free at http://www.m-w.com.
Abbreviations and acronyms
Avoid abbreviations in general. Spell out words commonly abbreviated in everyday speech, such as laboratory, agriculture, mathematics, etc.
Exceptions: courtesy titles and academic degrees.
Avoid using unfamiliar acronyms. Spell out the name of the organization, etc., on first reference. Do not put the acronym in parentheses. On second reference, use the acronym only if it is familiar (NAACP, NASA, U.N., etc.). Instead of an acronym, use a descriptive pronoun or pronoun combination.
e.g., The World Anti-Doping Agency today suspended Olympic Sprinter Ben Johnson. The agency said that tests indicated that Johnson had used illegal steroids.
Use periods only with acronyms of two letters: U.N., U.S., M.D., R.N.
Although periods are still used in many abbreviations, often they may be omitted.
e.g., CPA, GPA, NFL, FDA, AFL-CIO.
Others: USA, U.S. Air Force, MBA, FBI, CIA, IRS, ZIP code.
ACT, SAT, LSAT, GMAT, GRE and other entrance examination titles usually don’t need to be spelled out, even on first reference.
Do not abbreviate the words department, institute or association in narrative text.
Do not use UNR – ever!
Use the following:
Spell out the name in its entirety – rather than using “the University” – in copy mentioning one or more additional universities.
Academic degrees
If necessary to mention someone’s degree, try to avoid using an abbreviation and use a phrase such as: “John Smith, who has a doctorate in engineering.”
Use “Dr.” only for medical doctors.
Spell out academic degrees when space allows. Don’t capitalize them.
e.g., John Smith earned his master of business administration in 2004.
Use ’s with master or bachelor to form the possessive.
e.g., He earned his master’s degree in music
She graduated with a bachelor’s in English (note: the word degree is understood after bachelor’s or master’s and can usually be omitted).
Note: an associate degree (no possessive).
When used after a name, an academic abbreviation is set off by commas: John Smith, Ph.D., spoke to students today.
But, don’t use ’s with “of” constructions. The apostrophe replaces the “of.”
e.g., She graduated with a bachelor of music (degree is understood).
NOT: She graduated with a bachelor’s in music
Typically, no periods are used with abbreviations of three letters.
e.g., MBA, CPA
Some examples of common academic degrees:
bachelor of science – B.S.
master of arts – M.A.
doctor of philosophy – Ph.D.
doctor of education – Ed.D.
doctor of medicine – M.D.
Academic departments
Uppercase formal department names: the Department of Mathematics.
Lowercase otherwise: the history department.
Academic honors
Terms such as cum laude, magna cum laude, with distinction, etc. are used lowercase. The honors for cum laude distinction, in descending order, are: summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude. Italicize these names in keeping with the general rule of italicizing foreign words, except those that have become part of the lexicon (e.g., rendezvous).
Academic titles
Capitalize formal titles such as chancellor, chairman, etc., when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere.
Lowercase modifiers such as department in department Chair Jane Wilson.
Academic years
Lowercase: freshman; sophomore; junior; senior. Also: graduate, postgraduate, postdoctoral, etc.
Adviser
Not advisor. But: advisory.
Ages
Always use figures for people and animals: (The girl is 15 years old), but not for inanimates (The vase is seven years old).
All-American, All-America
Use All-American when referring to an individual; All-America when referring to a team.
e.g., All-American quarterback John Smith
John Smith was voted to the All-America team.
John Smith earned All-America honors.
Alumna, alumnus, alumnae, alumni
Alumna = woman who has graduated from the University
Alumnae = a group of women graduates
Alumnus = a man who has graduated or a person of non-specified gender
Alumni = a group of men, or group of men and women
Note: the above terms apply only to someone who has actually graduated, not just attended.
Avoid: alum/alums
Alumni, referring to in print
At the University of Nevada, Reno, six credits qualifies an individual to be classified as an alumnus.
If it all possible, identify alumni of the University using the following conventions.
For holders of bachelor’s degrees, use an apostrophe followed by the person’s class year with the person’s degree field in parentheses, lower case unless a proper noun such as English. No need to specify whether it was a B.A. or B.S.
John Smith ’98 (history) spoke to a group of high school students. (Note that this is a “right” curly apostrophe, i.e.: ’, NOT a single open-quote mark ‘ )
For holders of graduate degrees, use the same convention if an academic specialty can be determined: John Smith ’98M.D. (dermatology), Sally Jones ’81M.A. (anthropology). With the MBA, it is not necessary to specify “business administration” in parentheses because there is only one possible specialty within an MBA – business administration.
