Style Book
The Style Guide for The City University of New York is intended to provide consistency in the presentation of material on a growing number of informational platforms. Consistency aids clarity and established style preferences save time for all who are preparing material. read more >>
Punctuation, capitalization and, at times, even grammar and spelling, are matters of editorial preference rather than rules. The University Style Guide can help establish consistency in content.
Our University style guide draws upon a diversity of CUNY college stylebooks, The Chicago Manual of Style, the Associated Press stylebook and Merriam Webster’s Unabridged and College edition dictionaries. For matters not covered here, those are sources that can be the authorities.
A great number of entries here are specific to the University and its colleges and schools, while others establish our style preferences for commonly used words, or are simple reminders about words often misspelled or misused. The style preferences, of course, are for communication in general and not intended to be used in academic papers.
The style guide has an alphabetical structure for entries, which can also be located through the search box.
A
academic awards
Capitalize all words that are part of the official title except conjunctions and prepositions of three letters or less, unless it's the first word of an official name (e.g., He is winner of The 2008 Women's Forum Scholarship, but she won a mathematics scholarship from the Women's Forum in 2006).
academic degrees
B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S. and Ph.D. are expressed with periods. With most other degrees, don't use periods, e.g., MFA, MBA. [Note: This style for academic-degree abbreviations is chosen to ensure that information distributed by the University, or sought out by others, is in forms most often used.]
academic departments
Capitalize formal references to a department: Baruch College Department of Natural Sciences, but lower case general references; the natural sciences department at Baruch. Lower case all except proper nouns/adjectives (history department, English department).
academic journals
Regular type — no parentheses or italicized fonts for the names of journals.
academic majors
Most often cited in lower case, e.g., history major, with the exception of words spelled with a capital, E.g. English major.
academic titles
For individuals, capitalize the first letter of each of the words in a title preceding the first reference (excluding prepositions under 4 letters). On subsequent references, first letters of a shortened title appearing before the name will be capitalized. Stand-alone references, e.g., will be all lower case. The Chancellor, when referring to the chancellor of CUNY, is an exception.
acronyms and abbreviations
In general, with the exception of CUNY, the first reference to an organization, institution, initiative, etc. (even those within The City University of New York) should be the full name. Thereafter, the abbreviation/acronym alone generally is sufficient.
At CUNY, pronounceable abbreviations (acronyms) do not use periods, as well as — in a difference from AP style — many unpronounceable abbreviations.
If there are numerous different abbreviations in a long story, each first reference should be followed by its common abbreviation/acronym in parentheses; in long, complex pieces, readers usually welcome a reminder occasionally of the organization's partial name or purpose, if it isn't widely known.
A.D. and B.C.
are used and placed after the year, e.g., 53 B.C., but at times there will be material from other sources that uses C.E. (common era) and B.C.E. (before common era). More institutions, especially academic ones, are using C.E. and B.C.E.
addresses
When a street number is part of the address, an abbreviation is used for street, avenue, and boulevard: 310 Park Ave.; without a specific number, the full word is used: on Park Avenue. We use First through Ninth for streets and avenues and figures above: 11th Avenue, 205 11th Ave.; First Avenue and 43rd Street; with a full address, East and West are abbreviated: 219 W. 41st St., but without the street or avenue number, don't use the abbreviation: West 41st Street.
administrative titles
Preceding a name title words will have upper case initial letters, except articles and conjunctions of fewer than four letters. When following a name, or used without a name, the title will be in lower case, e.g., the vice chancellor for student affairs. Often a long title may be best suited in lower case following a name than with too many capitalized words preceding the name.
adviser
has the same meaning as advisor and is preferred.
affect, effect
Affect as a verb means to influence: Will a warming earth affect storm patterns? Effect as a verb means to cause. The new administration will effect changes in the system. As a noun, effect is a result. The effect was stunning. Affect as a noun is used much less often, but has a distinct meaning in the study of psychology.
