Contact Info
Location
Panhellenic House (4 Williams Dr.)
Delaware, OH 43015
At Ohio Wesleyan, how do we refer to professors and departments? When do we capitalize the word “university”? Do we use a comma before the last item in a series?
The Ohio Wesleyan University Style Guide answers these and other questions when you’re writing about OWU. If the answer to your question isn’t here, the Office of University Communications is happy to help.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M |
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z |
abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations in formal text, except when part of official names. For example: Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, but Ham-Wil (with one “l”), is acceptable on first reference in internal, informal contexts.
See ampersand, degrees, months, states, and time.
academic and administrative titles
See titles.
academic courses
Capitalize proper names of courses when used with or without course numbers, but do not capitalize subject names used in a general sense.
Capitalize all nouns and adjectives referring to languages, countries, and nationalities.
academic degrees
See degrees.
academic departments and programs
Capitalize only proper nouns or adjectives in department and program names. Capitalize “department” and “program” only when part of an official name.
according to
Use with documents, not people. “According to the report,” but “Professor Barbara McLeod said.”
ACT
Acceptable in all references for the college entrance examination. Do not use periods. Once an acronym for American College Testing, ACT became the official name in 1996. Avoid the redundant “ACT test.”
addresses
Abbreviate “boulevard,” “avenue,” and “street” with numbered addresses. Abbreviate directions (N., S., E., W.) in street addresses. Spell out the names of numbered streets from First through Ninth. States following cities in regular text require commas before and after.
See phone numbers and states.
Affirmative Action statement
“Ohio Wesleyan is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer strongly and actively committed to diversity within its community.”
African American
Do not hyphenate either the noun or adjective. Both “African American” and “Black” (uppercase) are acceptable in text.
Ages
Use numerals in all instances.
alma mater
Do not capitalize, unless used as a formal song title. AP style uses quotation marks around song titles; Chicago style italicizes them.
alum, alumni
Use alum to describe a lone graduate, regardless of gender. Use alumni for a group of graduates, regardless of gender. OWU no longer uses alumnus, alumna, and alumnae.
American College Test (ACT)
ACT is acceptable in all references. Do not use periods.
American Indian
Native American also is acceptable. (But please ask about preference, when possible.)
ampersand
Avoid using an ampersand unless it is part of an official title.
apostrophes
Make abbreviations plural by adding “s” only. No apostrophe is needed
No apostrophe is needed for decades.
Asian American
Do not hyphenate in either noun or adjective form.
baccalaureate
Capitalize only in formal references, such as the title of the program distributed at Ohio Wesleyan's annual baccalaureate ceremony. Typically held the night before commencement, baccalaureate allows graduating seniors to celebrate their four-year spiritual and intellectual journey at Ohio Wesleyan. It is planned by students in conjunction with the Chaplain's Office.
Battling Bishops
The nickname, which dates to 1925, is always capitalized. Before then Ohio Wesleyan’s teams were known as “The Red and Black,” or sometimes “The Methodists.” Do not use the term “Lady Bishops.”
Bayley Room
Not Bailey. The room is located on the second floor of Beeghly Library.
BELTway
Acceptable in all uses for the Arthur A. Belt Memorial Walkway, named for Arthur Belt ’34. This pedestrian walkway connects sports facilities with the academic side of campus. As with JAYwalk, the named part (BELT) is in all capital letters, but the pathway is lower case.
Benes Rooms
There are three Benes Rooms – A, B, and C – located in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center. Designate the specific room if applicable/available.
BIPOC
The acronym stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
Black
Per Associated Press Stylebook guidelines, uppercase Black in all references to race. See also African American.
Board of Trustees
Capitalize “Board of Trustees” when referring to Ohio Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees. Do not capitalize when referring to other boards. Capitalize “Board” and “Trustees” when used alone or in any reference to the Ohio Wesleyan group.
book titles
See composition titles.
Bridge Program
Operated by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, the Bridge Program currently is a three-week, credit-bearing residential experience program designed to equip first-year students with the skills to thrive at OWU. It was launched in summer 2018.
broadcasting stations
Include call letters and dial numbers for radio stations.
buildings
In most instances, use only the surnames of building honorees. For example, use Mowry Alumni Center instead of Frances E. Mowry Memorial Alumni Center. Exceptions, noted below with asterisks, are based on common practice.
bulleted lists
Keep punctuation for bulleted lists at a minimum. Begin each item with a capital letter. End individual bullet points with a period only if each point is a complete sentence. It is not necessary to include “and” before the last item in the list.
