Abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations whenever possible and remember that the external community generally will not understand the internal Lawrence Tech shorthand in referring, for example, to colleges (e.g., COM, ECE) and degrees (e.g., BSIOE, DMIT). |
Academic Degrees
Correct: associate degree
Incorrect: associate’s degree Correct: bachelor’s degree; bachelor of science
Incorrect: bachelor degree; bachelors degree Correct: master’s degree; master of science
Incorrect: master degree; masters degree Correct: doctoral degree or a doctorate
Incorrect: a doctorate degree Correct: Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering; BS in Biomedical Engineering; Master of Science Education; Doctor of Business Administration Avoid abbreviating degrees because they begin to look like alphabet soup. When an abbreviation cannot be avoided, always spell it out on the first mention, with the abbreviation in parentheses following, and do not use periods in citing the degree. Correct: MBA; MSME; BSAr
Correct: Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)
Incorrect: B.S.C.E.; M.S.E.M.S. |
Academic and Professional Titles
Capitalized before a name, lowercased after a name: Correct: Hsiao-Ping Moore, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
Incorrect: Hsiao-Ping Moore, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Correct: Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Hsiao-Ping Moore
Incorrect: dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Hsiao-Ping Moore Correct: Vice President of University Advancement Stephen Brown
Incorrect: vice president of university advancement Stephen Brown
Generally, do not use the titles “Mr.,” “Dr.,” “Ms,” and “Mrs.,” in text. “Dr.” is used, however, in Commencement and honorific publications. Correct: Hsiao-Ping Moore, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
Incorrect: Dr. Hsiao-Ping Moore, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Correct: Stephen Brown, vice president of university advancement
Incorrect: Mr. Stephen Brown, Vice President of University Advancement |
Academic/University Units
The names of colleges, as well as academic and service departments and offices, are capitalized. Correct: College of Architecture and Design; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Office of University Advancement; Office of Admissions; Office of the Registrar; Computer Help Desk; DTE Energy One-Stop Center; One-Stop Center; the Larry Joe However, when colleges, departments, and offices are referred to in shortened form, they are lowercased: Correct: the college; the department; the office; the registrar |
Acronyms
Avoid whenever possible. If they must be used, always give the full name upon first mention, followed by the acronym in parentheses. |
Alumni
The correct usage is as follows:
alumnus: one male graduate
alumni: more than one male graduate or former student or a mixture of male and female graduates
alumna: one female graduate
alumnae: more than one female graduate |
Alumni Designation
When an alumnus/na is cited, his or her degree and year of graduation is provided after the name and set off by commas. Be mindful that the apostrophe indicating that part of the year is omitted faces the correct direction. Correct: John Doe, BSME’78, visited campus for Open House.
Incorrect: John Doe, BSME‘78 visited campus for Open House. |
And
In text, use and, not the ampersand &. In heads, captions, and ads, the use of & is permitted if space limitation prevents using and. |
Blue Devil Motorsports Organization
Correct: Blue Devil Motorsports
Incorrect: Blue Devil Motor Sports
|
Board of Trustees
Always capitalize the full name. However, when it is referred to in shortened form, i.e., the board, it is lowercased. |
Buildings
A. Alfred Taubman Student Services Center, Taubman Center thereafter
Applied Research Center
Architecture Building
Art and Design Center
Don Ridler Field House, the field house thereafter
Science Building
Wayne H. Buell Management Building, Buell Management Building thereafter
Engineering Building |
Courses/Programs
Capitalize specific course names. Lowercase subjects of study. Correct: Introduction to Psychology; Visual Communication
Incorrect: basic design 1 Correct: The student is taking mathematics, chemistry, and English literature courses.
Incorrect: The student is taking Mathematics, Chemistry, and English Literature courses. |
Course Work
Not coursework |
Don Ridler Field House
Correct: Don Ridler Field House
Ridler Field House
Field House
Incorrect: Don Ridler Fieldhouse
Ridler Fieldhouse
Fieldhouse
|
Dates
Correct: Oct. 24, 2003; October 24, 2003
Incorrect: Oct. 24th, 2003 Correct: October 2009
Incorrect: Oct. 2009 |
Email
Do not hyphenate.
Incorrect: e-mail |
Email Addresses
All email addresses should be typed in lowercase letters, unless an external address is case-specific. Correct: js0001244@ltu.edu; larryt@ltu.edu
Incorrect: JS0001244@ltu.edu; LarryT@ltu.edu |
Fund Raising
Correct: Fund raising, fund raiser, fund-raising (adj.), National Association of Fundraisers (follow organization’s chosen spelling)
Incorrect: fundraising, fundraiser, fund-raising (n), fund-raiser (n) |
GPA
Correct: GPA
3.0 GPA; 2.75 GPA, 2.2 GPA
Incorrect: G.P.A.