African-American
with the hyphen as noun or modifier. A hyphen is used with dual heritage, e.g., Mexican-American, Japanese-American.
age
Use numerals for age in all uses: The child was 3 years old; the 3-year-old girl.
alumna
female, singular.
alumnae
female, plural.
alumni
male plural, and mixed male and female plural.
alumnus
male, singular.
a.m./p.m.
Lower case, with periods for a.m. and p.m.; a space between number and letters, no space between the letters, e.g., 4 a.m.
amid
not amidst.
ampersand
Do not substitute an ampersand for the word ÒandÓ in text. Use it when provided as part of the formal title of a unit (company, firm, institution, e.g., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) or event, lecture, etc.
annual
There is no first annual. There must be at least two, in consecutive years, to be annual.
apostrophe
With singular formal names ending in s, e.g., Jones, we now use AP style: only an apostrophe, not Chicago style with the apostrophe and an s. So, it's John Jones' bicycle and no longer John Jones's bicycle.
Asian-American
with the hyphen as noun or modifier.
associate professor
Both associate professor and professor and used in the lower case.
association
is not abbreviated as part of a formal name; on subsequent reference in text the organization can be referred to as the association, with a lower case a.
avenues and streets
First through Ninth for Avenues and Streets, figures beginning with 10th.
B
B.C.E. and C.E.
The abbreviations for "before common era" and "common era" may appear in cited or quoted material, but are not used in place of B.C. and A.D. in dates.
bachelor's degree
B.A., bachelor's
backward
not backwards.
beside, besides
Beside: at the side of; besides: in addition to.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The formal name uses an ampersand.
bimonthly
is every other month; semimonthly is twice a month.
Board of Trustees of The City University of New York
On subsequent reference, CUNY Board of Trustees, Board of Trustees, or the Board. See current list at: http://www.cuny.edu/about/trustees/board.html
Borough of Manhattan Community College
The initials BMCC may be used in subsequent references, but a general reference — the college — often works as well.
C
C.E.
for common era
campuswide
But University-wide, which is one of the "-wide" modifiers that we choose to keep the hyphen.
captions
Some guidelines: Middle initials in names are unnecessary in captions, as well as punctuation if a full sentence has not been formed. Sentence fragments are acceptable in captions.
Note: A simple reminder to double-check with the appropriate party that caption names correspond correctly to people in a photo.centuries
Spell out the first through ninth; use numbers above ninth, 10th century. Do not use the superscript th, e.g., 10th. In Word.doc, to eliminate in superscript call up Tools, select autocorrect, select autoformat as you type, remove the check in box for: Ordinals 1st (with superscript).
CEO
for chief executive officer is suitable on first reference, but other corporate or organizational positions, e.g., chief financial officer and chief operating officer, should be spelled out, with the subsequent use of initials, CFO, COO.
Chairperson, Vice Chairperson
The titles of the two top appointed positions to the Board of Trustees are designated by state law as Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. All University material follows this format when the titles appear before the names. After the names or standing alone in other instances the titles will be in lower case. For consistency, they should be used for heads of any CUNY committees, groups, etc., that are so designated. For non-CUNY organizations, use whatever designations those groups officially apply to the positions.
Chancellor
Capitalized when appearing before the name, and when standing alone if referring to the Chancellor of The City University of New York.
chief financial officer, CFO
The title is always spelled out on first reference, with capital letters before a name.
chief operating officer, COO
The Chief Operating Officer is always spelled out on first reference, with u&l letters before a name.
child care
Without a hyphen both as a noun and a modifier.
city
Lower case when standing alone, including as a reference to New York City
City Council
With initial capital letters refers to the New York City Council.
City University School of Law at Queens College
City University Law School, CUNY School of Law, CUNY Law School
citywide, statewide
-wide in most uses now is without the hyphen, e.g., campuswide, systemwide, universitywide. However, we still avoid what appear to be clunky uses, often with proper nouns, e.g, CUNYwide, Universitywide, Lehmanwide, etc.; use the hyphen, CUNY-wide, etc.
class year
From any college, John Smith '98; when following immediately after the name, the year refers to an undergraduate degree. It does not require the full, four-digit year, but two digits need to be preceded by an apostrophe, not a single opening quote. For a master's degree earned from a college, John Smith, M.A., '98. It must be clear what school or college the graduate is from, either in text preceding the name, or following the name, such as John Doe, Hunter College, B.A., '98.
