Chapter 2 Capitalization

1. Academic Degrees

When using the word "degree," spell out and use lower case: bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctor’s degree or doctorate.

When not using the word "degree," capitalize its title: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Science.

Capitalize abbreviated degrees, and use periods after the letters: B.A., M.S., Ph.D., M.S.I.A., B.F.A. (MBA is an exception.

2. Academic and Business Departments

Capitalize department names except when used in a person’s or company's title.

Right	She is a senior in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Right	The Department of Art and Art History redesigned its Web site.
Right	Mr. Budet, UFCU president, created a new department called The Department of Human Resources and Communications.
Right	The director of marketing is pleased with the number of new sales.

Use lower case for the word “department” when it stands alone.

Right	She’s been with the department for three years.
Right	The Department of Astronomy hosts weekly viewing nights on university telescopes.

Capitalize the field when it’s used to mean the department. Use lower case for the field when it’s used in a general sense.

Right	She’s a professor in the Department of Physics.
Right	She’s a professor in the Physics Department.
Right	She’s a physics professor.
Right	She majored in physics.

3. Administrative Offices

Capitalize department, division and office names.

Use lower case for the words “department,” “division” or “office” when they stand alone.

Capitalize the field when it’s specifically used to mean the department, division or office. Do not capitalize the field when it’s used in general.

Right	He works in the Registrar’s Office.
Right	She works in student affairs. (the field)
Right	She works in the Student Affairs Office. (the university office)
Right	He works in Campus Planning. (the university office)
Wrong	The Division will release its report.
Right	The Division of Labor Statistics will release its report.

4. AM/PM

Use lower case without periods for “am” and “pm” when character space reduction is needed. (Note that "am" is printed in a shorter space than "AM".) For more formal presentations you may include periods, but remember to be consistent and use one abbreviation style.

5. Buildings

Proper names of buildings, such as The Empire State Building, should be capitalized. Special building projects, such as the Tower Garden Project, should be capitalized. Terms such as “west wing” and “new subway station” should not be capitalized, unless they are used in titles.

6. Centers and Institutes

Formal names of centers, such as the Center for Space Research or the Institute of Latin American Studies, should be capitalized, but “center” by itself should be in lower case. The same rules apply to institutes. Upon second reference, it is unnecessary to use complete proper names.

Right	The Institute for Learning and Technology hosts seminars.
Right	The institute will welcome dozens of affiliates.
Right	The Recreational Sports Center opened in 1996.
Right	The center has an exercise lounge and conditioning rooms.

7. Cities and Towns

Use lower case for general sections of the city, but capitalize widely recognized names for city regions.

Right	The meetings will be downtown.
Right	Let’s go to a restaurant in South Austin.

8. Fax

The suggested way to use "fax" in a sentence is in lower case. If you provide fax numbers on business cards or in listings, it’s okay to use initial caps.

Right	Call or fax me with the information.
Right	XWZ Corporation Loan Department Phone: (123) 456-7890 Fax: (123) 456-7890

9. Honors

Use lower case and italicize cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude.

10. Hyphenated Words in Titles

A general rule of thumb is to capitalize the first unit and capitalize the second unit if it’s a noun or adjective or if it has equal balance with the first unit.

Right

“Twentieth-Century Poets in South America” “City-States in Nineteenth Century Europe” “Non-Christian Religions in North America”

The second unit should be in lower case if it’s a participle modifying the first unit or if both units constitute a single word.

Right

“English-speaking People throughout Asia” “Medium-sized Companies with Unions” “E-flat Minor Melody” “Re-establishing a Youthful Outlook” “Self-fulfilling Prophecies in Small-Town America”

11. Government

Use lower case when the word “federal” is an adjective: federal court, the federal government.

12. Race

Capitalize names of races (African American, Caucasian, Asian, Native American), but do not capitalize “black” or “white” when referring to race.

13. Regions

Region names are capitalized when they stand alone and are widely understood to designate specific geographic areas.

Right	western Texas
Right	the West Coast, the Midwest
Right	the east coast of Florida, the Midwestern United States
Right	South Texas, West Texas, the Panhandle, the Valley, the Hill Country

14. Rooms

Capitalize only when used with a number, letter or name. In combination with a building name, use only the number .

Right	We’ll be in Room 100.
Right	We’ll be in the training room.
Right	The videoconference is in Batts 110.

15. Seasons

Capitalize only when used in titles or as part of formal names. Use lower case when these words stand alone.

Right	fall semester, summer program
Right	The program started in fall 1989.
Right	The Spring Fling will be repeated this year.

16. Social Security

Use lower case when referring to social security numbers. Only capitalize references to the Social Security Administration.

Right	Fill in your name and social security number.
Right	The forms will be forwarded to Social Security.

17. Student Classifications

Do not capitalize “freshman,” “sophomore,” “junior,” “senior,” “postdoctoral fellow” or “graduate student,” unless used as a class designation or formal title.

Right	He’s a senior engineering major.
Right	The Senior Class gift was the clock.

18. Titles

Titles are only capitalized when used before names. When using capitalized titles immediately before names, try to keep it short. Do not capitalize occupational designations, only true titles.

Right	We met President Faulkner.
Right	The president will speak at the dinner.
Right	Vice President for Student Affairs James Vick issued the memo.
Right	Our speaker will be artist William Cooper.

Titles following a person’s name should appear in lower case. Use lower case when a title is used alone.

Right	The president of The University of Texas at Austin will address the group.
Right	Kevin Hegarty, vice president and chief financial officer, will host the reception.

Capitalize official names of honorary chaired and university professorships. For those titles that are not honorary or for references after the name of the professor, use lower case.

Right	Sanford Levinson, the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood Jr. Centennial Chair in Law, donated his collection to the School of Law.
Right	Her years of hard work were acknowledged when she earned the rank of university professor.