Copy Guidelines

FIRST:

SECOND:

THIRD:

NEVER:

FORMAL AND FIRST REFERENCES:

• College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
• College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• College of Business and Economics
• College of Education
• College of Engineering
• College of Health and Human Services
• College of Science and Technology
• The Graduate College
• Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering

ABBREVIATIONS:

• College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences - CAES
• College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences - CAHSS
• College of Business and Economics - COBE
• College of Education - CEd
• College of Engineering - COE

• College of Health and Human Sciences - CHHS
• College of Science and Technology - CoST
• The Graduate College - TGC
• Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering - JSNN

FORMAL AND FIRST REFERENCES:

• Division of Academic Affairs
• Division of Business and Finance
• Division of Human Resources
• Division of Information Technology Services
• Division of Research
• Division of Student Affairs
• Division of University Advancement

INFORMAL OR SECOND REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS:

• Division of Academic Affairs - Academic Affairs
• Division of Business and Finance - Business and Finance
• Division of Human Resources - Human Resources - HR
• Division of Information Technology Services - Information Technology Services - ITS
• Division of Research - Research and Economic Development - Division of Research
• Division of Student Affairs - Student Affairs
• Division of University Advancement - University Advancement - Advancement

ALWAYS CAPITALIZE

Always capitalize proper nouns, months and days of the week. Do not capitalize seasons unless they are part of a title, e.g., Fall Lyceum Series.

When in doubt, do not capitalize; or refer to the Associated Press Stylebook.

Capitalize all words except articles (the, a, an), conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet, if, as, since, when, because), and short prepositions (of, in, on) in headings and the titles of books, plays, lectures, musical compositions, etc., unless they appear at the beginning of the title.

Planet of Slums
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Capitalize the official names of departments when used in text. However, do not capitalize the informal name.

The professor lectures in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
The professor lectures in the curriculum and instruction department.

Capitalize all conferred and traditional, educational, occupational and business titles when used specifically in front of the name; do not capitalize these titles when they follow the name or when they appear alone.

Chancellor John Doe
Jane Doe, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs
The brigadier general will preside at the banquet.

DO NOT CAPITALIZE

Do not capitalize words such as university, school, department, office, division, association and conference when they stand alone, even if they refer to a specific, previously identified entity.

Titles standing alone or in apposition

The provost is second in command.
Mary Brown, professor of nanoengineering, is on sabbatical until next semester.

Names of school or college studies, fields of study, options, curricula, major areas, or major subjects, except languages, unless a specific course is being referred to

Dan is majoring in biology with a minor in American history.
Jan is enrolled in Ideas and Expressions II this semester.

Unofficial or informal names of departments when used in text

Dr. Jones is chairman of the multimedia department.

The words or abbreviations a.m., p.m., baccalaureate, federal, state, government, honors, page and paragraph

Names of seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall), including references to semesters

Plural words that refer to multiple preceding terms that individually would be capitalized

The Oaks Faculty House is located at the corner of Dudley and Bluford streets.

Refer to the Associated Press Stylebook or The Chicago Manual of Style for specific usages.

Degrees abbreviated with two lettersmust have a period after each letter:

B.A. - Bachelor of Arts
B.S. - Bachelor of Science
M.A. - Master of Arts
M.S. - Master of Science

Do not use periods in degrees abbreviated with three or more capital letters:

BSN - Bachelor of Nursing
BSW - Bachelor of Social Work
MAT - Master of Arts in Teaching
MBA - Master of Business Administration
MFA - Master of Fine Arts
MSA - Master of School Administration
MSW - Master of Social Work

Use periods in degrees abbreviated with three or more letters when some of the letters are lowercase:

Ed.D. - Doctor of Education
M.Ed. - Master of Arts in Education
Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy

Spell out and use lowercase letters for names of degrees when referenced generically in running text:

He has earned a bachelor’s degreein history.
Her doctoral degree is in leadership studies.

Capitalize degree abbreviations.When it follows an individual’sname, set the degree off with commas—one after the name and one after the last period in the degree:

John Doe, Ph.D., was the guest speaker.
Sydney Smith, MBA,won the award.

Capitalize the major when it appears as part of the degree:

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

Use lowercase letters when the major follows the word degree:

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering.
Jordan has a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Academic titles are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name and lowercased when following a name:

Associate Professor John Doe
John Doe, associate professor

When an academic title is used in apposition before a personal name as a descriptive tag, it is lowercased:

The team was led by history professors William Green and Susan White.

The term “professor” should not be used simply to indicate “faculty member.” (Use of “professors” in the example above indicates that Green and White are, indeed, full professors, not just members of the history faculty.)

The forms for A&T titles are vice chancellor “for”; dean “of”; chair or chairperson “of”; professor, associate professor and assistant professor “of”; and instructor “in”—followed by the applicable field or unit.

Acronyms (read as a single word, such as AIDS) and initialisms (read as a series of letters, such as HIV) are abbreviations that generally are less cumbersome to use than the complete name of the entity they represent. Avoid coining new ones to address isolated situations.Generally, acronyms and initialisms are based on the initial letter of the words in the name of the entity they represent and are formed using capital letters without periods. Plurals are formed by adding “s” (e.g., SATs) or “’s” for terms ending in “S” (e.g., SOS’s).

