Editorial Style Guide

Editorial Style Guidelines

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Walters State Community College uses the Associated Press Stylebook as the primary reference for editorial guidance in all print and electronic publications. The college uses Merriam-Webster.com.

The style guide is intended to establish a consistent style and voice for the college across print and electronic media. As an academic institution, some areas of usage, capitalization or punctuation will differ from AP Style. Where the institution’s voice differs from the AP Stylebook or Merriam-Webster.com, this style guide takes precedence.

 

Institution’s Name, References	Accreditation Statement
Academic Degrees/Certificates	Academic Divisions/Programs
Academic Titles/General Titles	Administrative Units and Departments
Alumna, Alumnus, Alumni	Alumni/Class Year
Awards and Honors	Board of Trustees, Foundation
Buildings/Rooms	Building Abbreviations
Campuses, Campus Names	Capitalization
Dates and Times	Gender-Neutral Pronouns
Numerals

 

Institution’s Name, References

Walters State Community College in first reference in publications.
Walters State or the college in subsequent references.
Walters State is acceptable in news releases generated by the college.
WSCC is acceptable for news releases, publications and internal correspondence between faculty, staff and administrators.

Accreditation Statement

Walters State Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate degrees. Walters State Community College also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of Walters State Community College may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org). 

Academic Degrees/Certificates

Walters State awards the following degrees:

• Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.)
• Associate of Arts (A.A.)
• Associate of Fine Arts (A.F.A.)
• Associate of Science (A.S.)
• Associate of Science in Teaching (A.S.T.)

Technical certificates awarded by the college are referenced by name and concentrations only:

• Electrical Engineering Technology - Automation
• Early Childhood Education
• Culinary Arts

Capitalize official titles of courses, programs and concentrations at Walters State. Do not capitalize programs and concentrations offered by other institutions.

Academic Divisions/Programs

Capitalize the names of divisions when referencing a division itself:

• The Division of Behavioral/Social Sciences.

Lowercase when the name is used in reference to the field of study:

• English programs fall under the humanities.

Lowercase programs of study listed under each academic division:

• The Health Programs Division includes programs of study such as health information management, health sciences, nursing, etc.
  
  

Academic Titles/General Titles

Capitalize and spell out faculty and staff titles when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere. The preferred style is to use the appositive:

• Dr. Saul Reyes, Walters State president, spoke during the conference.

Use of the title Dr. is acceptable when referencing a person who has earned a doctorate degree whether medical, academic or terminal.

Do not use courtesy titles such as Mr. Mrs., Ms., etc. — except in formal invitations.

Names followed by Jr., Sr., or a Roman numeral do not have a comma after the last name:

• Sammy Davis Jr.
• Jeffrey Ledford III
  
  

VPs have "for" in their titles; all others, as appropriate, have "of.".

• Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Associate Professor of Art and Interim Dean of Humanities
• Dean of Business and Technical Education
• Department Head and Associate Professor of Agriculture

 

Administrative Units and Departments

On first reference, use the full name of an administrative area or department, capitalizing all words except prepositions.
On subsequent reference, when only a partial name is used, continue to uppercase words that make up the official name of the office or department:

• The Office of Human Resources administers the affirmative action program.
• The Human Resources Department works to maintain a campus that is free of
  discrimination.
  
  

Alumna, Alumnus, Alumni

Alumna is the feminine singular term for someone who has attended a school;
Alumnus is the masculine singular term.
Alumni is plural, used for multiple men or for a mixed-gender group.

Alumni/Class Year

Identify current students and alumni by their class year. This designation is set off with an apostrophe before the numerals, but no commas before or after:

• Dan Letchworth ‘72 is an alumnus of Walters State Community College.
• Jenny Kopkowski ‘81 is majoring in Nursing.

When writing class years, leave the word “class” lowercase:

• The class of 1984
• Members of the class of 2003
• The class of ’91
• The most recent graduating class

Graduates of the Regional Law Enforcement Academy at Walters State are referenced by class number:

• Captain Davis is a graduate of Class 103, which completed the academy in 2017.
  
  

Awards and Honors

Names of awards, prizes and other honors are capitalized:

• The college has named 495 students to the Dean’s List for fall semester.
• The President’s List honors students who have maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average while carrying 12 college credit hours.
• Mary Ruth Cutshaw and her late sister, Jessie Ellen Cates, have been named recipients of the TBR Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy.
• Distinguished Faculty Award
• Biology Award
  
  

Board of Trustees, Foundation

Spell out and capitalize the Walters State Community College Foundation.
The Foundation is acceptable in second and subsequent references.
Capitalize the Board of Trustees.
The Trustees is acceptable in second and subsequent references.

Buildings/Rooms

Uppercase building names:

• Dr. Jack E. Campbell College Center.

Uppercase “Room” before room numbers and for official room names:

• College Advancement, Room 236
• Duggins Foundation Room.
  