Note: there is no space between year and degree.
Use a comma to separate two or more degrees: John Brown ’85 (English), ’88M.A. (sociology) arrived on Friday. No need to set off the string of degrees with commas.
In bylines, use only class year, not specialty, and, for holders of graduate degrees, the abbreviated degree and year: John Brown ’83, ’85M.A. (Note: there is no space between year and degree.)
The degree field can be specified in a brief author’s bio that accompanies the piece, as at the end of a magazine feature story.
Ampersand
Spell out “and” in most instances. Use only if part of an official title.
e.g., Buildings and Grounds; Music and Dance.
Apostrophes
The genitive case (indicating a possessor or source) requires an apostrophe or an “of” construction.
e.g., She needs 36 hours’ credit to graduate. (But, in this case, better to write: She needs 36 credits to graduate.)
OR: She needs 36 hours of credit to graduate.
Professor Smith has 15 years’ experience in microbiology.
When writing years, use an apostrophe in shortened versions.
e.g., The 1960s are a hazy memory.
The ’70s were known for disco music.
An apostrophe should be used in pluralizing single letters.
e.g., He expects to get all A’s this semester.
Don’t use an apostrophe for plurals of degrees.
e.g., She has enough credits for two MBAs.
Artemesia/artemisia
Artemesia is the correct spelling for the street on which Argenta Hall is located.
Artemisia is the correct spelling when referring to the University yearbook.
Use “sagebrush” when referring to the plant, Sagebrush when referring to the student newspaper. See AP style for appropriate use of genus and species.
ASUN
ASUN, no punctuation, is the acceptable abbreviation for the Associated Students of the University of Nevada, the University’s undergraduate student government body. Spell out on first reference.
Athletic and athletics
Use athletic as an adjective to describe someone with superior physical ability.
Use athletics to describe someone or something related to the field of physical competition
Attributive nouns (Those acting as adjectives modifying a following noun)
Do not require an apostrophe
e.g., Parents Association; Department of Veterans Affairs
Awards
Capitalize award only when it is part of the name of an award.
Baccalaureate
Avoid this word. Use the less-formal bachelor’s degree or bachelor’s.
A bachelor’s degree or bachelor’s is acceptable in any reference.
Black/African American
When referring to Americans of African descent, the term African American is appropriate. However, not all who are black are of African descent, so “black” is often the preferred usage. Note, hyphenate when used as an adjective. She told the students to take pride in their African-American heritage.
Never use gratuitously, i.e., The dean gave the African-American student an award. Unless there is a reason to mention someone’s race/color/ethnicity, don’t do it, and definitely don’t do it if you are only pointing out a minority’s affiliation and not others.
Board of Regents
The official name of the University’s governing board is: The Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). Note: formerly it was the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN). Use the following:
Short forms of the name are not capitalized. e.g., The board of regents met Friday. The University’s board of regents will meet tomorrow.
The NSHE board uses “chair.” Some usage examples: Board of regents Chair Stavros Anthony. Stavros Anthony, chair of the board of regents. The chair of the board of regents, Stavros Anthony.
Capitalize the names of other boards only when you use the complete, formal name. e.g., He served on the University of Wombatville Board of Regents.
Book titles and magazine names
Use italics when writing for magazines, such as Nevada Silver and Blue. However, it is becoming common practice to use italics for printed publications. Therefore, also italicize newspaper titles.
Buildings
Capitalize the formal name of buildings: Getchell Library; Frandsen Humanities.
Capitalize building, auditorium, hall, etc. when used in the full, formal name of the structure. It is acceptable to omit the first name and middle initial of the person for whom a building is named.
Lowercase when used generically.
e.g., Lawlor Events Center parking lot
Business building lecture hall
Campuswide
No hyphen needed.
Capitalization
Don’t capitalize short forms of the names of University programs and facilities.
e.g., the financial aid office; the medical school, etc.
Use capitalization only for the official names of departments or programs, not for the names of disciplines. e.g., Department of Mathematics; she is studying algebra in the mathematics department.
Don’t capitalize common names of semesters, academic sessions, etc. e.g., fall semester; registration; faculty orientation. However, if a semester is followed by a specific year, use caps. e.g., Fall Semester, 2004.
