A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
General Capitalization Rules
Capitalize nouns that identify a specific person, place or thing.
Examples:
John, Fredericksburg, the Constitution, Preservation Club
Capitalize months and days of the week. Lowercase seasons. Capitalize entire geographical names and geographical regions of the country. Lowercase points of the compass.
Examples:
fall break, fall 2006, winter break, spring semester, Pacific Northwest
A substantial percentage of enrolled students hail from the North and the East
The students are heading southwest on their summer break.
Capitalize names of all races, nationalities and ethnic groups.
Examples:
Hispanic, Irish, Latino, Caucasian, Asian
Capitalize common nouns such as party, river, street, west, college, and university when they are
an integral part of the full name for a person, place or thing. Lowercase when they stand alone in
subsequent references unless they refer to a specific institution. Lowercase terms in plural uses.
Examples:
Democratic Party, Rappahannock River, William Street
the University of Mary Washington, Stafford County
the Democratic and Republican parties
Spotsylvania and Stafford counties
Capitalize all words except articles, conjunctions and prepositions in the titles of books, plays, lectures and musical compositions. See composition titles.
Capitalize formal titles when used with a name. (For AP Style, see titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
President Phillip R. Ford, Jr.
Dr. Phillip R. Ford, Jr., President of the University of XYZ
Do not capitalize fields of study, curricula, major areas or major subjects (except names of languages) unless referring to a specific course.
Examples:
He is studying economics and English. However, his favorite course is Music of the Middle Ages.
Do not capitalize designations of officers of a class or social organization, or names of athletic clubs and teams. Capitalize Eagles when referring specifically to a UMW sports team.
Examples:
The Eagles’ baseball team looks strong this season.
John is president of the Preservation Club and was recently elected vice president of the sophomore class.
Capitalize formal names of standardized tests and use no periods: SAT, CLEP, LSAT, GMAT.
Other Capitalization Entries
academic departments and administrative offices
Capitalize the name of departments and the words department and office when
they appear as part of the official name or are used in reference to a specific institution. On second
reference, capitalization is not necessary. See Appendix II, III and IV for a complete list.
Examples: the Department of Biological Sciences, the biology department; the Office of Admissions, the admissions office
academic titles
Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as professor, dean, professor emeritus,
and chair when
they accompany a name. Modifiers such as acting, department and adjunct are
also capitalized when accompanied by a name. The best source for correct faculty titles is Meet the
Faculty found online at www.umw.edu/faculty/ or call the Office of Academic Affairs.
Faculty are instructors or professors of a discipline, not a department. Note
that the campus telephone directory does not list disciplines, so do not use it as a resource for academic
titles.
Examples:
Correct: Jane Jones, Professor of Biology (discipline)
Correct: Jane Jones, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences
Incorrect: Jane Jones, Professor of Biological Sciences (department)
Correct: James Smith, Professor of Linguistics (discipline)
Incorrect: James Smith, Professor of English, Linguistics, and Speech (department)
See acting, adjunct instructor, chair, dean, director, emeritus, instructor,
lecturer, president,
professor, vice president. (For AP Style, see academic titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
Assistant Professor JoAnne Smith
JoAnne Smith, Assistant Professor of Geology
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Blake Jones
History Professor David Fine
Acting Department Chair Joshua Hargrave
Adjunct Instructor John Jones
Senior Lecturer Joseph Smith
acting
Capitalize any formal title that may accompany a name. (For AP Style, see acting in Appendix XII.)
Example:
Acting Department Chair Joshua Hargrave
addresses
Spell out and capitalize street, boulevard, court, road, place, avenue, etc.
when used or referred to in
an address. Spell out compass points in an address. Spell out names of numbered
streets one through
nine; use numerals for 10 and above.
Examples:
The University is located on College Avenue. The University’s address is 1301 College Avenue, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401-5300.
There are three places available for rent: 648 Lexington Place Northwest, 1908 Fifth Avenue and Three 19th Street.
