Editorial Style Guide: A-C
Cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude are all Latin words and should be italicized. See the academic catalog for the GPA requirements to earn these honor designations at graduation.
acronyms
Use apostrophe only to show possession:
"The PM's calendar was full."
Do not use apostrophe to show plural:
"PSAs are great publicity tools."
advisor
Not adviser (contrary to AP Style)
Alaska
Do not abbreviate in text.
Alaska Sea Grant College Program
Capitalize initial letters of each word.
Alaskan
Use as a noun describing a person, not a place. Never “Alaskan city,” for example.
"The professor is a longtime Alaskan."
One word, capitalize “O.” Refers to the statewide public television stations only, not the radio station.
alumni
Alumna is a female who has attended a school; alumnae is plural for female attendees; alumnus is a male who has attended a school; alumni is plural for male graduates and the term used when referring to a group of men and women. Use “alumnus” when referring to a non-gender specific individual.
Note: The term does not necessarily denote a graduate but may refer to anyone who has attended UAF as a student. Use the plural “alumni” whenever possible. Avoid abbreviating as “alum.”
a.m., p.m. (see alsotime of day)
Lowercase with a space between the time and a.m./p.m., and periods in between the letters:
"The conference will start at 9 a.m."
Arctic, arctic (see alsosubarctic)
Capitalize when using as a noun:
"The Arctic is a dangerous and hostile place."
Lowercase when using as an adjective:
"If you survive an arctic winter, you deserve to go to the tropics."
Associated Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (ASUAF)
Do not use periods. Use abbreviation only after full name has been used at least once.
Athabascan
Not Athabaskan
aurora borealis
Do not capitalize.
Plural form “auroras" or “aurorae"; “borealis" does not change
ballroom (Wood Center Carol Brown)
SeeWood Center Carol Brown Ballroom
bioinformatic
(adjective) – Relating to bioinformatics.
bioinformatics
(noun) – Science of information and information flow in biological systems, especially the use of computational methods to process information in genetics and genomics.
board of regents
Capitalize when using full name:
"The University of Alaska Board of Regents met on Wednesday."
Lowercase when not using full name:
"The board of regents met Wednesday."
Takes a singular verb:
"The board of regents is meeting on the UAA campus."
building
The use of the word "building" is optional with room numbers.
Capitalize it if using with a room number:
"The conference will be held in 208 Gruening Building." (or “Gruening 208")
Use numerals for numbers:
"The conference will be held in 208 Gruening."
Lowercase in other instances:
"The building was constructed…"
campus (see alsocommunity campuses)
Capitalize when using full name:
“The Chukchi Campus is in Kotzebue, and the Bristol Bay Campus is in Dillingham."
“Fairbanks campus" does not take a capital “c," and is used to refer specifically to
the headquarters of the UAF system.
Lowercase when not using full or formal name:
“The campus was teeming with students on the first day of class."
campuswide
One word, no hyphen:
"That e-mail was sent campuswide."
"The campuswide distribution was a success."
canceled
Use one "l", not two:
"The meeting is canceled due to aliens landing on Gruening."
capital, Capitol
Use capital (lowercase) when referring to the city where a seat of government is located, the case of a letter, or a budget or monetary reference. Use Capitol (capitalized) when referring to a building in which a state or federal legislative body meets.
"Juneau is the capital of Alaska. Many consider the Capitol too small and
want to build a new one."
capitalization (see also center, department, seasons, titles and job titles)
See individual entries. In general, capitalize formal titles or names but lowercase general uses of a noun:
“The University of Alaska Fairbanks is the flagship of the statewide system."
“The university’s main campus is in Fairbanks."
“Many classes are held in Schaible Auditorium."
“The lecture was held in the auditorium."
catalog
Not catalogue.
Capitalize when using the full name; lowercase in other instances.
"The Alaska Quaternary Center deals with certain geological time periods."
"The center deals with certain geological time periods."
"The Center for Distance Education moved to its offices."
"The center moved its offices."
chair
Not chairman, chairwoman or chairperson. Contrary to AP style. Capitalize when preceding a name (but not “department"); lowercase in all other instances.
"The students met with department Chair Rachel Smith to discuss their concerns."
"Rachel Smith, chair of the department, issued a statement on the dean’s behalf."
"The committee chair was appointed last year."
chancellor
Capitalize as part of a title:
"At the meeting, Chancellor Steve Jones…"
Lowercase in other instances:
"Steve Jones is chancellor of UAF."
"The chancellor prefers us to use Steve Jones, rather than his full name with middle initial."
"Please welcome UAF's chancellor, Steve Jones."
chancellor's list
Place the apostrophe before the "s" as there is only one chancellor for whom the list is named. Do not capitalize the "c" or the "l."
circumpolar
Don't capitalize.
city of Fairbanks
Don’t capitalize city unless referring to the full name as a legal or political entity:
"The city of Fairbanks is located in Interior Alaska."
"The City of Fairbanks sued the state for interfering in municipal matters."
class
Lowercase “class of 1999.”
class names, class standing
Lowercase class standings: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student, undergraduate student.
clean room (as used in nanotechnology)
Not cleanroom.
coed
Use “coed” when referring to a coeducational college or university. No hyphen.
“Residence Life offers living environments to meet every need including coed buildings by floor.”
NOTE: Use of “coed” when referring to a female student at a coeducational university could be considered sexist language.
college, colleges (see alsoschool, schools)
Capitalize as part of official name:
“The College of Liberal Arts offers…”
Lowercase in other instances:
"The college offers…"
UAF colleges and their abbreviations:
College of Engineering and Mines (CEM)
College of Liberal Arts (CLA)
College of Natural Science and Mathematics (CNSM)
College of Rural and Community Development (CRCD)
commas
Use a comma before the “and” when combining two independent clauses:
"I was laughing, and he was crying."
In a series, do not use a comma before the “and” unless one of the items in the series has an “and” in it:
"I bought oranges, apples and butter."
"They looked into funding, research and development, and history."
Lowercase when used to refer to commencement or convocation generally:
"UAF's 69th commencement was held May 5, 1991."
"More than 2,000 people attended the UAF commencement ceremonies."
Capitalize when followed by the specific year:
"UAF celebrated Commencement 2006 in grand style."
Capitalize when using full name:
"Bristol Bay Campus is in Dillingham."
"Chukchi Campus is in Kotzebue."
"Interior-Aleutians Campus is based in Fairbanks."
"Kuskokwim Campus is in Bethel."
"Northwest Campus is in Nome."
Lowercase when not using full or formal name:
"The campus is located on the other side of town."
convocation
See commencement.
corporation
Abbreviate:
"The Bristol Bay Native Corp. is…"
course work
Two words, not one
cross country
No hyphen: UAF has men's and women's cross country skiing teams.