Student Marketing & Communications Style Guide

Go to financial aid terms.

Capitalize when a formal name, otherwise lowercase.

• history department
• Department of History
• English department
• Department of English

Follow the preference of each college.

• College of Engineering and Computer Science
• College of Health and Human Development
• College of Humanities
• College of Science and Mathematics
• College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
• David Nazarian College of Business and Economics (Nazarian College on subsequent mentions).
• Michael D. Eisner College of Education
• Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication
• Tseng College

In running prose, avoid an abbreviation and use instead a phrase, such as: Sarah Jones, who has a doctorate in psychology.

Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, a master’s, etc., but there is no possessive in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science and Associate Degree (no possessive on the latter).

Disciplines — such as art, accounting, geography and engineering — are capitalized only when referring to a specific department or course.

She is planning to major in geography. The Department of Geography offers many courses. One of these is Geography 101.

Disciplines derived from proper nouns (French, German, Spanish, etc.) are always capitalized.

Keep in mind that when referring to the department, the name is Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies. The major is Chicano and Chicana Studies.

Refer to the CSUN style guide.

Dr. William Watkins is vice president for Student Affairs.

embedded links

Don’t use “click here,” “here,” “more information” or the terms mouse and cursor. Instead, for directions, use "choose" or "select," and the link title should indicate the destination. Incorrect: Click here to read more. Correct: The manual for Assisting Students in Distress is a comprehensive guide that covers a range of topics for helping students.

Use the plural form as an adjective when referring to the general population and the singular form when referring to the individual. What are CSUN's admissions criteria? Dear John, congratulations on your admission!

Do not use adviser (AP variation).

Do not use a hyphen as either a noun or an adjective. The term is acceptable for an American person of African descent, but be careful not to apply it indiscriminately. For instance, Caribbean descendants generally refer to themselves as Caribbean Americans. The term “Black” — capitalized when used as an adjective in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense — is also acceptable. Follow an individual’s preference.

Formerly the Department of Pan African Studies and the Bachelor of Arts in African-American studies, the department and major now goes by the name Africana studies.

• Alumnus refers to one male graduate or former student; also to a graduate or former student of unspecified gender.
• Alumna refers to one female graduate or former student.
• Alumni refers to two or more graduates or former students, all or some of whom are male.
• Alumnae refers to two or more female graduates or former students.

In general, avoid the use of “alum” as that term refers to a chemical compound. As an alternative, “graduate” may be used.

Designations

• John Smith ’03 (history)
• John Smith ’68 (teaching credential program)
• John Smith ’03 (history), M.A. ’05 (psychology), or Hon. D. ’07 (human letters)
  

If a person attended CSUN but did not graduate, they are identified with the word “attended” and sometimes the year is shown. Last year attended and major could be used as with other alumni.

• Jane Doe, who attended CSUN, was also present.
• Jane Doe, who attended CSUN from 2000 to 2002, was also present.
• Andy Summers ’72 (music)

Avoid & unless it is part of a company or institution’s legal name, such as Student Marketing & Communications. The ampersand may also be used in charts and lists where space is limited.

Avoid using in athletics terminology unless it is a part of a formal title of a sporting event.

track and field (not track & field)

Avoid plus sign.

• Begin with a capital letter.
• End with a period only when the bullet contains a complete sentence.
• Have parallel construction (e.g., all bullets in a list should be phrased similarly).
• For lists that include both complete sentences and sentence fragments, use periods for all.

Capitalize the name of the higher education system. Do not capitalize when referring to a community college in the generic sense. Rafael is a community college student.

First reference to the university should be California State University, Northridge. No comma after Northridge. 

California State University, Northridge will accept applications for fall admission through April 20. 

Second references and beyond should be CSUN. Cal State Northridge should only be used if it’s in a quote. Do not use CSU Northridge.

Even though you may see it in legal documents, do not capitalize “university” when used alone as a second reference in correspondence or text.

Academic degrees are capitalized only in specific references (Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, etc.). They are not capitalized in general references (bachelor’s degree, master’s, doctorate). The word degree is not capitalized.

• His objective is a Bachelor of Arts in history.
• The university offers several master’s degree programs.
• One of these is the Master of Public Administration.

Capitalize degrees and use periods when they are referred to by initials: B.S., M.A., Ph.D. When using these abbreviations with a name, follow the name with a comma and then the abbreviation. Michael Spagna, Ph.D.

Administrative office names are capitalized only if the reference is specific. 

• The Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs is hosting a discussion.
• The Office of Marketing and Communications is fielding the calls.
• The Division of Academic Affairs is the largest within the university.

