Writing Guide

Whichever style manual you follow, the most important thing is consistency.

Writing guidelines and style manuals may vary by academic discipline or writing purpose. You are encouraged to follow your unit’s designated or preferred style manual and writing guidelines. 

For consistency, Marketing & Communications follows Associated Press (AP) style for all written communications produced by the Division. Exceptions to AP style are indicated below. 

Please note there are instances where print and web writing guidelines will differ.

Abbreviations / Acronyms

Addresses

Address Tips

• Do not place a comma between the street and the stop number. A comma may be placed between the hall and room number, the city and state.
• Do not abbreviate the word “building,” especially when it is part of the structure’s name (such as the Education Building).
• Other than Mail Center, do not abbreviate alley, road, drive, terrace, circle.
• Always spell out and capitalize First through Ninth as part of a street name. Use figures for 10th and above.
• Follow AP style for state abbreviations in all cases but Mail Center and U.S. Postal Service block addresses.
• Always use figures for an address number: 7 Morningside Circle.

Advisor / Adviser

Use advisor. This is an exception to the AP Stylebook.

And / &

For the sake of consistency, any UND unit with “and” in its name is encouraged to use the ampersand (&) in place of “and” in all instances. Do not use the ampersand (&) for unofficial names.

Examples:

• Division of Finance & Operations
• Department of Microbiology & Immunology
• Join us at the College of Arts & Sciences for coffee and cookies.
• Tips and Tricks

Capitalization

• Capitalize standing UND units, both as formal names and shortened forms.
• Name or title of a person or entity, e.g. “Chief Executive Jane Smith,” “Ministry of Social Stability.”
• Acronyms and abbreviations, e.g. UNICEF.
• University always should be capitalized when used in reference to University of North Dakota.
• Proper names of all University units, including colleges, schools, departments and programs are capitalized.

College / School Names

UND colleges and schools should be written as follows:

• School of Aerospace Sciences
• College of Arts & Sciences
• Nistler College of Business & Public Administration
• College of Education & Human Development
• College of Engineering & Mines
• School of Graduate Studies
• School of Law
• School of Medicine & Health Sciences
• College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines

Chair

Use chair, and not chairman, chairwoman or chairperson. It usually looks better to use this title after the name. This is a departure from the AP Stylebook.

Chair Example

Jane Jones, chair of the Biology Department, assigned...

Days / Months / Years

• Do not abbreviate days of the week, except as necessary in charts, tables and calendars. It may be necessary to use abbreviations on the web when space is limited.
• Months are abbreviated in text when a specific date is cited (e.g., Feb. 12, 2016.). In general, these months are not abbreviated unless necessary due to space: March, April, May, June and July (e.g., March 4, 2016).
• Months are not abbreviated in text when no specific date is cited. No comma is used (e.g., February 2016).
• Do not include “nd,” “rd” or “th” on day dates (such as 22nd, 23rd, 27th).

Date Examples

• Jan. 20, 1989
• April 1997
• October 2012

Degrees (Academic)

• Use the apostrophe for the general references: bachelor’s degree, master’s degree.
• Doctoral is an adjective, and doctorate is a noun.
• Abbreviations are OK for the first reference of familiar degrees, or if they are in lists:
  • B.A. = Bachelor of Arts
  • M.S. = Master of Science
  • Ph.D. = Doctor of Philosophy
• Abbreviations for degrees use periods. Examples: B.A., B.S., M.A. Ph.D., Ed.D.
• Academic degrees are capitalized only when the full name of the degree is used.
  • Correct: I enrolled in a master's degree in arts and science.
  • Correct: I'm studying for a Master of Science.
  • Incorrect: I enrolled in a Master's Degree in Arts and Sciences
  • Incorrect: I'm studying for a master of science.

Email Format

Capitalize all occurrences of UND in the email address to help the brand stand out. Do not capitalize any other letters.

Email Example

UND.info@UND.edu or john.doe@UND.edu

Fields of Study

• When used to describe a general subject area or generic field of interest, academic disciplines are not capitalized.
• When referring to a specific degree, treat it like a proper name and capitalize. The context of your content determines whether you are referring to general/generic or specific/proper.
• Proper terms such as English, Spanish, German, etc., always are capitalized.