While not preferred for formal correspondence, for bulk or mass mailings it is acceptable to use abbreviations and formatting guidelines of the U.S. Postal Service (no punctuation, all capitals) to address envelopes.
Example: (not preferred for formal correspondence; acceptable for mass mailings)
OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
1301 COLLEGE AVE
FREDERICKSBURG VA 22401-5300
Use 4-digit extension with ZIP Codes for all addresses. To look up ZIP + 4 Codes, visit http://www. usps.com/zip4/ . For U.S. Postal Service official abbreviations for states, street suffixes and secondary unit designators (apartment, suite, etc.), visit http://www.usps.com and type “abbreviations” in the search box.
administrative titles
Capitalize and spell out administrative titles such as chair, dean, director and vice president when they
accompany a name. Note that at UMW, the title vice president is followed by
for (and the area) but the
titles dean and director are followed by of (and the area). See chair, dean,
director, president and
vice president. (For AP Style, see titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
Jane Jones, Assistant Vice President for Business Services; Jim Smith, Dean of Students; Beth Cole, Director of Alumni Relations
alma mater, Alma Mater
A school, college or university that one has attended or from which one has
graduated. Capitalize when referring to a school’s official song.
Examples:
Mary Washington is the alma mater of many Fredericksburg residents.
The Alma Mater was composed by two members of the Class of ’47.
buildings
Capitalize official names of University facilities. See Appendix I. University
Buildings for a complete list of names.
campaign
Capitalize only when part of an official campaign name. Lowercase in other uses.
Examples:
The Centennial Campaign will raise funds to benefit the University.
She processes campaign gifts.
capital, Capitol
A capital is a city or town that is the official seat of government. A Capitol
is a building occupied by the legislature. Capitalize references to the State Capitol building in Richmond,
Virginia, or the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Congress holds its sessions.
Examples:
Virginia’s State Capitol building is in Richmond. The students toured the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Richmond is the capital of Virginia, and Washington, D.C. is the nation’s capital.
chair
A person in charge of a department or committee is a chair, not a chairman,
chairwoman or
chairperson. See capitalization.
Example:
She is the chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Speech.
college
Capitalize as part of a formal title on first reference and elsewhere when referring
to a specific
institution. Lowercase otherwise.
Examples:
The College of Graduate and Professional Studies was formerly known as the James Monroe Center. The College has an outstanding faculty. She plans to go to college next year.
commencement
Ceremony recognizing graduates; preferred to graduation. Use lowercase when
referring to commencement in a general sense; uppercase when referring to a specific commencement
exercise or ceremony.
Examples:
The commencement speaker has not been announced. During Commencement 2004, the speaker will be limited to a five-minute speech.
committee
Capitalize names of specific committees and task forces.
Examples:
the Alcohol Task Force, the Committee on Space Utilization
composition titles
Apply the guidelines listed here to book titles, legal cases, computer game
titles (but not software titles), movie titles, opera titles, play titles, poem titles, song titles,
television program titles and the titles of lectures, speeches and works of art.
Capitalize all principal words in a title, and capitalize prepositions and conjunctions
that have four or more letters. Capitalize an article (the, a, an), preposition or conjunction
that has fewer than four letters only if it is the first or last word in a title.
Examples:
Crime and Punishment, The Man Without a Country, Of Mice and Men
Italicize rather than underline the names of all books, magazines, newspapers
and journals. Use quotes around all other titles.
Examples:
In his textbook, Environmental Issues: Measuring, Analyzing, and Evaluating, Robert McConnell includes a chapter on trash titled “The Impact of Interjurisdictional Waste Disposal: Truckin’ Trash.”
The Bible is capitalized but not italicized unless referring to a specific edition.
Examples:
The religion professor required his students to read the King James Bible. The religion professor asked his students to bring the Bible to class.
Translate a foreign title into English unless a work is known to the American
public by its foreign name.
Example:
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is a famous work of art.
The names of legal cases (plaintiff and defendant) are usually italicized; v.