Lowercase descriptive terms such as application for admission.
Capitalize defined geographical regions: the East, the West, the Midwest, etc. But lowercase such phrases as, “He is actively studying the western states.” Lowercase northern Nevada; uppercase Northern California and Southern California.
Capitalize common nouns such as party, river, street and west when they are an integral part of the full name for a person, place or thing: Democratic Party; Truckee River; Virginia Street; West Virginia. Lowercase these common nouns when they stand alone in subsequent references: the party; the river; the street. Lowercase the common noun elements of names and all plural uses: the Democratic and Republican parties; Virginia and Peckham streets; lakes Tahoe and Pyramid.
CD, CD-ROM
Acceptable acronyms; no need to spell out.
Chairman, chairwoman
Capitalize as a formal title before a name.
e.g., company Chairman Henry Ford
committee Chairwoman Mary Jones.
Do not capitalize as a casual, temporary position. e.g., meeting chairman Bill Williams.
Where possible, don’t use gender-specific language if you can avoid it. Use chair, not chairman or chairwoman. (Similarly, use firefighter, not fireman or firewoman.) Don’t change the organization’s own titles, though.
Co-
Retain the hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives and verbs that indicate occupation or status: co-author; co-chairman; co-worker, etc.
Comma
Don’t use a comma before “of” indicating the place of someone’s position.
e.g., Professor John Smith of the mechanical engineering department.
Don’t use a comma in suffixes such as “Jr.” e.g., The chair was assumed by his son, John Smith Jr.
Separate the month and year with commas e.g., Sept. 12, 1970, was the day I was born. But: The meeting was held in September 1970.
Commencement
Capitalize when used formally referring to a specific, one-time ceremony of this university: He spoke at Spring Commencement 2006.
Don’t capitalize when used generically: it rained during commencement.
Committees and Subcommittees
Capitalize names of these.
Compose, comprise, constitute
Compose means to create or put together. It commonly is used in both the active and passive voices: She composed a song. The United States is composed of 50 states. The zoo is composed of many animals.
Comprise means to contain, to include all or embrace. It is best used only in the active voice, followed by a direct object: The United States comprises 50 states. The jury comprises five men and seven women. The zoo comprises many animals.
Constitute, in the sense of form or make up, may be the best choice if neither compose nor comprise seems to fit. Fifty states constitute the United States. Five men and seven women constitute the jury. A collection of animals can constitute a zoo.
Use include when what follows is only part of the total: The price includes breakfast. The zoo’s collection includes lions and tigers.
Cooperative Extension
University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (first reference)
Cooperative Extension or the extension service (second reference).
Core Curriculum
Capitalize when used as formal title of program: the University of Nevada, Reno Core Curriculum; the University Core Curriculum.
Lowercase when used generically: Bill Jones plans to take some core curriculum classes next semester.
Generally, curriculum is lowercased: liberal-arts curriculum; business curriculum, etc.
Core Humanities
TK
Course level
Hyphenate the number before the word “course.”
A 300-level course
A senior-level course
A course at the 400 level
A course at the freshman level
Course listings
In an official listing, use caps (Introduction to English Literature). Don’t use quotation marks. For subject titles, lowercase (art, biology, music, etc. unless a proper noun like French or Shakespeare).
Course load
Two words
Credit hours
Use numerals to refer to credit hours. It is preferable to just say credits.
Curriculum, curricula
Use curriculum when referring to a single educational program. Curricula is the plural form.
Data
Plural of datum. It always takes a plural verb. It is not a synonym for information, which takes a singular verb.
Database
No hyphen
Dates
Use the sequence day of the week, month, date, year.
Separate by commas and abbreviate months. The months March, April, May, June and July are not abbreviated.
e.g., Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2004
Spell out when the month stands alone: December 2004
Omit comma when using just the month or season and year: January 2005; Spring Semester 2002; fall 2003.
Do not use “on” before a date or day of the week when its absence would not lead to confusion: the meeting will be held Monday. She will graduate May 15.
Don’t use “th” suffix when a date is included in a sentence. Wrong: He attended the conference on Sept. 14th. Correct: He attended the conference on Sept. 14.
Dean
Capitalize only when it precedes the individual’s name or is part of another official title:
e.g., We went to talk to Dean Williams; dean’s office; Office of the Dean of Engineering.
Lowercase in other uses: John Jones, dean of the college; the dean.