Building names are capitalized.

• Jerome Richfield Hall or Richfield Hall
• Delmar T. Oviatt Library or Oviatt Library

Class-level references are not capitalized except when referring to the formal name of a group.

• A group of seniors provided tutoring for freshmen.
• The Senior Class donated a gift of $50,000 to the university.

Colleges and departments are capitalized only if the reference is specific.

Some colleges have many departments.

• The Department of Chemistry is part of the College of Science and Mathematics.
• The Michael D. Eisner College of Education has a great number of international students.
• Many alumni attended the banquet at the engineering college.

Directions are not capitalized if they refer to a compass direction. They should be capitalized, however, if they refer to a region, are part of a proper name or denote a widely known section of a city or state.

When in doubt, use lowercase.

Professor Hall’s move east took him as far as the Midwest, where his Southern California customs were the source of much amusement.

Nationalities, peoples, races and tribes are capitalized.

• American
• Chicano
• Vietnamese
• Shoshone
• Caucasian
• African

Keep in mind that when referring to the department, the name is Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies. The major is Chicano and Chicana Studies.

However, do not capitalize black and white when referring to race.

Seasons and semesters are not capitalized.

We are looking forward to summer vacation after the spring semester.

“State” when used as a generic adjective or as a noun is not capitalized. “Federal” is capitalized as part of the formal names of corporate or government bodies. Use lowercase when it is used as an adjective to distinguish something from state, county, city, town or private entities.

• Inform the people of the state of California.
• Several programs received state funding.
• Professor Vince Kelly received a federal grant.
• The Federal Communications Commission has awarded several grants.

Titles are capitalized only when they precede a person’s name.

• President Dianne F. Harrison
• Dianne F. Harrison, president of the university
• The proposal presented by the college deans and department chairs is subject to approval by the president.

The only exception is in reference to professors. Common usage does not differentiate between associate, lecturers, assistant and tenured professor. The honorific “professor” in general vernacular applies to all four categories.

• Kinesiology professor Steven Loy is meeting with city officials.
• Theatre professor Doug Kaback is director of CSUN’s Teenage Drama Workshop.

Do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series. The flag is red, white and blue. Use a comma before the concluding conjunction in a series to avoid confusion. I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast.

In general, follow the spelling and capitalization used by the company.

eBay, iPhone, MasterCard, Apple, Kmart

Use ampersands as the official company or product name dictates.

Abbreviate Co. and Corp., and delete references to Inc., unless doing so makes the name confusing.

Use “the” lowercase unless it is part of the company’s formal name.

Procter & Gamble, Gannett Co., Microsoft Corp., the Kroger Co., the Los Angeles Times, General Electric Aircraft Engine Group, The New York Times

Regardless of corporate policy, do not use all capital letters in a corporate name unless all the letters are pronounced or the name is an acronym.

BMW, IBM, ESPN, Big East, Imax, Ikea (not BIG EAST, IMAX, IKEA)

When using a genuine acronym that is not widely known, be sure to explain what the letters stand for on first reference.

Although clever graphic elements may be part of a company’s logo, in text never use typographic symbols or unusual fonts in a name, including exclamation points, quotation marks, plus signs, asterisks, bold type or italic type.

Yahoo, Toys R Us, E-Trade (not Yahoo!, Toys“R”Us, E*Trade)

For a company’s formal name, consult the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ or American Stock Exchange.

North, south, east, west, southern, northeast, etc., are only capitalized when they designate a region, not when used in directions. She grew up in Southern California. Drive to the southern tip and head west.

Do not use. Use California State University instead.

Do not use. The campus newspaper is called The Sundial.

Use em dashes (—) only. Do not use en dashes (–). Go to hyphens for use of hyphen (-).

Write out the month when the word stands alone. Santasha’s birthday is in October. Abbreviate the month when it is part of a date. My birthday is Oct. 9. I was born Oct. 9, 1988. Abbreviations are Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Do not abbreviate March, April, May, June and July. 

The filing deadline for fall 2009 admission is Monday, Feb. 1, 2009.
Applications for fall 2009 admission will be accepted through February.
Feb. 1, 2009, is the last day to apply for admission.

Capitalize when referring to people who identify themselves as members of the distinct linguistic and cultural group whose primary language is ASL, the Deaf community. Lowercase it when referring to people who have a hearing loss or to those deaf people who prefer oral methods of communication.

The department goes by the name the Department of Recreation and Tourism Management, but the major name is tourism, hospitality and recreation management. The department prefers the full name be used for the degree in marketing materials, though the degree is officially called recreation. Santasha is majoring in tourism, hospitality and recreation management. Or, Santasha is receiving her bachelor's degree in recreation and tourism management.