An acronym or initialism is enclosed in parentheses following the first text reference to the complete name for which it stands: The Division of Research (Division of Research) maintains a balanced and diverse portfolio of basic and applied research programs that are effectively integrated with undergraduate and graduate education.

An acronym or initialism should not be provided if there is no subsequent reference, unless it is better known than the term for which it stands or there is a desire to promote its use.

The first reference to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in institutional pieces need not be followed by (N.C. A&T) or (A&T) even when used in subsequent references.

U.S. Postal Service standards specify the following order for campus addresses:

North Carolina A&T State University is an AA/EEO employer and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant institution.

N.C. A&T is an AA/EEO employer and ADA compliant institution.

The plurals of alumna and alumnus are alumnae and alumni, respectively. While alumna and alumnae refer specifically to a woman or women and alumnus refers specifically to a man, alumni can be used to refer to both men and women and should be used for the general plural term. “Alums” should only be used as an informal substitute.

These terms can mean persons who have attended or those who have graduated from an institution. Clarification should be made if relevant to the context.

Do not use an ampersand (&) in place of “and” in running text, even in the names of units or organizations that use an ampersand. Use the ampersand only in titles of published works, corporate names, course abbreviations and graphic treatments.

No: The College of Business & Economics is the largest academic unit on campus.
Yes: The College of Business and Economics is the largest academic unit on campus.

While the email signature is your digital business calling card, it is also an extension of North Carolina A&T and should reflect the university’s brand. Use these guidelines to be consistent with the university’s brand.

• Be concise. The signature should not exceed six lines.
• Use only the default sans serif font (Calibri), as all email clients do not recognize all fonts.
• The font size is 11 points.
• Email signatures used for university-related messages should include the following basic information (not to exceed seven lines):
  
  
  • ACADEMIC
    Name
    Title
    Department
    College | Building, Room
    University Name
    Phone | Email
    Web URL | Social Media (optional)
  • EXAMPLE - ACADEMIC
    Jane X. Smith, PhD
    Professor
    Department of Curriculum and Instruction
    College of Education | Proctor Hall, Room 001
    North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
    000-000-0000 | smithjx@ncat.edu
    www.ncat.edu/ced
  • ADMINISTRATIVE
    Name
    Title
    Office/Department
    College/Division | Building
    University Name
    Phone | Email
    Web URL | Social Media (optional)
  • EXAMPLE - ADMINISTRATIVE
    John J. Jones
    Web Manager
    Office of Development
    Division of University Advancement | Dowdy Building, Suite 000
    North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
    000-000-0000 | jjjones0@ncat.edu
    www.ncat.edu | www.ncat.edu/giving | Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @ncatgiving
    
    

• The approved color for text in the signature is black.
• Be mindful of the length, e.g., long titles, department/office names, etc.
• Only the first line (name) should appear bold. All other type is regular; no italic type.
• Do not include the following in university email signatures, as they may not reflect the university’s position:
  
  • Religious and political references
  • Slogans and quotes
  • Images
  • URL for personal website(s)
  • Personal, non-work-related information

• The background for university emails is solid white; other background colors and patterns are prohibited.

To create an email signature (Microsoft Outlook):

• Open Outlook.
• From the ‘Home’ tab, click ‘New E-mail.’
• From the ‘Message’ tab, click the downward triangle under the ‘Signature’ button.
• Click ‘Signatures …’ and the ‘Signatures and Stationery’ dialog will open.
• Click the ‘New’ button and follow the prompt.
• Enter your signature information in the text field.
• Click ‘OK.’
• Compose a new email to confirm a signature appears.

To create an email signature (Microsoft Outlook for Mac):

• Open Microsoft Outlook, go to ‘Preferences’ then ‘Signatures.’ Click on ‘Edit.’
• Enter your signature information in the text field, then close the ‘Signatures’ window.
• Compose a new email to confirm a signature appears.

For numbers under 10, spell out (one, two, three, etc.).

Use numerals for all numbers 10 or over, including ordinals, e.g., 22nd.

Days of the month should be written in numeric form, omitting rd, th, st and nd.

Use numerals for credit hours, ages, percentages, ratios and degrees.

For consistency within a series, use numerals if more than half of the numbers are 10 or over; otherwise, use number words within a series.

20 hours, 11 minutes, 3 seconds (Note: Midnight and noon should be spelled out and not written as 12 a.m. and 12 p.m.)She purchased fifteen oranges, six bananas, five apples, seven plums and twenty-four lemons last week.

Use hyphens when writing phone numbers.

Do not add a numeral in parentheses after use of a number word.

No: The clerk gave me eight (8) copies.
Yes: The clerk gave me eight copies.

Use hyphens to set off fractions when fractions are not available in a particular font: 5-1/2” x 7-3/4”.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees. Contact the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of N.C. A&T.

N.C. A&T does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies, contact the Affirmative Action Officer/Title IX Coordinator at titleixcoordinator@ncat.edu.