Co. and Inc.
The abbreviations are used in company names in the first reference and are NOT preceded by a comma: XYZ Inc. not XYZ, Inc.
College of Staten Island
Subsequent references, CSI.
comma
We do not use the serial (or Oxford) comma before the last in a series of items. We follow AP style, using the comma only when it is necessary to avoid confusion or misinterpretation (see punctuation).
Commencement and Convocation
Both enjoy an upper case initial C when referring to the specific event of a specific institution, e.g., Lehman College has scheduled its 2012 Commencement for XXXX.
committee names
Use capitals for first letters of each word (exemptions are always prepositions and articles of 3 letters or less).
Committee on Faculty, Staff and Administration
Or CFSA, is one of six standing committees of the Board of Trustees.
Community Colleges
offering associate degrees:
- Borough of Manhattan Community College
- Bronx Community College
- Hostos Community College
- Kingsborough Community College
- LaGuardia Community College
- New Community College
- Queensborough Community College
company names
No comma before the Co. or Inc. of a company name, and for companies that use both Co. and Inc., use the first and drop the second. XYZ Company, Inc. becomes XYZ Co.
composition titles
Book titles are in italics in most print publications; Most other compositions, movies, plays, poems, speeches, lectures, songs, albums, works of art, titles of panel discussions, etc., are enclosed in quotation marks; Some works listed by AP stand alone without quotation marks. For example, the Bible and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material. In addition to catalogs, this category includes almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks and similar publications.
Academic and scientific journals also stand alone without quotation marks.
In headlines: Book titles and other composition titles are enclosed in single, not double, quotation marks.
compound modifiers
Hyphenate most compound modifiers. Exceptions: compound modifiers formed with "ly" adverbs: easily opened packages; many well-established modifiers do not need a hyphen: high school team, child care center, day care center.
comprise
Used in the transitive: The center comprises six separate work places É NOT The center is comprised of ÉOften these are easier choices: The Center consists of É The Center is composed of ... The Center includes É even though such uses are not as definitive. For instance, the Center comprises six É means that's it for work places, no more, no less. But the Center "includes" may mean all that follows and no more, or all that follows and other unlisted items.
convince, persuade
You are convinced of something, persuaded to do something and you convince another to believe and persuade another to do.
Convocation
(See Commencement and Convocation).
co-op vs. coop
Hyphenate the human organizations/apartment buildings to differentiate them from the barnyard accommodations.
courtesy titles
Do not use Mr., Mrs., or Ms. Use a person's full name on first reference and surname on subsequent references. For promotional material, advertisements, brochures, flyers, invitations, etc., such titles can be used when needed.
CUNY
Both CUNY and the University are subsequent references for The City University of New York, but CUNY can often be used as a first reference.
CUNY Baccalaureate
CUNY Baccalaureate degree
CUNYfirst
Neither CUNY first nor CUNYFirst
CUNY Graduate School and University Center
Cuny Graduate Center, the Graduate Center
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
CUNY School of Journalism, CUNY Journalism School
CUNY School of Law
CUNY Law School
CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College
CUNY School of Public Health
D
dashes
With dashes in text, use a space before and a space after the dash. (To create a dash on a Mac keyboard, simultaneously press option-shift-hyphen).
data
Almost always a plural noun (the data were gathered) but on occasion, as a collective noun it can be singular. An AP example: The data is sound. Information expressed as a unit.
dates
Months standing alone are spelled out: January, February, etc., October 2009, December 1943. With a specific date, the abbreviations Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. are used, while March, April, May, June and July are not abbreviated: Jan. 2, Oct. 10, etc., and with a specific date and year: Jan. 3, 2014, March 5, 1968, etc.; January; Feb. 3; April 3, 2014, In text, a comma follows the year in a full date, unless it is ends the sentence.
day care
is used without a hyphen both as a noun and compound modifier.