Dean’s list
Lowercase in all uses: He is on the dean’s list. She is a dean’s list student.
Decades
Use an apostrophe to indicate numerals that are left out: “the 1990s; the ’90s; the mid-1980s.
Degrees, degree programs
The University offers degree programs. Individuals earn degrees.
Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s and master’s degree. Doctoral degree or doctorate is preferable usage. Use Dr. only when referring to medical doctors. Note: preferred style for medical doctors is to use M.D., D.O., etc., after the name. The patient was referred to John Smith, M.D.
Don’t capitalize the name of a degree in body text or general reference. e.g., We confer the bachelor of arts in history; she earned her master’s in economics.
Use capital letters and periods after the initials in most abbreviated degrees: e.g., B.A.; M.A. Ph.D. However, note MBA. For a complete list of University degrees, go to www.unr.edu/content/academics/
Departments, office, association, etc.
Should be capitalized only when used in the full, formal title.
e.g., the Department of Chemistry; the chemistry department; he is a member of the history faculty.
Desert Research Institute
For awhile this institution solely used DRI, however it has returned to Desert Research Institute, with DRI as the preferred second reference.
Disciplines
Don’t capitalize unless derived from proper nouns.
e.g., He studied history and English at Harvard; she is applying to the doctoral program in environmental sciences.
Doctoral/doctorate
Doctoral is an adjective: He entered the doctoral program in 2004
Doctorate is the degree received: She earned her doctorate in 2001.
Dormitory
See residence halls listing.
Dr.
Reserve this title only for medical doctors, not those holding doctorates. Avoid using a title on first reference. Instead specify what kind of doctor the person is: The society decided to honor Leonard Parr, a cardiologist who runs a clinic for indigent people.
Do not refer to professors as Dr. College professors are generally assumed to hold doctorates. Not all do, but it’s awkward to refer to some as Dr. and not others.
DVD
The abbreviation is acceptable in all references for digital video disc.
email
Lowercase the e and don’t hyphenate
(Note: this is an exception to AP style.)
email and Web addresses
Use lowercase: jsmith@unr.edu.
Emeritus, emerita, emeriti
Emeritus refers to a man; emerita to a woman; emeritae to group of only women; emeriti to a mixed group or group of men.
e.g., John Smith, professor emeritus of English; the committee includes five emeriti professors; Professor Emeritus of English John Smith.
Entitled/titled
Entitled involves a right: You are entitled to fair treatment.
Titled involves a name: The book is titled Grammar for Students.
Exhibit/exhibition
An exhibit is an item or collection of items in an exhibition: A photographic exhibition opens Monday.
Faculty
Use the word faculty to refer to the entire group of faculty members at the University. In this sense, it is a single word: The faculty is going to be surveyed.
If you wish to refer to a few members of the faculty, then say: Some faculty members will be surveyed.
Fax
Not FAX. It is not an acronym. Use lowercase except when starting a sentence.
Federal
Don’t capitalize unless part of an official name: the Federal Reserve Bank; she received many federal grants.
Fulbright scholar
Fulbright scholar, not Fulbright Scholar
Fund raising, fund-raising, fund-raiser
Fund raising is difficult.
They planned a fund-raising campaign.
A fund-raiser was hired.
The organization is planning a fund-raiser.
Government, government officers, etc.
Capitalize state officers when title before name: Attorney General Brian Sandoval (don’t abbreviate);
For governor, capitalize and use don’t abbreviate when used as formal title before name: Governor Kenny Guinn. (Note: this diverges from AP style.)
Do not capitalize the words government, federal or state.
e.g., the United States government; federal government; the state of Nevada; the state’s legislature. But…the Nevada State Legislature.
Do capitalize State of Nevada when it refers to the corporate entity. In the case of Jones v. State of Nevada. The bonds were issued by the State of Nevada. She lives in the state of Nevada.
Grade-point average
Always hyphenate.
Use GPA, with no periods, after first reference.
When giving a GPA, always use a decimal point and carry to at least one decimal place (two maximum): 3.0; 3.96.
Grades
Don’t use quotation marks: She earned a C in this class.
Graduate
Graduate is correctly used in the active voice: She graduated from the University.
Do not, however, drop from: John Adams graduated from Harvard. Not: John Adams graduated Harvard.
Graduate School
Capitalize Graduate School, when referring to the graduate school of the University of Nevada or when included as part of a complete and formal name: the University of San Diego Graduate School. But, lowercase graduate faculty or graduate students, and lowercase in references to graduate study: She’s deciding whether to continue on to graduate school.
