Writing Style Guide
How do you write about USU: What’s capitalized? What’s not? How do you refer to academic degrees or job titles? This section explains and gives examples.
Capitalization
Official names and proper nouns are capitalized. Use the full, official name the first time it appears in a document or section of a document. On subsequent references, any common nouns in shortened forms of official names are lowercased. Commonly used acronyms and initialisms can be used in subsequent references as well. See the Acronyms entry in the Punctuation and Grammar section.
The Case for Lowercase
In general, avoid unnecessary capitalization.
Copy is more easily read when it is not peppered with initial caps or all caps.
Using lowercase letters in no way diminishes the stature or credibility of an individual’s position or a department’s reputation. After all, even the title “president of the United States” is lowercased in running text when it does not immediately precede the president’s name.
DO NOT Capitalize:- college, the.
- degrees: doctorate, master’s, bachelor’s, baccalaureate.
- department, the.
- form names, unofficial (e.g., admission form, drop/add form).
- orientation.
- program, the.
- school, the.
- spring break.
- spring, summer, fall, winter.
- state of Utah, the – in reference to geography. Do capitalize in formal reference to official state government: The recreation area is managed by the State of Utah.
- university, the (when it stands alone in reference to the Utah State University).
*Note: Do capitalize official names, e.g. Department of History, College of Science, etc.
Academic and Administrative Titles
Capitalize and spell out occupational titles, such as professor or dean, when they precede a proper name. Lowercase elsewhere. Lowercase former when referring to a person who previously had a position, but retain capitalization of the title itself when it comes directly before a name.Exception: Named and endowed deanships, chairs, and professorships are always capitalized because the titles themselves are also proper nouns. Always identify faculty members by their academic rank and department in published materials.
Academic Degrees
Capitalize the names of specific degrees. Lowercase a degree when it is referred to generically.
Academic Departments
Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns. Capitalize only when using the full formal name.
Academic and Nonacademic Units and Bodies
Capitalize only the complete and official names of colleges, schools, divisions, departments, offices, and official bodies (such as Utah Board of Higher Education, Faculty Senate Executive Committee, Utah State University Student Association). Lowercase informal and shortened versions of such names.
Certificates
Capitalize the names of an official certificate name. Lowercase certificate name when it is referred to generically.
Department Names
Capitalize official department names and office names in running text. References using shortened or unofficial names should be lowercase.
First/Second Reference in Copy
The first reference should include the full name of the entity and be capitalized. Second references may be shortened and are not capitalized. When referring to a professor, the full name should be used on first reference, followed by the last name only from second reference on.
Packing too many full names into the lede of press releases can decrease readability and lose reader interest. Consider using generic references in ledes and moving the first reference of a full name into lower paragraphs.
Tight lede: An Alzheimer’s research center at Utah State University is seeking new leadership after its director was picked for a U.S. presidential cabinet position.
Names With Titles
Capitalize formal titles only when they immediately precede the individual's name, with the exception of endowed deanships, chairs, and professorships, which are always capitalized.
Use lowercase for titles that serve as occupational descriptions.
Story Titles and Section Headings
Capitalize the following in titles and section headings:
- Initial cap all nouns, verbs (including short verbs, such as is, are, be), pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions of four or more letters (with, before, through), and conjunctions of four or more letters (that, because).
Do not capitalize the following in titles and section headings (unless they fall into one of the previously listed categories):
- Articles (a, an, the), unless they are part of a proper noun.
- Conjunctions of fewer than four letters (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet).
- Prepositions of fewer than four letters (on, of, to, by).
Utah State University
DO NOT capitalize university unless spelling the full name of the university. In most cases, context will clearly indicate when university refers to Utah State University. In cases where there may be ambiguity, writers can easily substitute using “the university” or “USU.”
USU and Its Campuses
For external audiences, spell out the complete name of a campus the first time you refer to it, unless the context and nature of the document require an abbreviation (for example, in an advertisement).
Approved names and abbreviations for Utah State University follow:
Utah State University
- USU (no periods).
- Utah State.
- the university. In a sentence DO NOT capitalize the or university, unless it is the first word in a sentence.
Utah State University Eastern
Spell out on first reference. Second reference: USU Eastern (no hyphen: NOT USU-Eastern).
*DO NOT use USUE when referring to USU Eastern in official copy.
Statewide Campuses
Spell out full campus name on first reference:
- Utah State University Moab.
- Utah State University Brigham City.
On second reference, full names may be shortened (no hyphen: NOT USU-Moab):
- USU Moab.
- USU Brigham City.
USU Centers
Spell out on first reference:
- Utah State University Castle Dale.
On second reference, full names may be shortened (no hyphen: NOT USU-Castle Dale).
- USU Castle Dale.
USU Colleges
- Caine College of the Arts (Caine College is acceptable on second reference).
- College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences (CAAS is acceptable on second reference).
- College of Engineering (COE is acceptable on second reference).
- College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHaSS is acceptable on second reference).
- College of Science (CoS is acceptable on second reference).
- College of Veterinary Medicine.
- Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services (the college is acceptable on second reference).
- Jon M. Huntsman School of Business (Huntsman School or HSOB is acceptable on second reference).
- S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources (Quinney College or QCNR is acceptable on second reference).
USU and Its Facilities
Be sure to check correct spelling for all USU facilities, building names, etc. Not all names may be spelled in a conventional manner.