Capitalization, names, and titles
WSU Editorial Style Guide
Referring to the University
- When describing the university, use Washington State University as the first reference in the text. Subsequent references should be the university, WSU, Washington State.
- When describing a WSU campus, use the full name on first reference: Washington State University Tri-Cities.
- Subsequent references should be WSU plus campus. Note that there is no hyphen between WSU and the campus name.
- WSU Tri-Cities, WSU Health Sciences Spokane, WSU Global Campus, WSU Vancouver, WSU Pullman, WSU Everett
Unit names
Capitalize the first reference and lowercase the second if not using the proper noun.
- College of Veterinary Medicine; the college
- Department of Biology; the department, the biology department
- Holland Library; the library
- Bohler Gym; the gym
For named colleges and units, the following short forms are accepted: Murrow College, Carson College, Voiland College
- Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine (not a school of medicine or medical school)
- WSU Athletics (not Cougar Athletics)
- Paul G. Allen School for Global Health (“for” rather than “of”)
Titles
Use lowercase except when preceding a name or when used in a mailing address.
- WSU System President Kirk Schulz; Kirk Schulz, system president of Washington State University; the system president
- Note: Use “WSU system president” in most cases, unless the context clearly indicates that it refers to the president of the WSU system and not just a specific campus.
- Dean Mary Koithan; Mary Koithan, dean of the College of Nursing; the dean
- Assistant Professor John Dahl; John Dahl, assistant professor of molecular biosciences; the assistant professor
Capitalize for endowed chairs and professors
- Regents Professor Jill McCluskey, the Regents Professor
- The Taco Bell Distinguished Professor
Do not use “Dr.” to precede the name of a faculty member with a doctoral degree.
Academic year and class standings
Lowercase all references.
- fall semester, spring semester, summer session, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior
Academic degrees
Lowercase when spelled out.
- baccalaureate degree, bachelor’s degree, bachelor of arts; master’s degree, master of science; doctoral degree, doctorate, doctor of philosophy, etc.
- Note the plural forms: bachelor’s degrees; master’s degrees; doctoral degrees.
Abbreviations should be avoided. It is better to spell out the degree, as above, except if following a name in a signature (President Kirk Schulz, PhD).
- If a degree is abbreviated, the proper forms without periods are:
- BA, BS, MA, MS, PhD, DEd, MD, MBA, DVM, etc.
- Plural forms: BAs, BSs, MAs, MSs, PhDs, DEds
Majors, minors, concentrations, and programs
Names are lowercase, unless it contains a proper noun or begins a sentence.
- veterinary medicine (“Veterinary medicine is a popular program. I took veterinary medicine classes.”)
- Asian studies (“My second degree is in Asian studies.”)
- education (“Her major is education.”)
- fermentation studies (“I took a class in fermentation studies.”)
“Email” and “fax” in text: In listings, lowercase when the word follows the number; uppercase it when it precedes the address or number.
- Email: jonesm@wsu.edu; send email to jonesm@wsu.edu
- Fax: 509-335-8568; 509-335-8568 is the fax number
Website addresses
Unless it’s necessary, the “http://” or “https://” should be left off a URL/website address in text.
Typically, “www.” can be left off the address as well.
- wsu.edu
- medicine.wsu.edu
- seattletimes.com
State names
Capitalize “state” if it follows the name, but lowercase if it precedes the name. It’s best to avoid use of “state” if possible.
- Idaho State; the state of Idaho
- EXCEPTION: To avoid confusion with WSU, use Washington state
Compass directions and regions
Lowercase compass directions when they are not part of a proper name.
Capitalize in reference to a proper name or region.
- north, south, east, and west, northern, southern, eastern, western
- The Pacific Northwest, but northwestern. The West Coast, but western Washington.