Greeks
Capitalize when referring to members of the University’s fraternities or sororities.
Historic, historical
A historic event is an important occurrence, one that stands out in history.
Any occurrence in the past is a historical event.
Homecoming
Capitalize only when the year immediately follows:
e.g., Join us on the Quad for Homecoming 2005;
The homecoming parade with take place tomorrow.
Honorary degrees
All references to honorary degrees should specify that the degree was honorary.
Honorary degrees don’t qualify for abbreviated mentions on first reference. Correct: John Jones ’88 was appointed chairman. Wrong: Jack Hardy ’02Hon. spoke at the conference.
Internet
Capitalize when referring to the worldwide network of computers and servers.
Capital the word Web in this context…e.g., Web page or Web site, but lowercase compounds, such as webmaster.
If an Internet address falls at the end of a sentence, use a period.
IT
Acronym for information technology. Spell it out.
Items in a series
No comma before conjunction.
It, they
Use it when referring to a company, university or team. Use they when referring to a group of people. Similarly, use who when referring to a group of people and that when referring to non-human entities: The disturbance attracted the attention of police, who began firing tear-gas canisters.
Joe Crowley Student Union
On second reference, use student union or the union. Do not use initials JCSU.
Johns Hopkins University
No apostrophes.
Nothing to display.
Land-grant
Hyphenate when used as an adjective: Nevada’s land-grant university.
From Wikipedia:
Land-grant universities (also called land-grant colleges or land grant institutions) are institutions of higher education in the United States which have been designated by Congress to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
The Morrill Acts funded educational institutions by granting federally-controlled land to the states. The mission of these institutions, as set forth in the 1862 Act, is to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts, not to the exclusion of classical studies, so that members of the working classes might obtain a practical college education. The oldest land-grant university is Rutgers University, which was founded in 1766. The pioneer land-grant university is Michigan State University founded in 1855, from which all land-grant universities were modeled. The first university designated as a land-grant university was Iowa State University. The first land-grant university created under the Morrill Act of 1862 was Kansas State University.
The mission of the land-grant universities was subsequently expanded by the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 to include cooperative extension — the sending of agents into rural areas to help bring the results of agricultural research to the end users.
Las Vegas
The city stands alone in datelines.
Lectern/podium
A speaker stands behind a lectern and on a podium.
Liberal arts (n); liberal-arts (adj.)
Library
Don’t capitalize library when used alone, but use University Library when referring to the campus’ main library. The formal title of the University’s new library is: the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center.
Magazine
The University’s alumni magazine is Nevada Silver & Blue.
Magazine names
See Book titles and magazine names entry.
Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
Includes hyphen
Midterm
No hyphen
Months
Do not abbreviate March, April, May, June or July.
When a sentence uses only a month and year, don’t separate with a comma:
e.g., March 2004 was unseasonably warm.
When referring to a month, day and year, set off the day and year with commas:
e.g., March 24, 2004, was a really warm month.
MP3
A popular audio compression format on the Internet.
National Institutes of Health
Plural.
This agency within the Department of Health and Human Services is the principal biomedical research arm of the federal government. It comprises dozens of institutes, all but one located in Bethesda, Md.
Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents
Official title. Formerly the University and Community College System of Nevada Board of Regents.
Nobel Prize, Nobel Prizes
The five established under terms of the will of Alfred Nobel are: Nobel Peace Prize; Nobel Prize in chemistry; Nobel Prize in literature; Nobel Prize in physics; Nobel prize in physiology or medicine. (Note the capitalization styles.)
Northern Nevada; southern Nevada
Lowercase northern and southern.
e.g., The state has universities in both northern Nevada and southern Nevada.
Numerals
Spell out whole numbers below 10, use figures for 10 and above. Spell out first through ninth when indicating sequence in time or location (first base, first in line). Starting with 10, use figures.
Offices of the University
The titles of University offices are capitalized.
e.g., Office of the President
Lowercase when not a formal title: the admissions office is open today.
On campus/off campus
Two words. Hyphenate when used as adjective: on-campus housing is getting hard to find, so more students are living off campus.
Online
Don’t hyphenate: The University now offers many online programs.
Organizations and institutions
Capitalize the full names of organizations and institutions: the American Medical Association; General Motors, Corp.; Harvard University; Harvard University Medical School.