Decade of Science
The title has no quotation marks
decades
No apostrophe: 1930s, and '30s is preceded by an apostrophe.
departments
Capitalize the formal name of a specific department: the Department of Psychology is moving its offices but lower case department names in informal uses: A psychology department professor before tuning to mathematics É Lowercase everything except proper nouns/adjectives (e.g., the history department, the English department) or when the department is part of the formal name and cited in the complete form (e.g., Baruch College Department of Natural Sciences, but the department of natural sciences at Baruch).
died
is preferred to such wording as passed away; quoted material is the exception.
Distinguished Professor
is capitalized either before or after a name when it refers to the special CUNY University post.
doctor, Dr.
The professional title or abbreviation Dr. is commonly used before the name of a medical doctor or dentist. Many style guides, including the AP's, had long suggested that it be used only for those in the medical professions. That position has softened and its use before those holding a doctorate has become acceptable as long as it is evident what the degree relates to, e.g., historian, sociologist, etc.
It is not our preference to use Dr. before the names of any and all holders of doctorate degrees, but it does not need to be removed, for instance, in formal CUNY invitations, in congratulatory advertisements, etc. And, at times, there may be a strong preference for its use in text. In such a case, it should be used in the first reference, reverting to the last name thereafter.
doctorate
or Ph.D. can be used.
E
e.g.
Means, for example, while i.e., means that is; both are preceded and followed by commas.
ellipsis
The use of ellipses to denote that some of the quoted material at that place has been deleted is allowed; extreme care must be taken to avoid any possibility that the meaning of the quote or its tone could then be interpreted in a different way. Ellipses appear with a space after the last character of text and a space before the next character of text that appears.
emerita
female, singular.
emeritae
female, plural.
emeriti
male or mixed male and female, plural.
emeritus
male, singular.
emigrate, immigrate
You emigrate from a country and the word is used when the concentration is on that country; when the focus is on the new country, immigrate is used.
ensure, insure
Ensure means to make sure of while insure is guaranteeing against loss, as you do with an insurance policy.
entitled and titled
Are not interchangeable. He was entitled to the promotion. The book was titled Gone With the Wind. Often simply the title of the work will suffice, especially when it is a book title in italics or enclosed in quotation marks.
envision/envisage
A lesson from Chancellor Goldstein, who always correctly employs this universally misused pair. The rule: people can correctly envision themselves or someone else doing something (She/He envisions a career as a professor, and I envision the same for myself). For all other situations, use envisage (I/We/They envisage a new system of education for the city).
et al.
At the end of a list of names when more than one person has been omitted, preceded by a comma.
etc.
Preceded by a comma and used at the end of a list when two or more items have been omitted.
F
faculty
The word will be treated as a plural noun in references to the University, without adding the word "members" to follow. There may be occasions when the collective sense is so distinct that a singular verb may seem more appropriate. In that case, be flexible.
fall
Seasons are not capitalized except as part of formal titles and specific CUNY semester designations: Spring 2012
farther, further
Farther for physical distance and further for an extension of time or degree.
fewer, less
Fewer is used with specific items or people that can be counted (There were fewer than 20 applicants for the job) while less is used with bulk (A&P sold less flour last year).
film titles
Enclose in quotation marks.
first name, last name
Use first names in subsequent references for children through age 17, last names for adults age 18 and above. If more than one child has the same first name, or more than one adult has the same last name, use their full names. If that doesn't clarify who's who, add some other distinguishing bit of information (Girl Scout Chris Jones, football quarterback Chris Jones).
first-year student
Preferred by some to freshman when referring to a specific individual, but freshmen and freshman continued to be used as a class designation.
follow-up, follow up
Noun and adjective; follow up as verb form
forgo, forego
To do without: forgo. To go before: forego.