In its interaction with students, Ohio Wesleyan University seeks to:
Camp Oh-Wooo
Dating back to 2017-2018, the three-day Camp Oh-Wooo orientation program helps incoming students to meet each other, current students, and OWU employees to help ensure a smooth transition. It is operated through the Division of Student Engagement and Success.
campus
Do not capitalize. The 200-acre Ohio Wesleyan campus is located in downtown Delaware.
canceled
Per Associated Press (AP) style, use the one ‘l’ spelling of this word.
capitalization
Per Associated Press (AP) style, do not capitalize “university” or similar words in news releases when these words stand alone to refer to Ohio Wesleyan University or its programs. Capitalize the official names of conferences, courses, lectures, etc.
Names of seasons, academic periods, and one-time events generally are not capitalized.
chair
In an exception to AP style, use “chair” in all cases instead of chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson.
chairs and professorships
Capitalize the titles of named chairs and professorships whether used alone or after an individual’s name.
commas
In a longstanding exception to AP style, use the serial comma (the final comma before “and,” “or,” or “nor”) in a list of three or more items.
If items in the series contain commas themselves, use semicolons between all items.
When following a person’s name, qualifiers such as Ph.D. and M.D. are preceded by a comma. A second comma follows the qualifier in regular text.
When giving the time, date, and location of an event – which is the preferred order – do not use a comma between the time and date.
Commas appear after, not before, an expression in parentheses (like this), and they always go inside quotation marks, except when a quotation mark indicates inches.
commencement
Capitalize only in formal references, such as the title of the program distributed at Ohio Wesleyan's annual graduation ceremony. For many years, the ceremony was held on Mother's Day, but, beginning in May 2017, commencement was moved from Sunday to Saturday. The event is held on Merrick Lawn in front of Merrick Hall. Ohio Wesleyan holds one commencement each academic year including graduates who completed their degrees in summer, fall, and spring.
composition titles
Follow Associated Press style or Chicago style as appropriate for your audience.
course listings / titles
Each course has a course number and course title, which is always capitalized (even if the course is referred to without the number). There is no punctuation between the course number and course title.
course work
Two words.
curriculum / curricula
Curriculum is singular; curricula are plural.
database
One word.
dates
Always spell out days of the week and use numerals for years. Use no punctuation if listing just a month and year, but set the year off with commas in exact dates. AP preferred style for event listings is time, date, and place in that order. Do not use an apostrophe with the 1990s, the 1980s, etc., but use an apostrophe with, for example, the ’90s.
See months.
decision making, decision-making
Two words as a noun; hyphenated as an adjective.
degrees
Capitalize the main words in the names of degrees when they are spelled out and capitalize abbreviations of degrees. Abbreviation of the degree name is acceptable on first reference. (Note: There are no spaces between elements and periods are used for degrees abbreviated with two letters but typically not those with three letters.)
Do not capitalize academic degrees used in a general sense. Note that bachelor’s and master’s end in ’s. Also note that there is no possessive in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science. (Bachelor's of Arts and Master’s of Science are incorrect.)
In references to degrees, the word “degree” is never capitalized.
department names
Capitalize the full, formal names of departments, but lowercase shortened or informal versions.
See academic departments and capitalization.
Dr.
Per The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, avoid the honorific title “Dr.” in reference to an academic who has earned a doctorate, unless "Dr." is part of a direct quote. Instead, use Ph.D. (or appropriate degree designation) following the name. If "Dr." is used, never use Dr. and the degree designation in the same reference; it’s redundant. (To verify the terminal degree of OWU faculty, refer to the Course Catalog. Do not assume that everyone with a doctorate has a Ph.D.)
drop / add
Lowercase references to the drop/add procedure, which occurs during the first two weeks of each semester.
Do not hyphenate “email,” per The Associated Press Stylebook, but hyphenate other technological business references, including “e-business,” “e-book,” and “e-commerce.” Note the lowercase “e.”
ellipsis
Use the three-dot sequence to indicate that something has been left out of a sentence or passage. Leave a space before and after the dot sequence. If a sentence ends (or is cut off) right before the ellipsis, leave in the punctuation that would have ended the sentence.
emeritus
Emeritus is the singular, masculine form. For references to women, use emerita (singular) or emeritae (plural). Emeriti may serve as the plural for a group composed of men only or both men and women. Emeritus is lowercase in all forms (unless used before a name as a formal title). Note that it follows the noun.
Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action
See Affirmative Action.
faculty
Faculty can be plural or singular depending on whether the word is used to describe the group as a whole (singular) or to describe its members individually (plural). To avoid confusion, rewrite the sentence to avoid a plural verb or use faculty members.
fax
Lowercase.
first-generation (or "first-gen")
The terms “first-generation” or “first-gen” student(s) are lowercase and hyphenated.
first-year
The terms “first-year” or “incoming” student(s) are preferred instead of freshmen. When used as an adjective – first-year student – it is lowercase and hyphenated.
flyer
The preferred term is flyer for printed promotional material.
foreign students
The phrase “international students” is preferred.
fraternal groups
Capitalize the names of fraternities and sororities, but not the words “fraternity,” “sorority,” or “chapter.”
freshman, freshmen
See first-year.
full time / full-time
Hyphenate as an adjective before the noun; otherwise use two words.
fundraiser / fundraising
Both are one word, not hyphenated, in all instances.
Global Scholars Institute / Global Scholars Program
Ohio Wesleyan's Global Studies Institute is the collaborative hub where scholars from the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and fine arts converge to explore ideas and issues that span national boundaries, tackle challenges from their varied perspectives, and develop solutions for real world problems. The Global Scholars Program was created in 2017 as part of the institute. In 2020, the program was endowed as The Thomas W. Palmer ’69 and Susan Palmer Global Scholars Program.
grade point average (GPA)
Do not hyphenate. Do not use periods in abbreviation (GPA). Use all caps. Spell out grade point average on first reference, and then use GPA on subsequent references.
Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)
Abbreviate after the first full reference. Do not use periods.
graduates with honors
Italicize but do not capitalize:
graduation years
In general, list at the end of a person’s full name, with no commas before or after. If writing about husband-and-wife alumni, follow the example below or rewrite. List the full graduation year if needed to avoid confusion, such as 1907 v. 2007.
groundbreaking
One word as adjective or noun. Always lowercase.
health care
Two words, no hyphen, both nouns and adjectives. Always lowercase.
Hispanic
Capitalize Hispanic. Use “Hispanic American” with no hyphen when the term is needed.
homepage
One word when referring to the landing page of an internet website. Always lowercase.
Honors Program
The official name is the Leland F. and Helen Schubert Honors Program. Note the capital “P.”
https://
Use “https://” only if needed for clarity, such as addresses without “www.”
hyphens
Use as few hyphens as possible. Use hyphens in compound adjectives to prevent misreading.
If compound adjectives are commonly used, a hyphen is not necessary.
Do not use hyphens with “very” and “ly” words.
international students
The phrase “international students” is preferable to “foreign students.” Both are lowercase unless part of a proper name.
internet
It is no longer necessary to capitalize “internet” or “web,” as both have become common terms.
JAYwalk
Acceptable in all uses for the James A. Young Memorial Walkway. Young’s initials provide the JAYwalk’s distinctive name. Note that the named portion (JAY) is in all capital letters, but the pathway (walk) is lower case.
Jannuzi Dance Studio
The 2,425-square-foot dance studio is named in memory of Margaret Moltrup Jannuzi, OWU Class of 1933, and her husband, Eugene F. Jannuzi (both deceased). It opened in 2015 inside Edwards Gymnasium.
laboratory
Spell out as part of an official name or on first reference, except in a direct quote. “Lab” is acceptable as a second reference. AP style: Only capitalize “laboratory” or “lab” when used with a laboratory’s full name. Lowercase in all other circumstances.
For example: We purchased new lab equipment.
landmarks
Capitalize the main words in the official names of campus landmarks.
LGBTQIA+
The acronym stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual.
library
See Beeghly Library.
majors and minors
Do not capitalize names of schools, college studies, fields of study, options, curricula, major areas, minors, major subjects, or programs unless a specific course is being referred to or if using names of countries, nationalities, historical periods, and languages.
See academic courses.
Midwest, Midwestern
Uppercase references to the Midwest of the United States.
months
Follow the style most appropriate for your audience. Chicago style spells out months in all uses. AP style calls for abbreviating longer months when used with exact dates. AP abbreviations are: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. AP never abbreviates March, April, May, June, or July.