Retain capitalization if Co., Corp. or a similar word is deleted from the full proper name: General Motors.
Use lowercase for internal elements of an organization when they have names that are widely used generic terms: the board of directors of General Motors; the board of trustees of Columbia University; the history department of Harvard University; the sports department of the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Capitalize internal elements of an organization when they have names that are not widely used generic terms: the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches; the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association.
Over
Often used incorrectly instead of “more than.” Proper use means a position in space above an object.
e.g., A dark cloud hung over the campus, which has more than 15,000 students.
Phone numbers
Put area code in parentheses: (775) 784-1581.
People
Not persons. The plural form of person is people.
Possessive proper nouns
Singular proper names ending in “s” only need an apostrophe to take the possessive form.
e.g., Kansas’ wheat farmers.
An exception is proper names that specifically use another construction.
e.g., St. James’s Park.
Postbaccalaureate
One word, no hyphen
President
Capitalize when it precedes a name.
e.g., President John Lilley; Bob Smith, president of the senate.
Program names
Capitalize the names of programs in body text and headlines.
e.g., Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Program is attracting attention.
Pulitzer Prizes
Capitalize Pulitzer Prize, but lowercase the categories: Pulitzer Prize for public service; Pulitzer Prize for fiction, etc.
Also: She is a Pulitzer Prize winner. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Quad
No need to use quadrangle when referring to this University area.
Note: be clear about which quad you are referring to. There are several quadrangles on campus.
Quotations
When two people are quoted in a row, the second quotation should be a new paragraph, preceded by the identification of the speaker, to make it immediately clear that the voice has changed.
Quotation Marks
In headings of all kinds (including those for charts and lists), use single quotation marks instead of doubles. In general, use a semicolon between headline clauses, even if the second clause shares a subject with the first: Peck to run again; pledges a ‘fair fight.’
Except in desperation, do not use a comma to mean and in a headline.
Incidentally, use downstyle for all headlines (i.e., do not capitalize every word)
Regents
Capitalize when referring specifically to Nevada System of Higher Education Regents. (Note: formerly known as University and Community College System of Nevada Regents.)
(See Board of Regents entry above.)
Reno Gazette-Journal
Note the hyphen
Residence halls
Dorms is acceptable as a synonym in most instances. Residence life officials prefer the term residence hall, so be sensitive.
Room numbers and names
Don’t capitalize room when it is followed by a number, unless it’s the first word in a sentence. Place the building before the room.
e.g., the meeting will be in Frandsen Humanities, room 3.
Capitalize room and similar words when part of a proper or well-known name:
e.g., the Student Lounge; the President’s Conference Room.
If a room number includes a letter, put a hyphen between the letter and number.
e.g., the meeting is in Chemistry Building, room 311-A.
ROTC, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
Note placement of the apostrophe. ROTC is acceptable in all references.
When the service is specific, use Army ROTC, Navy ROTC or Air Force ROTC.
School
Capitalize when formal title. Do not capitalize when used alone in text.
e.g., The University of Nevada School of Medicine; the nursing school has increased enrollment.
Scholar athlete
No hyphen.
Seasons
Don’t capitalize, even when used to indicate an academic period: fall semester; spring semester.
Second reference for University colleges, schools and programs
Avoid use of initials.
Correct second reference: the college or engineering
Incorrect: COE
Self- words
Hyphenate when self forms the first element of a compound.
e.g., self-conscious; self-esteem.
Semesters
Do not capitalize the common names of semesters, terms, academic sessions, etc.
Sierra Nevada, the
Not Sierra Nevada mountains or Sierra Nevada mountain range. (Sierra means mountain range, and Nevada means snow-capped.) OK to use “the Sierra.”
Slash
Use to indicate alternatives, not combined ideas: She was the top student-scholar; not student/scholar.
Spaces
There is one space after a colon and between sentences.
No space between em dashes; space before and after en dashes (which should be used to show a continuation of time, dates and phone numbers.
Correct: The professor—who conducts research on insects—won a $10,000 grant.
Incorrect: The professor – who conducts research on insects – won a $10,000 grant.
Correct: The professor’s phone number is (775) 784-4941.
Correct: 9:30-10:30 p.m.
(Source:Type Rules. 2001)
State, city, town
Lowercase in all “state of” constructions.
e.g., the state of Nevada; the town of Fernley.