forward
Not forwards
Founding Dean, Founding President
Both Founding uses are capitalized when referring to CUNY titles.
fractions
Spell out amounts under one in text: four-fifths, seven-eighths, using hyphens between words.
full time, part time; full-time, part-time, full-timer, part-timer;
Hyphenated when used as a compound modifier, a full-time job, a part-time job. No hyphen when not: She worked full time.
further/farther
See father, further
G
GED
General Education Development tests, the equivalency of a high school diploma, used as a modifier, GED diploma or GED certificate.
grade point average
GPA, no periods
Graduate School and University Center
A single entity taking a singular verb. In events listings it can be shortened to the Graduate Center.
graphics/art/design
The text style we have is a foundation for graphics arts, but greater flexibility in its application is needed to meet the demands of other formats. Guidelines that strengthen and speed the communication of information in an article, for instance, don't necessarily serve the same goal, if applied to the editorial content of an advertisement, a brochure, a flyer, chart or graph, or even a picture caption or text blurb for a video.
What remains necessary for clarity and understanding is consistency, not only within any single element, but also for multiple elements that are related or connected, for instance, within an advertising campaign. The Associated Press Stylebook, and our City University of New York Style Guide, provide quick answers to common questions about the University's preferences.
Here are just a few examples of how art and graphics work may adapt:
- Addresses - Because of the demands of space or for visual effect, graphics/art may choose to use abbreviations when the style guidelines call for a word to be spelled out, or the opposite: Ave. Blvd., or Jan., Feb., etc., are often called for but the full names can be a better choice in some graphics.
- dates - In text, days of the week are never abbreviated, but Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat. and Sun. can be used, not only in charts and graphs where space rules, but in other presentations as well.
- headlines - Design choices may deviate from our basic style, e.g., all lower case words can be used.
- numbers - Any of the numbers spelled out in text, one though nine, can be used as numerals in graphic/visual presentations; percent can be expressed as %.Telephone numbers carry hyphens, 212-356-1234, but advertisements, invitations, etc., often choose periods instead; 212.356.1234
- time - With time elements such as a.m. and p.m., AM, PM; A.M., P.M. or am, pm may be used instead, but, as always, there should be consistency. In formal invitations, o'clock is often used with the hour instead of a.m. or p.m.
- state abbreviations - Two-letter postal codes can be used in most cases.
- titles - Courtesy titles, Mr., Ms. and occasionally Mrs., can be used in many promotional items, as well as Dr. for a doctorate. NYS or NYC are also often used in promotional material as modifiers before Assembly Member or Council Member.
gray
not grey.
Great Recession
The recession that began in December 2007 and officially ended in June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Guaranteed Student Loan Program
is now the Stafford Loan Program.
H
handheld
One word both as an adjective and a noun.
headlines
Generally capitalize the first letter of each word except articles, prepositions and conjunctions of less than four letters — a, an, and, of, the, to — and also cap the first letter in those words when they begin a line (as a rule, they shouldn't end a line).
- Decks/dropheads - are treated like sentences, whether they have a verb or not; capitalize the first word and proper names. But don't put a period at the end unless more than one sentence is used.
health care
Two words except in formal names, such as our own program at York College.
Healthcare Management Certificate
The formal title for a certificate offered from York College, but the words health care in other general uses appear as two words as a noun or a modifier.
Hispanic/Latino
One who is, or whose ancestors were, from a Spanish-speaking country. The usage choice depends upon a person's or people's preference.
historic
It's "a" historic event. Use the article "a" before consonant sounds that exist in common American usage - e.g., a house, a hospital, a history book. Use the article "an" before American vowel sounds e.g., an hour, an heir. A few words, notably herb, swing both ways.
historic or historical
Historic is something of significance in history, while historical is something in history.
I
i.e.
for that is, e.g. for example; both are followed by a comma in common text. .
ID
Without periods for abbreviation of identification.
Incorporated/Inc.