  

Building Abbreviations

Campus building abbreviations or acronyms are mostly used for on-campus communications directed to students, faculty and staff.

Morristown Campus

CCEN College Center Building
GRHS Greenhouse
HUM Humanities Complex
LIB Library
MBSS Math and Behavioral Social Sciences
NSCI Natural Science Building
POB Facilities Management
SSB Student Services Building
TECH Technology Education
WIC Welcome Information Center

Newport Center

02J Newport Center

Public Safety Center

PSC Public Safety Center

Great Smoky Mountains Expo Center

EXPO Expo Center

Claiborne County Campus

WSCE Claiborne County Campus

Niswonger Campus

WSNC Walters State Niswonger Campus

Greeneville Welding Center

WSG Greeneville Welding Center

Sevier County Campus

ACAD Cates-Cutshaw Hall
CAPE Conner-Short Center
MMH Maples-Marshall Hall
KOH Kile-Ogle Hall

Campuses, Campus Names

When referring to any of Walters State’s separate campuses or sites, use the following:

Morristown Campus
Claiborne County Campus
Niswonger Campus
Sevier County Campus
Newport Center
Greeneville/Greene County Workforce Training Building

Capitalization

1. Capitalize degrees, majors and programs in writing of Walters State’s or other schools’ specific programs, but not the words degree, major or program:
   • An Associate of Science degree in Liberal Arts
   • An Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing
   • An A.A.S. (no “degree”) in Public Safety with a concentration in Fire Protection
     Administration (no “degree” after a degree abbreviation — B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Ed.D.)
2. Capitalize names of offices, departments and divisions (and the words Office, Department and Division):
   • The Health Programs Division
   • The Health Information Management Department
   • The Office of the President
3. Do not capitalize seasons of the year when standing alone, nor when they identify divisions of the academic calendar and events of the collegiate year:
   • Honors Day and Commencement are held in the spring and fall semesters.
4. Do not capitalize freshman or sophomore.
5. Lowercase the honors cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude.
6. Capitalize Dean’s List and President’s List and other specific lists at Walters State.
7. Licenses/professional designations — capitalize initials (no periods) but use lowercase to spell out:
   • RN registered nurse
   • LPN licensed practical nurse
   • CPA certified public accountant

Uppercase is used before a title:

• Certified Fund-Raising Executive Victor F. Duggins.
  
  

Dates and Times

Use figures for days of the month. Omit ordinal designations of nd, rd, st. th. Place a comma between the month and the year when the day is mentioned:

• On June 22, 2020, the film festival brought together hundreds of people.

Do not place a comma between the month and the year when the day is not mentioned:

• In June 2020, the college held its annual film festival.

When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate the month according to AP style: Jan., Feb., Aug. Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. (all others spelled out). Spell out when using alone or with a year alone:

• Feb. 27, 2011; February; February 2019

Use figures for years without commas: 2019.

Use the year, a hyphen and the next year when referring to an academic year that begins on a fall semester:

• The 2017-2018 academic year

Use “to” instead of a hyphen when the year or time is a noun:

• From 1993 to 2007
• The meetings will take place from 8 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday.

When abbreviating years to two digits, put an apostrophe in front of the years:

• The Class of ‘76
• The summer of ‘66

Dates following a day of the week should be set apart by commas:

• She said that Wednesday, Jan. 10, would be a convenient date.

Times generally come before days and dates:

• The play will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17.

When emphasizing the exact time, or when using a.m. or p.m., use figures (omitting 00 for on the hour):

• 7 p.m.; 7:30 p.m.

12 a.m. should be referred to as midnight; 12 p.m. should be referred to as noon.

Hyphens may be used with dates, and should always be used with dates when both days of the week and dates are included:

• Advising sessions are set for Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 18-20.

Exception:

The Office of Marketing and Communications recognizes that some publications, such as posters and invitations, might call for a design treatment that demands alternate or more elegant presentations, such as spelling out a month.

Gender-Neutral Pronouns

Use gender-inclusive language unless talking about something gender specific:

• Anchor not anchorman; Artificial not manmade; Business executive not businessman.

The singular they/their/them is generally accepted when referencing a person who is gender nonconforming. When possible, recast the sentence to avoid a singular they/their/them.

Numerals

Numbers from zero to nine should be spelled out in any text. Numbers from 10 on up should appear as numerals. The same applies to the ordinal use of those numbers: first, 12th.

However, numbers referring to the same category in the same sentence should either be all numerals or all spelled out:

• In the past nine years, a 50-story building was constructed between a 3-story house and a 4-story office complex.

Numerals are acceptable when used from 0 to 9 or 1st to 9th for political or military designations, ratios, clothing sizes, speeds, and appropriate page, chapter, or scene designations:

• 1st Ward; 3rd Regiment