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.
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.
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).
Walters State awards the following degrees:
Technical certificates awarded by the college are referenced by name and concentrations only:
Capitalize official titles of courses, programs and concentrations at Walters State.
Do not capitalize programs and concentrations offered by other institutions.
Capitalize the names of divisions when referencing a division itself:
Lowercase when the name is used in reference to the field of study:
Lowercase programs of study listed under each academic division:
Capitalize and spell out faculty and staff titles when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere. The preferred style is to use the appositive:
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:
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:
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.
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:
When writing class years, leave the word “class” lowercase:
Graduates of the Regional Law Enforcement Academy at Walters State are referenced by class number:
Names of awards, prizes and other honors are capitalized:
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.
Uppercase building names:
Uppercase “Room” before room numbers and for official room names:
Campus building abbreviations or acronyms are mostly used for on-campus communications directed to students, faculty and staff.
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
02J Newport Center
PSC Public Safety Center
EXPO Expo Center
WSCE Claiborne County Campus
WSNC Walters State Niswonger Campus
WSG Greeneville Welding Center
ACAD Cates-Cutshaw Hall
CAPE Conner-Short Center
MMH Maples-Marshall Hall
KOH Kile-Ogle Hall
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
Uppercase is used before a title:
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:
Do not place a comma between the month and the year when the day is not mentioned:
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:
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:
Use “to” instead of a hyphen when the year or time is a noun:
When abbreviating years to two digits, put an apostrophe in front of the years:
Dates following a day of the week should be set apart by commas:
Times generally come before days and dates:
When emphasizing the exact time, or when using a.m. or p.m., use figures (omitting 00 for on the hour):
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:
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.
Use gender-inclusive language unless talking about something gender specific:
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.
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:
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:
11:00 AM
4:00 PM