As part of a company name, it is abbreviated and appears without a comma before it: XYZ Inc. Not XYZ Incorporated or XYZ, Inc. It does not matter if the company uses a comma before the Inc. or not. We do not. Exceptions: In promotional materials, advertisements, invitations, etc., names are spelled as the party chooses.
initials
Middle initials in individuals' names are used, if provided, but they are not required.
in order to vs. to
In order to is a common redundancy; the word "to" should suffice in most cases.
international students
Not foreign students
Internet
Upper case initial letter.
intranet
Lower case initial letter.
IT
Information Technology
italics
Use sparingly, but when it seems necessary use italics, not capitals, to emphasize a word in text. (Book titles appear in italics).
its, it's
Its is the possessive (Its lack of color was disturbing) and it's is the contraction of it and is (It's time to go).
J
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
John Jay College, John Jay in subsequent references.
journals
Academic and scientific journals stand alone without the quotation marks that are used with a number of other compositions.
junior/Jr.
Abbreviate with a name; no comma before Jr. or Sr. in a name: John Smith Jr.
K
L
languages
The names of languages and dialects are capitalized.
Latino/Hispanic
One who is, or whose ancestors were, from a Spanish-speaking country. The usage choice depends upon the person's or people's preference. Latina is the feminine form of Latino.
lectures
Use quotation marks around the titles of lectures or talks at events.
less, fewer
Fewer for individual items, less for bulk or quantity: Fewer than 10 applicants came to the office.
long-standing
Webster's, Merriam Webster's and the AP stylebook all prefer the hyphenated adjective to single word.
Lower East Side
(Manhattan)
M
M.A.
Master of Arts
M.D.
A medical doctor
Macaulay Honors College
On subsequent reference, the Honors College
magazine and newspaper titles
Not enclosed in quotations marks.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
The holiday
master's degree
Or master's.
mayor
Capitalize before a name; cite full name in first reference, e.g., Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; and title and surname in subsequent references, Mayor Bloomberg.
MBA
Master of Business Administration
MFA
Master of Fine Arts
midnight
Not 12 p.m. or 12 midnight
Midtown Manhattan
Also Midtown with capital when it's clear it refers to Midtown Manhattan.
Muslims
For adherents of Islam.
N
names
Use the full name of an individual on first reference, last name on subsequent references; for children through the age 17, first names on subsequent reference. If more than one child or more than one adult have the same name, full names will be used.
National Institutes of Health
Plural Institutes; within the agency there are singular institutes, e.g., National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Newsday
The newspaper.
newspapers
Use a capitalized The for newspapers that include it as part of a preferred name, e.g., The New York Times, The Daily News, The New York Post.
New York, N.Y., NY
See state names section for proper use of abbreviations.
New York City College of Technology
City Tech, not NYCCT in subsequent references.
New York City Council
New York City Council Member, New York City Councilman, Councilwoman; upper case before a name, lower case standing alone. In advertising or promotional material for space reasons, City Councilor or NYC Councilor can be used.
New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly Member
New York State Board of Regents
On subsequent reference, State Board of Regents, Board of Regents, the Board.
noon
Not 12 a.m. or 12 noon.
numbers
In text, generally spell out zero through nine and use figures thereafter. Exceptions are money ($1, $9), fractions (3/12), percent (2 percent), ages (he was 5 years old, the 5-year-old) organization names that break style (Twentieth Century Fund) and quoted material ("It's 100 times fasterÉ" don't change it to "a hundred times." Numbers in charts and other graphics typically are written as figures. Use a comma in numbers more than three digits, e.g., 1,240.
New Community College
New Community College, NCC
O
OK
Not Okay
onetime, one-time
Onetime is the former; one-time is once.
organizations
Use capitals in the full names of institutions and organizations.