Follow the preference of each department or campus entity.

• Admissions and Records
• Alumni Association
• Associated Students
• Athletics
• Career Center
• Department of Police Services
• Disability Resources and Educational Services
• Educational Opportunity Program
• Financial Aid & Scholarship Department
• Graduate Studies
• International and Exchange Student Center
• IT Help Center
• Klotz Student Health Center
• Learning Resource Center
• Matador Involvement Center
• National Center on Deafness
• Office of Government and Community Relations
• Office of Institutional Research
• Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs
• Delmar T. Oviatt Library
• Parking and Transportation Services
• Student Accounting
• Office of Student Involvement and Development (formerly Student Development & International Programs)
• Student Housing
• Student Marketing & Communications
• Student Outreach and Recruitment
• Student Recreation Center
• Testing Center
• The University Corporation
• University Advancement
• University Cash Services
• University Counseling Services
• University Student Union
• Veterans Affairs

Go to web terms.

Go to ADA guidelines.

Go to financial aid terms.

Not F-1 Visa or F1 visa.

Go to financial aid terms.

AB 540

Include a space between AB and 540, and do not use a hyphen. AB 540 students may apply for grant funding by submitting a California Dream Act application.

eRefund

Per University Cash Services, do not use a hyphen and capitalize R when referring to the electronic refund program at CSUN (AP variation). Marcia expects to receive her eRefund from the Financial Aid & Scholarship Department.

F-1 visa

Not F-1 Visa or F1 visa.

federal

Use a capital letter for corporate or governmental bodies when the word is part of their formal names, but lowercase when using as an adjective to distinguish something from state, county, city, town or private entities. Federal Work Study students may not need to apply for a federal student loan.

grant

Do not capitalize unless it is part of an official name. Tracy applied for two grants, the Academic Competitiveness Grant and Cal Grant. Robert used his federal Pell Grant funds toward tuition. 

loan

Do not capitalize. Cindy qualifies for a federal Stafford loan.

Middle Class Scholarship

Not middle class scholarship or Middle Class scholarship.

work-study

Capitalize and hyphenate the full program name, Federal Work-Study per the US Department of Education. Lowercase in other references. Tracy’s student assistant position is funded through the Federal Work-Study program. She loves her work-study job because she goes from class to work in minutes.

The adjectival form is freshman not freshmen. Freshmen is the plural form of freshman. What are the freshman admissions criteria? They are freshman applicants. 

Spell out on first reference, okay to use GE on second reference. Go to acronyms.

Spell out on first reference. GPA is acceptable on second reference (AP variation). Go to acronyms.

Do not capitalize. Jiang is applying for graduate admission. Jiang is a graduate student.

Visit the California State University website for the most updated list of graduate programs.

Go to financial aid terms.

Headings are capitalized, except for conjunctions and prepositions with fewer than four letters. Subheadings are not capitalized except for the first letter and proper nouns (AP variation).

Capitalize in all uses. CSUN has a large Hispanic population.

Go to web terms.

Hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity and to link the words in a compound modifier except the adverb very and all adverbs ending in “-ly.” Melody is wearing a bluish-green dress. Upward Bound is a federally funded program.

Abbreviation for identification card. Bring your student ID.

Capitalize in all uses and do not place in quotation marks. File your Intent to Register by December 2015.

Do not capitalize. Lakme is an international student.

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

Go to financial aid terms.

Go to web terms.

Lowercase the names of majors, except for proper nouns. To confirm majors and options, visit the California State University website. Since the number of available majors at CSUN fluctuates, always write “more than 60” when referring to the number of majors. Darrel is an accounting major. I am a Chicano and Chicana studies major.

Treat map legends like captions (any explanatory text that appears with an illustration). Capitalize content in map legends sentence style, which means capitalize only the first letter of the first word, with the exception of proper nouns, e.g., The Tseng College.

Men’s restrooms

Women’s restrooms

Handicap ramps

Emergency exits

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

Capitalize when referring to the CSUN program or the New Student Orientation website.

As a general rule, numbers from one to nine should be spelled out; numbers 10 and above should be left in numerical form. Use numerical figures, however, when referring to sections of a book, grade point average and scores.

• GPA of 3.0
• ACT score of 9

Spell out the word percent in text. Do not use the symbol “%” except in tables, marketing or technical text.

More than 20 percent passed the test with a score of 85 or better.

Spell out ordinal numbers (first, second, third) first through ninth. For the 10th ordinal and above, use figures.

