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).
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.