P
percent
In text, always use the word, not the % symbol. And always use figures (2 percent, 9.5 percent); for amounts less than 1 percent, start with a zero (0.6 percent)
Presidents and Deans
Current listing on the Web: http://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/presidents.html
professor, associate professor
Use it in the lower case before a name and don't abbreviate. Don't continue using the word or words in subsequent references, unless part of a quote. Thus: John Jones, a Brooklyn College history professor, participated in the panel discussion with professor Jane Doe and associate professor Neil Redfeld. Jones, Doe and Redfeld also answered questions from the audience.
pronunciation
It is occasionally useful to include a pronunciation guide to help readers with uncommon names, especially when the name is used more than once in a feature article, for instance. For instance, Vincent Xue (pronounced "sue") and Lei Xie (lay she-ah). In such cases, it's best to ask the person how the name is pronounced.
Public Safety
Replaces Campus Security
punctuation
The University follows standard punctuation guidelines. Some reminders and preferences follow:
- apostrophe - Singular proper names ending with "s" take only an apostrophe, not an apostrophe s, for the possessive, e.g., Sam Jones' home.
- colons - Capitalize the first letter of the first word of a full sentence after a colon; lower case the first word of a fragment.
- comma - Do not use the serial comma before the conjunction in a list of items, e.g., The day was cold, windy and wet. But a comma is used if there is a possibility of a misunderstanding of meaning.
- dash - CUNY style requires a space before — and after — a dash. Some word programs do not insert a dash, which must then be done separately.
- period - One space, not two, between the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next.
- quotation marks - In headlines, single quotation marks are used to enclose material that would have standard double quotes in text, e.g., composition titles.
Q
Queens College
Part of our University, but Queen's College belongs to Oxford and Queens' College is part of Cambridge.
R
Regent
A member of the New York State Board of Regents
Research Foundation of CUNY
A private, not-for-profit, educational corporation engaged in post-award administration of private and government-sponsored programs at CUNY. The RF is governed by its own Board of Directors.
Room
When it is used in text to identify the place spell it out and use an upper case R in Room, e.g., Room 104.
S
said or says
The nature of the material dictates the choice. The best guideline: There should be consistency within an article, avoiding the back and forth of past and present. A news item or announcement will most often use "said" for attribution, while a feature story in a CUNY magazine such as Salute to Scholars, may be better served by present-tense attribution. At CUNY, we can have multiple choices dealing with the same information. A news story, for instance, would use "said," when quoting someone, but a promo blurb for a video of the individual making the statement would use the present tense.
Schools
- CUNY School of Law
- CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
- CUNY School of Professional Studies
- CUNY School of Public Health
- CUNY Graduate School and University Center
- Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education
- Macaulay Honors College
seasons
Lower case winter, spring, summer and fall (and autumn).
semesters
Spring 2012, Fall 2013; seasons are capitalized when referring to a specific semester and no "of" is needed between season and year.
Senior Colleges
- Baruch College
- Brooklyn College
- The City College of New York
- College of Staten Island
- Hunter College
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice
- Lehman College
- Macaulay Honors College
- Medgar Evers College
- New York City College of Technology
- Queens College
- York College
sentence spacing
One space, not two, between sentences.
September 11, 2001
9/11 is acceptable in first references to the events of that day in the U.S. in 2001.