First, second, 10th, 23rd, 31st

When describing money in text, do not include the decimal places for whole dollars.

Tickets cost $5 for general admission, $3 for students and $2.50 for children under 12.

When describing time, do not use minute placeholders for whole hours. To avoid confusion, always use noon, not 12 p.m., to refer to middle of the day.

The program will run from 8 a.m. to noon, with a coffee break at 10:15 a.m.

Spell out any number that begins a sentence.

Forty-nine students voted.

The exception is starting a sentence with a year.

2013 was the hottest year on record.

Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier. Donna does not live in on-campus housing. Donna does not live on campus.

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

If copy is intended to be inclusive of all family types, use parent and guardian instead of just parent. Dear parent or guardian, your student was accepted to CSUN. Parents and guardians are invited to both morning and afternoon sessions.

Go to web terms.

Avoid pronouns such as “we,” “our,” and “they” except in informal use clearly referring to the university. 

Do not italicize or underline magazines or newspapers. Go to AP for entry details. 

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

When providing campus addresses, use the building followed by the room number. Student Marketing & Communications is in Bayramian Hall 225.

Lowercase. Arvind is going to apply for fall semester. I am applying for spring 2010.

Do not use. If copy is intended to apply to both sexes, avoid gender bias by using student instead of son or daughter.

When Webster’s New World College Dictionary offers two acceptable spellings of words, choose the first one or the one with a definition, not the variant. You can access Webster’s New World College Dictionary online (subscription only). 

Abbreviate only with a numbered address. Ave., Blvd. and St. The CSUN address displayed as a graphic element is an exception (AP variation). 18111 Nordhoff St.

Follow the department’s preference. Use the Suites at University Park, the Apartments at University Park and the Apartments at University Village on first reference. Thereafter, you may shorten to the Suites, the Park Apartments and the Village Apartments.

housing types

living learning community and themed living community

Spell out on first reference. Do not hyphenate. Only capitalize when either term is a part of a proper name. Engineering and Computer Science Living Learning Community. You may use abbreviations on second reference unless it is a part of a proper name. LLC and Music Living Learning Community, but not Music LLC.

MATA+MORE Themed Living Community

Not Mata+MORE Living Learning Community, MataMORE Living Learning Community or MataMore Living Learning Community

The Health and Wellness Studies Living Learning Community

Include the article. Incorrect: Health and Wellness Studies Living Learning Community

Write “Telephone” and “Fax” without a colon if there are two numbers. Telephone (818) 677-9999, Fax (818) 677-8888. When there is only a telephone number, do not write “Phone” or “Telephone.” Telephone format: (xxx) xxx-xxxx (AP variation)

Spell out the full name on first reference. Go to acronyms and abbreviations. You must take the Upper Division Writing Proficiency Exam (UDWPE) before graduation. The Entry Level Mathematics (ELM) exam and English Placement Test (EPT) are used to assess skill level.

Do not use; use “through” instead.

Use “noon” or “midnight,” rather than 12 p.m. or 12 a.m., which might be confusing. Avoid redundancy, such as: 10 a.m. this morning.

Use hyphens or the word “to” to denote ranges in time. Use a.m. or p.m. only once for time ranges that begin and end either in the morning or in the afternoon.

• The Honors Convocation is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. on Friday, April 24.
• The class meeting from 10 to 11 a.m. has been moved to 1 to 2 p.m.

One word

Do not capitalize university, except when used in a proper name.

• Classes begin at California State University, Northridge on Aug. 27.
• The university will be closed for Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

Lowercase all letters in a URL. Leave out http://www. unless it is necessary for accessing the site (AP variation). 

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

Go to web terms.

When giving web instructions, capitalize specific tab or section names, page titles, etc. Capitalize the title of a website (AP variation). To register for classes, log in to the myNorthridge Portal, select the Home tab, and go to the Register for Classes quick link.

email

home page

internet

lightbox

login (noun)/log in (verb)

myCSUNtablet

myNorthridge (Do not italicize “my”; when referring to online features specific to CSUN, my is lowercase and Northridge capitalized without a space between the two words.)

myNorthridge Chat

myNorthridge Portal

online

pagelet

portal (generic/accepted as a second or later reference to the myNorthridge Portal)

QR code: Abbreviate in all references (QR code stands for Quick Response code and is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode). For more information about CSUN and to create your own personalized CSUN webpage, please use this QR code.

quick link

screen shot

URL

user ID

username

web

webpage

website

Go to web terms.

Do not hyphenate.

Go to financial aid terms.