See dates.
multicultural
One word.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
Use National Collegiate Athletic Association on first reference (or second reference, if using the full name in the lead sentence is too cumbersome) and NCAA on subsequent references. NCAA is preferred in headlines.
Native American
“American Indian” is also acceptable. Always capitalize both words. (Ask about preference, when possible.)
noncredit
One word.
nondegree
One word (unless “non” modifies a hyphenated phrase).
nonprofit
One word.
nonsexist language
Avoid words and usage that reinforce sexist stereotypes. Do not use “he” as an all-inclusive pronoun. “He or she” can be used, but the following solutions are preferable:
nontraditional
One word.
North Coast Athletic Conference
Use North Coast Athletic Conference on first (or second) reference and NCAC on subsequent references. Ohio Wesleyan is a charter member of the North Coast Athletic Conference, which began competition in the 1984-85 academic year. NCAC is preferred in headlines.
numbers
Spell out numbers one through nine, except in ages, sports scores, and percentages. Use numerals for 10 or more and for fractions; spell out numbers that begin a sentence or rewrite the sentence.
Spell out numbers 10 and above in special cases involving formal invitations and in sequences such as “one through ten.”
In running text, when referring to dollar amounts in millions, use the numeral and million, rather than zeros.
See addresses, ordinals, percent, and phone numbers.
off campus
Two words, but hyphenate as an adjective before a noun. Always lowercase.
Ohio Wesleyan University
After the first full reference to Ohio Wesleyan University, the following references are acceptable:
Do not use “Wesleyan” on its own and do not use “OWU” as a noun to refer to Ohio Wesleyan University in formal documents. OWU is acceptable as an adjective and in headlines. For informal, internal uses OWU may be used as a noun.
on campus
Two words, but hyphenate as an adjective before a noun.
online
One word.
ordinals
Write out first through ninth. Use numerals for 10th and higher (11th, 22nd, 53rd).
OWU ALERT
OWU ALERT is an emergency notification system used to notify the campus about emergency situations as well as severe weather conditions/closings. All students and employees are enrolled automatically with their OWU email addresses and their cell phones of record with the university. The system supports telephone, email, and text messages, and students and employees are able to add other contacts, such as parents and spouses. For additional enrollment information, visit the myOWU portal.
OWU Campus Store
Ohio Wesleyan's bookstore is located on the lower level of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center. Since summer 2022, the store has been operated by Barnes & Noble College. OWU also is part of BNC's First Day Complete program, which gets students their books and e-books in time for the first day of classes each semester.
OWU Connection
The OWU Connection is Ohio Wesleyan's unique approach to liberal arts in the 21st century. It helps students to think big (understand issues from multiple academic disciplines), go global (gain international perspective), do good (volunteer to help others), and get real (translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience). In 2022, Ohio Wesleyan's faculty approved fully incorporating the OWU Connection into the university's curriculum.
percent
Use % when paired with numerals, no space. Spell out percent (and the numbers) when starting a sentence.
phone numbers
Use parentheses around the area code and hyphens between the three- and four-digit numbers.
podcast
One word, lowercase p.
postdoctoral
One word.
predoctoral
One word.
president
Ohio Wesleyan University’s 16th president is Rock Jones, Ph.D. Per his preference, use Rock (vs. Rockwell) for his first name, even on first reference. Capitalize president when used as a title before a name, lowercase afterward.
professorships
Capitalize the titles of professorships whether used alone or after an individual’s name.
pronouns
Borrowing language from the American Psychological Association, Ohio Wesleyan "supports the choice of communities to determine their own descriptors. Thus, when transgender and gender nonconforming people ... use the singular they as their pronoun, writers should likewise use the singular they when writing about them."
Public Safety
The department is located in Welch Hall. Uppercase in all references to the department.
quotation marks
In regular text, commas and periods always go inside the end quotation mark. Colons and semicolons always go outside the end quotation mark. Exclamation marks and question marks can go inside or outside the quotation mark depending on usage; place inside if it applies to the quoted matter, outside if it applies to the whole sentence.
Rankings
Do not use a hyphen when referring to a “top 10” or “top 25” program. The word “top” is not capitalized in this usage unless it is part of a proper name.