Leaders in Action

When referring to the Leaders in Action tagline itself:

• Capitalize the “L” in leaders and the “A” in action. Keep the “i” lowercase. 
• Do not format the tagline differently than other text (i.e. add bold, italics, underline or quotes). 
  • Example: UND’s brand tagline, Leaders in Action, is a great addition to the University. 
• Do not use as an individual hashtag, instead use leaders in action in message text and use #UNDproud (lowercase “p”). 

When referring to what the tagline stands for instead of the tagline itself: 

• Try to find different ways to get the same point across without inserting the actual tagline. 
  • Example: “John Doe is a leader in the classroom.” 
  • Example: “John Doe makes an impact in the classroom.” 
• If you do use the tagline, lowercase the entire phrase and do not add unique formatting. 
  • Example: John Doe truly is a leader in action. 
  • Example: UND’s leaders in action are impacting the world in medicine, business and aerospace. 

Line Breaks

When possible, keep official University names together. If a break is necessary, keep the lines balanced and do not end a line with a, an or the.

Numbers

• In text, use digits for all numbers 10 and above. Spell out numbers nine and below (except for the specific postal number in an address). For example: 7 First St is correct.
• Include commas in larger digits (e.g. 1,000 vs. 1000).
• If the number is important to stress time periods, deadlines, dates or steps, consider using a cardinal number rather than text to call attention to the number.

Punctuation

• Use periods in denotations of time (e.g., p.m. and a.m.).
• Avoid exclamation points. If one is used, use only one to punctuate a sentence.
• Periods go inside quotation marks.
• Use one space after a period at the end of a sentence. This is very important in web writing to prevent odd line wrapping on different screen sizes.

Room Numbers

When listing a specific room in a building, capitalize Room and use a number.

Examples:

• Room 27 in Gamble Hall
• Gamble Hall, Room 27

Titles

Formal titles are capitalized when used before a name and lowercase when used after a name.

Title Examples

• Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Jane Doe
• Dr. Jane Doe, vice president for Student Affairs

Dr.

• In the first reference, use Dr. before the name of individuals who have earned degrees as a Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Optometry, Doctor of Osteopathy or Doctor of Podiatric Medicine.
• Do not use Dr. in subsequent references, except in direct quotes.
• Do not use Dr. before the names of individuals who hold only honorary doctorates.
• For individuals with academic doctorates, it is recommended to only include the degree abbreviation following their names and to use Dr. in the same instances prefixes such as Mr. or Ms. are used.
• Do not use both Dr. and the degree abbreviation in the same instance, as it is redundant.
  • Correct: Jane Doe, Ph.D. (standard format used for UND business cards, email signatures, etc.)
  • Correct: Dr. Jane Doe
  • Incorrect: Dr. Jane Doe, Ph.D.

Season / Semester / Term

Lowercase, including uses with academic terms and commencement.

Example: Registration for the spring 2020 semester will open Nov. 21.

Telephone Numbers

As stand-alone content in advertising and other designs, it is preferred to use periods for aesthetic purposes as they appear more modern and complement the formats of web and email addresses.

Examples:

• 701.777.2731
• 701.777.3000

Time

Use a.m. and p.m. in lowercase with periods. With even hours, there is no need to use the colon mark and 00.

Examples:

• 10 a.m., 4 p.m.
• In schedules, the colon and 00 may be used if it helps the appearance or clarity.

University of North Dakota

• The formal name of the University and its display in the logotype is University of North Dakota. The word “The” was removed from the formal name. “The” is not capitalized before “University of North Dakota,” except when it begins a sentence.
• In external communications, University of North Dakota always should be spelled out as an identifier (usually accomplished through the primary UND or unit logotype) and in the first instance the University is referenced in body content.
• Because it cannot be assumed that all audiences know the location of UND, it is recommended to include “Grand Forks” in the content of external communications (e.g., contact information, body content or on the spine or cover of a publication).

Web Addresses, UND

To help the UND brand stand out, write web addresses with an uppercase UND and lowercase subdomain. Do not use the “www,” and do not capitalize any letters after the backslash (/) in the web address.

Web Address Examples

• UND.edu
• education.UND.edu
• UND.edu/about