Uppercase if part of formal name: the State Governor’s Office. (Note: if possible confusion over which state, use State of Nevada Governor’s Office.)
Always spell out state names when they stand alone in copy. Abbreviate when accompanied by a city. Eight states are not abbreviated: Alaska; Hawaii; Idaho; Iowa; Maine; Ohio; Texas; Utah.
e.g., She was born in Nebraska; he went to school in Carson City, Nev.
Use AP style, not postcodes.
Student-athlete
Use hyphen.
That/which
“That” introduces restrictive clauses – ones that defines the noun it is attached to and can’t be omitted.
e.g., The building that has the most books is Getchell.
“Which” is most often used for nonrestrictive, or parenthetical, clauses – ones that add information but could be omitted without changing the sense of what is being said.
e.g., the library, which is near the Quad, is full of books.
Time
Use AP style: 1 p.m.; 3:30 p.m.
Titles
Capitalize academic titles when used before a name, lowercase when used after.
e.g., Professor John Smith; John Smith, professor of chemistry; the president gave a speech.
Do not capitalize if used in the general sense: He has risen to the rank of professor; she was appointed vice president.
In titles with qualifying words, the qualifying words are not capitalized.
e.g., the speaker was former President Jimmy Carter; the students met acting Dean Mary Richards.
However, avoid constructions that use unwieldy titles before a name, i.e. Wrong: Professor of Geology and Director of the Mackay School of Mines Jim Taranik. Better: Jim Taranik, director of the Mackay School of Mines and professor of geology.
Do not use “Mr.,” “Ms.” “Mrs.” etc.
Titles of works
Capitalize and italicize the titles of books, plays, movies, operas, published documents, newspapers, paintings, plays, periodicals, television series and journals.
Capitalize and use quotation marks for titles of unpublished materials, part of published works, articles from journals, theses and dissertations, songs.
(See also: book titles and magazine names)
University
Capitalize University when it refers to the University of Nevada, Reno (formal name). It is lowercase when referring to other universities and in a general sense. This rule also applies to administrative titles, colleges and other units, and Regents:
University of Nevada; University of Nevada, Reno
This is the official name of the University and should be used on first reference. An exception would be when addressing an audience, such as employees, that would understand immediately what is meant by “the University.”
On second reference, it is preferable to use “Nevada,” unless it would be unclear whether this referred to the state or the University. If ambiguity exists, use “the University.” However, with web copy be aware that search engines need the full name or meta tags to recognize your page as having an association with the University. Ideally all campus web pages should include a University of Nevada, Reno identifier.
Spell out the name in its entirely in copy mentioning one or more additional universities.
Do not use UNR.
Do not refer to the University’s largest group of facilities as the main campus. Refer to it as the Reno campus. The University has three other campuses, and only one is capitalized: the Redfield Campus, south of Reno. The other two are the Las Vegas campus and the Carlin campus outside of Elko. The Carlin campus is much better known as the Fire Science Academy, so that is the preferred name, unless the context makes it necessary to give its exact location in Carlin, Nev.
Lowercase the word “the” when using this title in body text: the University of Nevada, Reno is a land-grant university.
Evolution of the University’s name, according to records of the regents:
1874-1880: State University of Nevada
1881-1905: Nevada State University
1906-1968: University of Nevada
1969 to present: University of Nevada, Reno (for some time a hyphen replaced the comma).
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Include comma, UNLV on second reference.
University of Nevada, Reno Foundation
Correct title of University’s fund-raising arm.
University of Nevada Alumni Association
Correct title.
Vice president, vice dean, vice chancellor, etc.
Don’t hyphenate. Capitalize before a name.
West
Capitalize when referring to the geographic region.
As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, the 13-state region is broken into two divisions. The eight Mountain division states are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The five Pacific division states are Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.
Wolf Pack
Not Wolfpack
World Wide Web
No hyphens are used in this trademark. The Web is now acceptable in all references.
Uppercase Web: e.g., please refer to this Web site.
Lowercase compounds, such as webcam, webcast, webmaster.
Note: the Web is not the same as the Internet, but is a subset; other applications, such as email, exist on the Internet.
Also, use shorter, “user” friendly URLs. When we cut and paste, we often end up with the version that includes html descriptor. Example: "www.unr.edu" instead of "http://www.unr.edu/content/", which is cut and pasted from the University home page.
Maintained by Digital Initiatives in the Office of the President
Contact: webcommunications@unr.edu 
Phone: (775) 784-6177
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