Red and Black
Uppercase when referring to the Battling Bishops. Lowercase when referring to the colors.
Rexford Keller Memorial Concert Organ
Located in University Hall’s Gray Chapel, the organ is the largest of six Klais organs in the country. It is a four manual tracker action organ with 82 ranks, 55 stops, and 4,644 pipes.
résumé
Use accent marks if possible. Always lowercase.
room numbers
Capitalize room when used with a number, letter, or proper name.
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)
SAT is acceptable on first reference. Do not use periods. Avoid the redundant “SAT test.”
semester
Ohio Wesleyan’s academic year consists of two semesters – fall and spring – with each semester traditionally lasting 16 weeks. The university also offers a five- and 10-week summer session classes. Always lowercase.
Small Grant Program
Part of the OWU Connection, these university-funded grants typically provide up to $750 in funding to support academic, research, internship, and service experiences on a smaller scale than Theory-to-Practice Grants.
Small Living Units (SLUs)
Capitalize the first letter of each word. SLUs (note the lack of an apostrophe) are themed houses serving as residences for small groups of students. There are eight SLUs:
SLUplex
These donor-funded duplex-style dwellings each house two Small Living Units of 12 students each. Ohio Wesleyan's first SLUplex opened in fall 2016. Three of the current SLUplexes are named:
spring, spring semester
Lowercase references to seasons and academic periods.
states
Spell them out in all instances except mailing addresses.
student-athlete
The term is hyphenated.
summer, summer session
Lowercase references to seasons and academic periods. Don’t capitalize “session.”
Theory to Practice / Theory-to-Practice
Hyphenate and capitalize “Theory-to-Practice” when used as the formal name of OWU’s Theory-to-Practice Grant Program. The program is part of the OWU Connection and allows students, faculty, and staff to apply for competitive university-funded grants to support academic, research, internship, and service experiences. (Do not use “TiPiT,” an outdated acronym that stands for Theory into Practice into Theory.) The phrase "theory to practice" is lowercase when not part of a proper name and hyphenated based on usage.
time
Use numerals in all cases and omit the zeros for on-the-hour times. Use periods and lowercase letters for a.m. and p.m. To avoid confusion, use noon and midnight instead of 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.
For consistency, most newspapers report event information by time, date, and place – in that order. Do not use a comma between the time and date.
titles
Capitalize titles when they immediately precede a personal name. Titles following a personal name or used alone in place of a name are lowercase. Capitalize titles used in lists if they appear line for line as in an address.
See composition titles.
top 10
No hyphen is used in either the compound noun or adjective.
travel-learning / Travel-Learning
Hyphenate when used as an adjective. Capitalize and hyphenate when referring to Travel-Learning Courses, part of the OWU Connection. Travel-Learning Courses feature a semester in the classroom followed by a short faculty-led trip to help students connect academic instruction with first-hand experiential learning.
underway
The Associated Press now uses this as one word in all instances.
United States, U.S.
Use United States (or United States of America) as the proper noun; use U.S. as the adjective.
university
Lowercase “university” when it stands alone in reference to Ohio Wesleyan.
See Ohio Wesleyan University.
university-wide
Lowercase, hyphenated.
versus
Spell out in regular usage, but vs. may be used in short, common expressions. Use v. for court cases.
Webpage, website, webstream
Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship, The
Note the lack of a serial comma and the use of "The." The mission of the center, founded in 1985, is to "enhance academic programs and provide real-world opportunities to create future generations of business and world leaders." The Woltemade Center is named in honor of the late Uwe J. Woltemade, Ph.D., an OWU economics faculty member from 1965 to 1995.
World Wide Web
Three words, no hyphens, always all initial caps. On second reference, use the “web” or “internet,” both lowercase.
See internet.
year
Use numerals and an apostrophe when abbreviating to indicate class year. Use the full year when needed to ensure clarity, such as 1904 vs. 2004. When the graduating year follows a person’s name, the year does not need to be set off by commas.
Decades may be referred to in any of the following ways. (Note: no apostrophe is needed for 1990s, 1980s, etc.)
year in school
Do not capitalize the words “freshman,” “sophomore,” “junior,” “senior” when they refer to the year in which a course is to be taken or to the classification of the student. Also, note that first-year student is preferable to freshman.
ZIP code
Do not use a comma between the state and ZIP code in addresses.