Style Guide Entries for Titles
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
academic rank
There are six academic ranks at the University of Mary Washington: lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, and distinguished professor. The title professor is reserved for those who have earned the academic rank of professor. Teachers are instructors or professors of a discipline but are lecturers in a department. (For AP Style, see academic rank in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
assistant professor of biology, instructor of physics, lecturer in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages
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
adjunct instructor
Title used for part-time faculty member appointed to teach one academic year or less. Use adjunct instructor rather than adjunct alone. Capitalize when used with a name. (For AP Style, see academic titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
Adjunct Instructor Jane Doe teaches biology. She is an adjunct instructor.
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
adviser, advisor
Either is acceptable; advisor is preferred, and the correct spelling for a notice is advisory. (For AP Style, see adviser in Appendix XII).
aide
Student aide.
alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae
Use alumnus (alumni in the plural) when referring to a man (or group of men) who attended the University. Use alumna (alumnae in the plural) for similar references to a woman (or group of women). Use alumni when referring to mixed groups of men and women. Alumnus can be used for
single person, gender neutral. Do not use alum.
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.
coed
University of Mary Washington is a coeducational institution, and some of the residence halls can be referred to as coed residence halls. However, do not refer to a female student as a coed.
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
course titles
Lowercase when referring to multiple courses or courses in general. Uppercase if referring to specific name of a class or if the class uses a proper noun or numeral.
Examples:
a music class, business classes, an English class
Art History 260; Chemistry 211: Organic Chemistry
The professor teaches General Psychology and Psychology of Men.
courtesy titles (Dr., Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, etc.)
In business correspondence, always use a courtesy title. See Appendix VIII. Protocol and Forms of Address for special circumstances such as addressing correspondence to a couple, both of whom have doctorates. (For AP Style, see courtesy titles in Appendix XII.)
Use the courtesy title Dr. for faculty who hold doctorates.
Examples:
Dr. Anne Jones is former Chair of the English, Linguistics, and Speech Department. Dr. Jones is the author of two books.
Use the courtesy title Mr. for male faculty who do not hold doctorates. (For AP Style, see courtesy titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
Mr. Francis L. Brown is Chair of the Department of Business Administration.
Mr. Brown has been employed at the University for several years.
Use the courtesy title Ms. for women who do not hold doctorates; only use Miss or Mrs. if it is requested by the individual.
Examples:
Ms. Anna Jones, Associate Professor of Art, received a $10,000 grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Ms. Jones was thrilled to be one of only five recipients of the prestigious award.
For more information on using proper forms of address and titles, see A Guide to Virginia Protocol and Traditions, pages 5-12. It can be viewed on the Commonwealth’s web site at http://hodcap.state. va.us/publications/Protocol.pdf.
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
dignitary titles
See Appendix VIII. Protocol and Forms of Address.
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.
doctor
See courtesy titles.
emeritus, emeriti, emerita, emeritae
Used to denote individuals who have retired but retain their rank or title. Emeritus is singular masculine adjective; emerita is singular feminine adjective; emeriti is plural masculine or mixed gender group adjective; emeritae is plural feminine adjective. Uppercase when part of a title. Place emeritus after the formal title. Lowercase when not part of a title. (For AP Style, see titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
Distinguished Professor Emeritus John W. Jones.
John W. Jones, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
UMW Professor Emeritus John W. Jones lectured in Italy.
The department’s faculty included two professors emeriti.
faculty
Can stand alone on most references; use member in conjunction with faculty only when defining a person’s membership among the faculty.
Examples:
The faculty voted down the proposal. Jones was on the faculty for 30 years.
Harris, a member of the faculty, has just published his sixth book.
When referring to the faculty as a group, use is. When referring to several individuals, use are.
Examples:
The faculty is united in its defense of the new curriculum.
Several faculty are opposed to the new proposal.
first-year
Preferred over freshmen for reference to first-year students after matriculation.
Example:
The first-year students participated in orientation.
freshman, freshmen
Class designation level based on the number of credit hours on a student’s academic record. Students with fewer than 30 credits are freshmen. Note use of singular and plural terms. See first-year, the preferred term.
Examples:
Preferred: A group of first-year students was walking to the dining hall.
Correct: freshman hall, freshman class
Correct: A group of freshmen was walking to the dining hall.
gender-neutral language
See Appendix VI. Inclusive Language.
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.
junior
See student classifications.
lecturer, senior lecturer
A full-time faculty member who is provided a renewable term contract. One is a lecturer in a department. See academic rank.
Examples:
She is a senior lecturer in the Department of Art and Art History. He is a lecturer in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages.
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
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.
professor
An academic rank at the University of Mary Washington. Capitalize when accompanied by a name and when it is a proper noun. Do not abbreviate. See academic rank and academic titles. (For AP Style, see academic titles in Appendix XII.)
Examples:
He studied biology under Professor Ruth Bombay.
Ruth Bombay is a Professor of Biology.
registrar
The person responsible for registering students, keeping academic records for both campuses and evaluating academic credentials (transcripts and degree completion). Use Registrar (title; the person) or Office of the Registrar (name of office) when referring specifically to the University Registrar.
Examples:
The Registrar will assist students in learning to use the new Banner system to register for classes.
Contact the Office of the Registrar to request an official copy of your transcript.
senior
See student classifications.
sophomore
See student classifications.
student classifications
Do not capitalize freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. Capitalize when referring to the class as a whole or collective group. See freshman and first-year.
Examples:
The senior year is an important one. There are 795 sophomores enrolled this year. The Junior Class sponsored the event.
titles
For rules regarding use of formal titles, see academic titles, administrative titles and courtesy titles. See also composition titles for rules regarding 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.
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.