Editorial Style Guide

Editorial style for Columbia College Chicago will follow guidelines set forth in The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, The Chicago Manual of Style and The American Heritage Dictionary. For style questions not specifically addressed in this style sheet, consult one of the references above.

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academic degrees - In mentioning an academic degree, it is best to establish someone's credentials by stating them rather than abbreviating them. However, if abbreviations are used, please follow the guidelines below.

Abbreviations - use periods as follows:
B.A. for bachelor of arts
B.S. for bachelor of science
B.S.E. for bachelor of science in education
B.F.A for bachelor of fine arts
B.M. for bachelor of music

Lowercase degrees in a body of text -
John Smith received a bachelor of arts degree in theater from Columbia College Chicago.

Apostrophe versus no apostrophe - Use as follows:

master's degree in journalism

bachelor's degree in television

academic departments - Use lowercase when used informally except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives; uppercase when used formally or as needed for clarity.

Many international students are attracted to the college's Arts, Entertainment and Media Management department.

academic titles - Confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name. Lowercase in all other uses.
According to Vice President for Finance and Administration Bobby Jones

According to Bobby Jones, vice president for finance and administration,

On first reference to an individual with an academic title, use the academic title after the name. Do not refer to the individual as Dr. in subsequent references. Use the individual's name only.

Names and titles in a listing, not in a paragraph, are capitalized.

alma mater - Lowercase when referring to the school or university one attended.

alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae - Use alumnus (alumni in the plural) when referring to a man who has attended a school. Use alumna (alumnae in the plural) when referring to a woman. Use alumni when referring to a group of men and women.

a.m., p.m. - Use lowercase and periods. Do not use AM, PM or am, pm. Use noon or midnight instead of 12 p.m. or 12 a.m. Do not use 12 noon or 12 midnight.

annual - Do not describe an event as the first annual event. An event cannot be annual when it is the first occurrence.

annual meeting - Lowercase in all uses. bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts - Use lowercase. A bachelor's degree or a bachelor's is acceptable.

board - Capitalize only when an integral part of a proper name.

board of trustees - Capitalize when referring to a specific board.

The Board of Trustees will meet in the conference room.
The board will meet to discuss the new building.

Cabinet - Capitalize references to a specific body of advisers heading executive departments. The capital letter distinguishes the word from the common noun meaning cupboard.

capitalization - In general avoid unnecessary capitals. In more formal pieces such as the President's Report, exceptions are allowed.

Proper nouns - Capitalize nouns that name a specific person, place or thing.

Derivatives - Capitalize words that are derived from a proper noun and still depend on it for their meaning: English, French, Shakespearean, but not french fries, pasteurize or venetian blind.

Sentences - Capitalize the first word of each sentence.

Compositions - Capitalize the principal words in the names of books, movies, plays, songs, television shows, etc. The Heat of the Night

Titles - Capitalize formal titles when used before a name. Lowercase formal titles when used alone or after a name. Lowercase all terms that are job descriptions rather than formal titles.

chair - Use chair instead of chairman or chairperson. Capitalize the word chair before a name when it designates the chair of a department or committee. Do not capitalize as a casual or temporary position: meeting chair Wrenette Stockton. Do not use
chairperson unless it is an organization's formal title for an office.

city, state - When used in text, a comma should follow both the city and the state.

Class of - Uppercase when used before the date in reference to a specific class.

college - Unless it is used with the word Columbia, it is lower-case - even when referring to Columbia specifically. Possible exceptions are formal proposals and official documents.

college acronyms - The official or formal names of schools within the college should be capitalized. The formal name should be used in most instances on first reference.

Columbia College Chicago - This name is to be used in the first reference to the institution. In subsequent references, it may be shortened to Columbia or Columbia College.

commas in a series - Use a comma between all items in a series, including before and for clarity. The exception is news writing.

commencement - Lowercase when in text.

composition titles
Italicize the titles of large works such as books, magazines, movie titles, etc.
Put quotation marks around small works such as titles of chapters, poems, magazine articles, etc.

Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters.

Capitalize an article - the, a, an - or words with fewer than four letters is if is the first or last word in a title.

course names - Uppercase the names of courses because they are, in effect titles. Lowercase the names of subjects unless they are proper nouns or adjectives - i.e., John will take an English course next year. Otherwise, use the guidelines below:

dates - Use Arabic figures without st, nd, rd, or th.

days of the week - Do not abbreviate unless used in a tabular form.

dean - Capitalize when used as a formal title before a name. Lowercase when used after a name or in other uses.
Dean Doreen Bartoni

Doreen Bartoni, dean of the School of Media Arts

departments, divisions - Lowercase when used informally; uppercase when used formally or when needed for clarity.

John is working for the science department.
The Department of Science is hosting a reception on Friday.

faculty - may be used with singular or plural verbs - however, use must be consistent within a single publication.

The faculty numbers 150.
The faculty is meeting today. The group is....
The faculty are meeting today. They ....
The faculty members are gathered in the lecture hall.

fall semester - Lowercase.

Students will arrive for the fall semester on Sunday.

freshman, freshmen - When used as an adjective, freshman means of or for first-year students and the singular is used.

freshman English course
freshman courses
courses for freshmen

honorary degrees - All references to an honorary degree should specify that the degree was honorary. Do not use Dr. before the name of an individual whose only doctorate is honorary.

initials - Use periods and no spaces when an individual uses initials instead of a first name.

Internet - Uppercase.

liberal arts - Use a plural verb when referring to liberal arts. Use a singular verb when referring to the liberal arts program.

majors - Lowercase.

radio major
film major
He is majoring in film and video.

month and year - When used without reference to a specific date of the month, no comma is needed. When used with a date of the month, a comma should come after the date and before the year.

numbers - Spell out numbers from one through nine. Use numerals for those 10 or larger. To form a plural, add s with no apostrophe - i.e., 60s

offices - See academic departments.

president - Lowercase unless it immediately precedes the name of the person who holds the position. Use only the last name after the first reference.

p.m., a.m. - Lowercase with periods between each letter. Avoid the redundant 6 a.m. this morning.

professor - Lowercase in all instances, even when before a name, except as part of the title professor emeritus. Never abbreviate.

room numbers - Uppercase room when used with numerals.

The lab is in Room 215.

seasons - Lowercase if they simply declare the
time of the year.

states - Spell out the entire name when in the body of text. Use the U.S. postal service abbreviations when the full address is set alone. Use non-postal abbreviations in limited space such as calendars.

telephone numbers - Use figures in the following form:

(870) 230-5334
If extension numbers are given:
Ext. 5334

theatre - Use to discuss the art or function of theatre.

titles - Reserve capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name. Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an individual's name. Titles used after an individual's name are lowercase, including the name of the department, division, or college.

Names and titles in a list, not in the body of text, are capitalized.

trustee - Lowercase in all instances.

vice president - Do not hyphenate. Capitalize or lowercase following the same rules that apply to president.

Web - Uppercase. A proper noun referring to the World Wide Web.

web page - Two words.

website - One word.

years - Use an s without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries:

the 1900s