3.00 GPA, 2.20 GPA |
Great Lakes Stormwater Management Institute
Correct: Stormwater
Incorrect: Storm Water |
Housing
Correct: University Housing-South; University Housing-North
Correct: Housing-South; Housing-North |
Jr., Sr.
Correct: John Doe, Jr.; John Doe, Sr.
Incorrect: John Doe Sr.; John Doe Sr. |
Money
When citing monetary figures in nonfinancial texts, do not provide empty cents placeholders. Correct: $10
Incorrect: $10.00 |
Numbers
Spell out 1–9, use Arabic numerals 10 and up. |
Numbers (Inclusive)
Inclusive numbers should not include digits that are unnecessary for understanding a numerical spread. An N-dash should be used between inclusive numbers. Correct: 325–27; 1914–18; 1997–2003; 2000–03; 2001–06
Incorrect: 325-327; 1914-1918; 1997-2003; 2000-2003; 2001-2006 |
Numbers with Names
Do not put a comma after a name and before a Roman numeral indicating that two (or more) members of a family bear the same name: Correct: John Doe III
Incorrect: John Doe, III |
Online, Onsite
Do not hyphenate these words.
Incorrect: On-line; on-site |
Punctuation
Commas
Serial commas are used in all publications except for press releases. Correct: The student gathered his books, computer, and iPod before running off to class.
Incorrect: The student gathered his books, computer and iPod before running off to class. Dashes
Use an N- (preferred) or M-dash, with a space before and after, to denote a break in thought. Whichever dash is chosen, it should be used consistently. Correct: (N-dash) The professor noted – to his students’ dismay – that the test was not canceled.
Correct: (M-dash) The professor noted — to his students’ dismay — that the test was not canceled.
Incorrect: The professor noted--to his students’ dismay--that the test was not canceled.
Incorrect: The professor noted–to his students’ dismay–that the test was not canceled.
Incorrect: The professor noted—to his students’ dismay—that the test was not canceled. |
Percentages
Never use % in text, only in lists of statistics or numbers. Correct: The student earned a 95 percent on the test.
Incorrect: The student earned a 95% on the test. |
Photo Captions or Cutlines
Lawrence Tech photos printed in external publications, such as magazines and journals, must have a caption or cutline that acknowledges the University's ownership of the image. Preferred captions are:
Lawrence Technological University photo by PHOTOGRAPHER.
or
Lawrence Technological University photo.
|
Semesters
When referring to a specific semester and year, capitalize the semester: Correct: Spring 2007
Correct: The Spring 2007 semester begins . . .
Correct: ...the spring semester begins...
Incorrect: spring 2007
Incorrect: …the Spring semester begins … |
Spaces Between Sentences
Do not insert two spaces between sentences. Use one only. |
Room Numbers (on campus)
Do not put a space between the letter (indicating the building) and the number in room numbers.
Correct: A200, T156, S100
Incorrect: A 200, T 156, S 100
A-200, T-165, S-100
|
SAE Collegiate Design Series
SAE Aero Design®
Formula SAE®
Baja SAE®
SAE International
Correct: SAE
Incorrect: Society of Automotive Engineers
|
Semesters
When referring to a specific semester and year, capitalize the semester:
Correct: Spring 2007
The Spring 2007 semester
begins . . .
…the spring semester begins…
Incorrect: spring 2007
…the Spring semester begins… |
Telephone Numbers
Use periods between the numbers and not hyphens or parentheses. Correct: 248.204.4000
Incorrect: (248) 204-4000
(248) 204.4000
1.248.204.4000 Use p, f, and c after the number to indicate telephone, fax, and cell. Correct: 248.204.4000 p
248.204.4000 f
248.204.4000 c
Incorrect: f 248.204.4000
fax 248.204.4000
F 248.204.4000 |
Time
Correct: 11 – 11:30 a.m.
Noon – 4 p.m.
7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Incorrect: 11:00-11:30 am
12- 4 PM
7:00 A.M. – 8:00 P.M. |
Website Addresses
Drop http:// at the beginning of website addresses except in communications pieces intended for international audiences. In the United States, http:// has become unnecessary, as has the back slash at the end of web addresses.
Correct: www.ltu.edu
www.google.com
Incorrect: ltu.edu
http://www.google.com/ |
Web/Technical Terminology
email, NOT e-mail
global positioning system, or GPS
homepage, NOT home page
Internet
online, NOT on-line
the World Wide Web
the Web
web-based
web manager
webpage, NOT web page
website, NOT web site |