(versus) may be roman or italic, provided that the format is consistent:
Example:
Miranda v. Arizona
Brown v. Board of Education
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish
dean
Capitalize when accompanied by a name. The title dean is followed by of. The
titles assistant dean and
associate dean follow the same rule. See vice president, director.
Examples:
Dr. James Smith, Dean of the Faculty
dean of students, assistant dean of admissions
department
Capitalize department names. See academic departments and administrative offices.
director
Capitalize when accompanied by a name. The correct title form is director of an area or program.
The titles assistant director and associate director follow the same rule. (For
AP Style, see titles in
Appendix XII.)
Example:
Jean Doe is Director of Residence Life.
historical periods
Capitalize names of historical periods. Spell out first through ninth centuries,
use numbers for 10th and above with century in lower case. Use hyphen when it modifies a noun. See hyphen.
Examples:
the Renaissance, Baroque music, the 20th century
He is a 20th-century specialist.
instructor
A nontenured, full-time faculty member. Capitalize when used with a name. One
is an instructor of a
discipline. See academic rank, academic titles.
Examples:
She is an instructor of classics. Instructor Jane Smith wrote the article.
named professorships
Capitalize formal titles of named professorships on all references. (For AP
Style, see academic titles in Appendix XII.)
Example:
W. Brown Morton III, Woodard Chair of Historic Preservation
office
Capitalize only as part of a formal title. Preferred reference for office and
department is Office of and Department of. See Appendix IV. Administrative Offices and Centers.
Example:
The Office of University Relations and Legislatuve Affairs is located in George Washington Hall.
president
Capitalize when accompanied by a name or when used as a second reference. Lowercase
otherwise. (For AP Style, see academic titles and titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
Dr. Bryce M. Parrish, Jr. is President of the University of XYZ.
The President will present diplomas to the graduating students next month.
Last year all presidents were invited to attend the bi-annual retreat.
race/ethnicity/ethnic groups
Capitalize names of races; lowercase black and white when used to refer to races.
See individual entries (African American, Asian American, American Indian, Latina/Latino) for
rules regarding proper references to races and ethnic groups.
Examples:
Caucasian, Hispanic
room
Capitalize in such uses as Monroe Hall, Room 104. For on-campus use only, Monroe
104 is acceptable.
seasons
Lowercase seasons and all derived words. Capitalize when part of a formal name
or specific event.
Examples:
fall, winter, spring, summer, springtime, fall semester,
Winter Olympics, Fall Break, Spring Break, Winter Break, Summer Solstice
She graduated in the spring semester.
The students participated in a volunteer project during fall semester.
The students went to Mexico for Spring Break.
telephone numbers
Preferred format with parentheses: (540) 654-1000. Acceptable format: 540-654-1000.
Lowercase the word telephone (and fax) unless it is the first word of a sentence,
phrase or line. Be
consistent in format when listing fax and telephone.
Examples:
Please contact me by telephone (540) 654-1000 or by fax (540) 654-1164.
Telephone: (540) 654-1000 • Fax: (540) 654-1164
university
Capitalize as part of a formal title on first reference and elsewhere when referring
to a specific institution. Lowercase otherwise.
Examples:
The University of Mary Washington has an academically strong student body.
The University's faculty also is outstanding.
The high school student has not decided whether to apply to a college or a
university.
vice president
Capitalize when accompanied by a name. At the University of Mary Washington,
the correct title form is vice president for a department or service. The titles assistant vice president and associate vice president follow the same rule. (For AP Style, see titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
He is associate vice president for facilities services.
Dr. Cordle, Vice President for Enrollment, will speak at the luncheon.
Ms. Sharon Brent is Assistant Vice President for Business Services.
webmaster
Lowercase unless referring to a specific person or when using it as a title
with a person’s name.
Examples:
The certification programs will provide him with skills necessary to work as a webmaster. The webmaster will introduce new University policies to students and faculty this semester. Jane Doe is Webmaster for Company ABC, Inc.
web site; web page
The location of information on the World Wide Web. See Appendix VI. Computer
Terms and Email Etiquette. (For AP Style, see Web in Appendix XII.)