- Do not capitalize words to make them seem important. Important words and phrases carry their own weight.
- Use lower case for civil and professional titles unless they immediately precede the name.
- SAU’s vice president for student affairs is Dr. Donna Allen.
- Dr. David Rankin, Southern Arkansas University System president, will be in attendance.
- Southern Arkansas University President Dr. David Rankin.
- Exceptions: A title may be capitalized when it appears on the line following the name when using tabbed listings.
- David Crouse
Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs
- David Crouse
- Capitalize academic degrees in the following manner:
- Ph.D., B.S.N., M.S.N.
(always use periods between the initials for degrees
and exclude spaces after the periods) - doctoral degree, master’s degree, bachelor’s degree,
associate’s degree - She earned a bachelor of arts degree in journalism.
(The word “degree” should not follow a degree abbreviation,
example: He has a B.A. in history.) - B.S.N. and M.S.N. always come before nursing
credentials such as RN, RNC. No periods used on
nursing credentials.
- Ph.D., B.S.N., M.S.N.
- Capitalize an academic subject only when it is the name of a language or is followed by a course number.
- He majored in engineering technology with a minor in Spanish.
- Dr. Linda Selman teaches technical writing.
- Dr. Linda Selman teaches Technical Writing 3102.
- Capitalize the word “university” when referring specifically to Southern Arkansas University.
- He is a graduate of the University.
- Capitalize the formal names of SAU’s schools, departments, divisions, offices and organizations. Lower case all subsequent references when the formal name is not used in its entirety.
- The Brinson Fine Arts Building has beautiful exhibits.
- The school is growing at an alarming rate.
- Bronwyn Sneed is the director of the Office of Financial Aid.
- Bronwyn Sneed is the director of financial aid.
- In titles of works (such as novels, essays, and professional papers), capitalize the first words, the last words and all the principal words, including those that follow hyphens in compound terms. As a general rule, capitalize all words of four or more letters that fall in the middle of a title.
- “Focusing on International Entrepreneurship: A New Contribution of Business Education for a Changing Economy”
- “The Teaching of Spanish in English-Speaking Countries”
- Lower case seasons.
- More than 1,250 students have registered for the spring semester.
- Lower case when indicating a direction; capitalize when referring to a region of the country.
- Southern Arkansas University is located in the southwest part of Arkansas.
He is from the Deep South.
- Southern Arkansas University is located in the southwest part of Arkansas.