states
State names are spelled out when standing alone in text and abbreviated when used with the name of a city, town or county. Standard abbreviations for the states should be used in copy, not postal codes. There are occasions, often when dealing with the background of faculty, students, guest speakers, etc., that the abbreviations are necessary. The postal code letters are used in addresses:
- Alabama, Ala., AL
- Alaska, (none) AK
- Arizona, Ariz., AZ
- Arkansas, Ark., AR
- California, Calif., CA
- Colorado, Colo., CO
- Connecticut, Conn. CT
- Delaware, Del., DE
- Florida, Fla., FL
- Georgia, Ga., GA
- Hawaii, (none) HI
- Idaho,, (none) ID
- Illinois, Ill., IL
- Indiana, Ind., IN
- Iowa, (none) IA
- Kansas, Kan., KS
- Kentucky, Ky., KY
- Louisiana, La., LA
- Maine, (none) ME
- Maryland, Md., MD
- Massachusetts, Mass., MA
- Michigan, Mich., MI
- Minnesota, Minn., MN
- Mississippi, Miss., MS
- Missouri, Mo., MO
- Montana, Mont., MT
- Nebraska, Neb., NE
- Nevada, Nev., NV
- New Hampshire, N.H., NH
- New Jersey, N.J., NJ
- New Mexico, N.M., NM
- New York, N.Y., NY
- North Carolina, N.C., NC
- North Dakota, N.D., ND
- Ohio, (none) OH
- Oklahoma, Okla., OK
- Oregon, Ore., OR
- Pennsylvania, Pa., PA
- Rhode Island, R.I., RI
- South Carolina, S.C., SC
- South Dakota, S.D., SD
- Tennessee, Tenn., TN
- Texas, (none) TX
- Utah, (none) UT
- Vermont, Vt., VT
- Virginia, Va., VA
- Washington, Wash., WA
- West Virginia, W.Va., WV
- Wisconsin, Wis., WI
- Wyoming, Wyo., W,
subscripts/superscripts
avoid both sub- and superscripts for st, th, rd, nd. The preference is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th with the same size font size as the number.
SUNY
State University of New York
T
telephone numbers
No parentheses for area codes; hyphens, not periods, separate the numbers: 212-864-4321.
that and which
That introduces essential clauses, which for nonessential clauses. The guideline is: If you can drop the clause and the sentence still makes sense, use which, if not use that. That and which refer to inanimate objects or to animals that have not been personalized with a name.
theater
The general spelling ends with "er," but there are many formal names within the CUNY community of colleges and schools that are spelled theatre.
the Bronx
Preceded by the article in copy, but it is omitted in graphs, charts, etc.
The City College of New York
City College of New York, City College. In announcements or other formal uses, the article with an upper case T can precede City, e.g., The City College of New York. But in subsequent references, and in many other uses, the article is unnecessary or can be used with a lower case T: the City College of New York, City College of New York, City College, or CCNY.
The City University of New York
In first reference the full name is used with capital T in The. In subsequent references, use the University with a lower case t for the article and a capital U on University or the abbreviation CUNY. Either one may be used in subsequent reference. [Also see CUNY entry]
The New York Daily News
Subsequent reference: the Daily News.
The New York Post
Subsequent reference: the Post.
The New York Times
Subsequent reference: the Times.
toward
not towards. The same with other -ward words such as forward, backward, upward and downward.
as well as tweet as noun and verb, and tweeted
U
underrated, underground
Usually, no hyphen.
undocumented alien
Undocumented suggests there may be no illegality involved, which may not be the case, but illegal alien declares illegality and that, too, can be erroneous. When writing about illegal situations we should use the word illegal, but in situations of uncertainty, undocumented should suffice.
United Nations
U.N., but UN in headlines
United States
Is spelled out as a noun, abbreviated U.S. as a modifier. U.S. with periods in headlines, too.
University
Always with a capital when referring to The City University of New York, lower case the "u" when referring to other universities after the first mention.
Upper East Side
in Manhattan
Upper West Side
referring to the geographic area in Manhattan.
U.S.
as a modifier; used with periods in headlines, unlike UN.
V
versus, vs., v.
Versus in text, vs. in headlines, v. in court cases
Veterans Day
No apostrophe
Vice Chair
No hyphen; lower case after a name or standing alone.
Vice Chairperson
No hyphen; lower case after a name or standing alone.
vice president
No hyphen; Vice President before a name.
W
Washington, D.C.
Washington in subsequent reference, or in first reference when it's clear the reference is to the nation's capital.
West Side Highway
In Manhattan.
world-class
Hyphenated when before what it modifies, two words when after.
X
X-ray
Noun, verb and adjective.
Y
Z
ZIP code
ZIP in upper case, code in lower.
Quicklinks
Board of Trustees - For a list of current trustees.
CUNY College Presidents - For a list of current college presidents.
CUNY School Deans - For a list of current school deans.