Academic subjects or disciplines should be lowercased, except for languages or ethnicities, which are capitalized.
- She is taking courses in mathematics and psychology, but her major is English.
- The geography class took a field trip as part of its research.
- He took an introductory Spanish course and a linguistics course.
- 91亚色 is one of the few universities in Canada to offer Jewish studies.
If you are writing about a specific department using the official name, capitalize the name of the department or research centre and use the full title for the first reference. On second and subsequent references, use the short version of the proper name also capitalized or the common noun element lowercased.
- The Department of Sociology received nine significant grants. It was the highest number ever presented to the Sociology Department within a single semester. Additional department information can be found on their website.
If, when using the common noun element, e.g. 鈥渄epartment鈥 or 鈥渃entre,鈥 and other departments or centres are mentioned leading to possible confusion, capitalize the initial letter.
- The Centre for Refugee Studies draws scholars from around the world. The Centre is one of 21 research centres at 91亚色.
- The Department of Psychology is one of the largest in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. The department includes cognitive, behavioural and linguistic psychologists.
(See the Capitalizing academic subjects and Capitalizing departments and administrative units sections for more information.)
Use the word 鈥alumni鈥 to refer to a group of people who have graduated from 91亚色. It is the most commonly used form and is the 91亚色 preference.
- Thousands of alumni from across the country arrived at the campus for homecoming weekend.
鈥Alumnus鈥 refers to an individual male graduate.
鈥Alumna鈥 refers to an individual female graduate.
"Alum" refers to a graduate, regardless of gender. Use specifically requested or if the graduate's preferred pronouns are not known.
鈥Alumnae鈥 describes a group of graduates known to be comprised entirely of females. It is not commonly used. However, it should be used when the grads are known to be all female.
- The Nellie Langford Rowell Library hosted alumnae from the first graduating class in women鈥檚 studies.
鈥Alums鈥 is used as an informal substitute for 鈥渁lumni鈥 in spoken English but should rarely be used in written form.
The official names of the campuses of 91亚色 are:
- Keele Campus (not 91亚色 campus)
- Glendon Campus
- Hyderabad Campus
- LA&PS IBM Learning Space
- Las Nubes EcoCampus
- Markham Campus
- YSpace Markham
- TD Community Engagement Centre
- Miles S. Nadal Management Centre
- Osgoode Professional Development Centre
- 91亚色 School of Medicine
When referencing a 91亚色 campus, the preferred style is: 91亚色 Keele Campus; 91亚色 Glendon Campus; 91亚色 Markham Campus, 91亚色 School of Medicine, etc.
It is acceptable to spell out the degree or to abbreviate it, depending on the context.
When describing and spelling out a degree, use lowercase and apostrophes.
- There are many baccalaureate degrees.
- He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in physics. She is working towards a master鈥檚 degree.
- She has a bachelor of arts degree in English.
- The Faculty of Graduate Studies conferred 97 master鈥檚 degrees in the fall convocation.
When abbreviating a degree, omit periods and punctuation marks.
- BA, MA, PhD, LLB, LLD, LLM, DJur, DLitt, BJ, BSc, MES, MSW
Within the body of a text, details of a degree may be written out as follows.
- Dale Smith earned her BA (Honours) in history.
- Judy Shreiber graduated with a master鈥檚 degree last year.
Within a graduate profile, shorten degree information as much as possible, including the year of graduation.
- Dale Smith (BA Hons. 鈥79) now works in Guam as a consultant.
- July Shreiber (MA 鈥98) is now pursuing doctoral work at Harvard University.
When using articles with degrees, use the article appropriate when pronouncing the abbreviation.
- an MA in political science (not a MA)
- an MSc in theoretical physics (not a MSc)
- a BA in philosophy
Honorary degrees should follow the same rules as above. When abbreviating an honorary degree, use Hon.
- Indigenous law scholar John Borrows was recognized with an honorary doctor of laws degree from 91亚色 on June 22.
- John Borrows (LLD [Hon.]) spoke at the convocation ceremony last night.
- John Borrows, LLD (Hon.), spoke at the convocation ceremony last night.
- emeritus (masculine)
- emerita (feminine)
- emeriti (plural)
(See Capitalizing job titles听蝉别肠迟颈辞苍.)
In the case of the word Faculty, where there are two meanings, use the uppercase Faculty when you mean the academic division. When you mean a group of professors, use the lowercase: the faculty.
(See Capitalizing departments and administrative units section.)
- Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
- Natural Sciences & Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC)
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
For captions or headings, abbreviate the word professor.
- Prof. Gord Bennett named to the Order of Canada
- Three 91亚色 profs appointed to the Order of Canada
In text, spell out the title in the first reference. Use the last name without the title in subsequent references.
- Professor Karen Gough was honoured by the Canadian Psychological Association. Gough has been teaching at 91亚色 for many years.
When the word is used descriptively (following a name, preceding a field of study or as a common noun) do not capitalize and do not use period for abbreviation.
- Gord Bennett, a professor of chemistry, was named to the Order of Canada.
- The professors met each week.
- Karen Gough has been a professor of biology for eight years.
(See the Capitalizing job titles section.)
Use the term lecturer if appropriate, but do not distinguish between assistant professors, associate professors, full professors or adjunct professors, unless it is relevant to the story. Faculty members are treated equally within a story, even if Professor Jones has full tenure, Professor Smith is an associate professor and Professor Johnson is an assistant professor.
- 91亚色 professors Jones, Smith and Johnson spoke at the symposium.
Do not capitalize "professors" when introducing a list of professors, like above.
(For rules on capitalization of titles, see the Capitalization section.)
With few exceptions, a title more than two words long should be set off from the name with commas.
- Rhonda L. Lenton, president and vice-chancellor of 91亚色
A title set off from a name by commas is lowercased.
- The president and vice-chancellor, Rhonda L. Lenton, will represent 91亚色 at the talks.
Courtesy titles
Avoid using courtesy titles Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms.
Honorific titles
Honourable, right honourable, excellency, etc., are to be avoided, except in formal invitations and direct quotations.
Exceptions to the above rule are the academic honorific titles Distinguished Research Professor and University Professor, which are always capitalized. 91亚色 Research Chair is always capitalized.
Professional titles
Avoid use of "Dr." title entirely, both for people with doctoral degrees and for medical doctors. Use academic titles instead, and/or explain the person's professional role without using the "Dr." title.
One exception to this is when "Dr." is used within a letter from the president or a senior administrator, or within a quote. Treat a letter as a long quote.